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        New Message Board Archives >> 2005 General Board Posts >> Old obscure observation
        
(Message started by: Kevin_M on Jan 7^th, 2005, 4:05pm)

Title: Old obscure observation
Post by Kevin_M on Jan 7^th, 2005, 4:05pm

May 10, 1889 SCIENCE Vol. XIII. No 327

Health News

Cholera Treatment. -- Dr. Yvert, who claims to have had a large experience in the treatment of Asiatic cholera, reports that by the use of bichloride of mercury he has been able to reduce the mortality from 66 to 20 per cent. blah blah... more.

Yellow Fever in Florida. -- From the best information we have been able to attain, the reported case of yellow-fever at Sanford Fla., was a true case. The patient, a Mrs. Dumont, wife of a boarding-house keeper, died April 20.

Insomnia. -- Insomnia is an affection which is trying to both physician and patient alike, and many remedies which have been recommended for its cure. The latest of these is the peanut eaten ad libitum just before retiring.

Tobacco-Smoking. -- We have recently given the views... blah blah blah... Dr Hajek of Vienna has declared that smokers are less liable to diphtheria than non-smokers in the ration of 1 to 2.8; And Dr Schiff says that smoking is forbidden in the bacteriological laboratories because it is known to hinder the development of bacteria in the various culture-media.

Action of Electric Light on the Eyes. -- A new disease, called photo-electric ophthalmia, is described as due to the continual action of the electric light on the eyes. The patient is wakened in the night by the severe pain around the eye, accompanied with excessive secretion of tears. An oculist of Cronstadt is said to have had thirty patients thus affected under his care in the last ten years.

this is strictly for the purpose of finding the article and not for any other causal related reason.

Kevin M

Title: Re: Old obscure observation
Post by Melissa on Jan 7^th, 2005, 4:11pm

on 01/07/05 at 16:05:52, Kevin_M wrote:

reduce the mortality from 66 to 20 per cent. blah blah... more.

Tobacco-Smoking. -- We have recently given the views... blah blah blah...

WOW have articles gotten technical lately! They make them so hard to understand! :-[

interesting shit Kev... ;;D

(i am being serious here...)

Title: Re: Old obscure observation
Post by broomhilda on Jan 7^th, 2005, 4:20pm

on 01/07/05 at 16:05:52, Kevin_M wrote:

May 10, 1889 SCIENCE Vol. XIII. No 327

Action of Electric Light on the Eyes. -- A new disease, called photo-electric ophthalmia, is described as due to the continual action of the electric light on the eyes. The patient is wakened in the night by the severe pain around the eye, accompanied with excessive secretion of tears. An oculist of Cronstadt is said to have had thirty patients thus affected under his care in the last ten years.

this is strictly for the purpose of finding the article and not for any other causal related reason.

Kevin M

Interesting, 1889, first cases documented of possible ch? Very interesting, thanks Kevin!!! ;;D

Title: Re: Old obscure observation
Post by vig on Jan 7^th, 2005, 4:24pm

I wonder why they thought it was light related if it hit them in the night...

Title: Re: Old obscure observation
Post by Charlie on Jan 7^th, 2005, 7:22pm

Thirty patients in ten years.....I rest my case.

Charlie

Title: Re: Old obscure observation
Post by Jayne on Jan 7^th, 2005, 8:25pm

It makes me wonder....have the number of people who suffer increased through the years or did the people that suffered all those years ago just kill themselves due to lack of knowlede and help.

It also makes me wonder about the tribes in the jungles. Do they have sufferers too or is it just a Western world sorta thing....hmmmm Jayne ponders....that's a dangerous thing....plus it hurts my brain.

Title: Re: Old obscure observation
Post by BarbaraD on Jan 7^th, 2005, 10:00pm

Wait a minute -- I interupted it to say that because we're in direct contact with electric lights during the day - it catches up with us at night.

so we should start a study -- 10 Chers can sit in a dark room all day and see if they get hit at night while the other 10 can sit in a lighted room all day -- Only scientific way to tell if there's any merrit to this theory.

BTW -- how many electric lights were there in 1889? But look at the bright side -- we got a NEW name for CH... sounds really serious. Maybe we should start using it Photo-Electric Opthialmia. It doesn't have the word "headache" in it....

Ok, Jayne I'm with you -- too much thinking and poundering -- Gotta go take a nap now...

Hugs BD

Title: Re: Old obscure observation
Post by Kevin_M on Jan 7^th, 2005, 10:28pm

on 01/07/05 at 22:00:08, BarbaraD wrote:

Wait a minute -- Only scientific way to tell if there's any merrit to this theory.

BTW -- how many electric lights were there in 1889?

Barbie,

I wouldn't have thought the the new disease was caused by electrical lighting, for the reason you stated, even though incandescent lighting was new back then. But it gave the few people who suddenly came out of the woodwork a possible cause to blame for an affliction that had been unacknowledged previously. Doctors back then wouldn't have had a clue as to the cause.
It simply was the first cases that sounded like ours I've come across mentioned in a scientific journal. The new incandescent lighting gave a doctor an easy out to explain the unexplainable, that is why I included the ending disclaimer. However the article mentioning those symptoms was a real surprise to read, referenced from a book about electricity and anxiety. Apparently it seemed it was not followed up on very well since 1889.

I do wonder too what it was like for these people back then. Not much progress for over a hundred years. :(

Kevin M

Title: Re: Old obscure observation
Post by Jeepgun on Jan 7^th, 2005, 10:32pm

Pretty interesting, Kevin! I love stuff like this! Thanks! :)

Title: Re: Old obscure observation
Post by BarbaraD on Jan 8^th, 2005, 7:14am

Kev do you think maybe they may have gotten as disgusted with docs back then as we do now.

and you're right -- not much progress in over 100 years. [smiley=huh.gif]

Title: Re: Old obscure observation
Post by Ueli on Jan 8^th, 2005, 10:46am

It's true, in 1889 the incandescent light bulbs of Swann and Edison were not yet widely used, and more important, they were of a rather low power. But already in wide use were the powerful carbon arc lamps, for lighting of streets, on the stage and other large places. The carbon arc reaches a temperature of ~3600K and, therefore, emits a bright white light, similar to the sun. Because of the high temperature also a large amount of UV-light is produced. It was probably the UV-light that caused the reported eye troubles (akin to snow-blindness).
A few years later, in the early days of movie making, prodigious amounts of arc lighting was used, to overcome the low sensitivity of the early films. Consequently actors and set personnel constantly suffered from eye troubles. Strangely enough, the penny pinchers refused for a long time the remedy, that costs literally only pennies: A piece of ordinary window glass in front of the arc lamp to absorb the UV.