MEDICINE IN COLONIAL
AMERICA
By: Sabrina Muhanna
ID4
DO YOU EVER WONDER WHAT MEDICINE WAS
LIKE IN COLONIAL TIMES?
Well, I do! Medicine was sort of, weird in the
Colonial Times. They treated illnesses much
differently then we do now! There were also
many diseases that unfortunately, could not
be treated. Now lets get on with the
INFORMATION!!
WHAT WERE SOME OF THE DISEASES?There were many diseases back in the Colonial
Times. One of the major diseases was
smallpox. Smallpox was known as the colonial
plague of the eighteenth century. It was very
contagious. Symptoms included a fever,
vomiting, and formation of pustules all over
the body. It was GROSS!
HOW DID SMALL POX LOOK?
Smallpox gave some
sort of rash all over
the body. It was
pretty nasty to look
at. Luckily, I found a
picture that wasn’t
as nasty as the
others.
NASTY RIGHT?!
Well unfortunately many people had this disease. There is
no cure to smallpox but however, there is a vaccine. Dr.
Zabdiel Boylston inoculated his six year old son and two
slaves. He inoculated 150 more patients. This is how the
smallpox vaccine started. Only if he discovered this sooner!
ENOUGH ABOUT SMALLPOX!!
Smallpox was a horrible
disease, fortunate for us it is
extremely rare in our times. I
will now discuss other illnesses
that were common in colonial
times . Lets talk about
something simple. FEVERS! Oh
how I hate fevers. I’m
sometimes cold then hot. My
body’s so fickle! (only if Mrs.
Rubin was here) But how did
people in Colonial Times treat
fevers? HMMMMMMMMMMM
(:
SO HOW DID PEOPLE TREAT FEVERS?
When people had fevers, the
physicians thought that the
patient had too much blood in
their body. Weird right? Since
they thought there was too
much blood, they cut open the
patients vein and drained out
some blood. Sometimes this
worked, but other times this
weakened the patients.
Sometimes it even killed
them! Thank god we have
Tylenol!
WONDERING WHAT THIS IS?
Well I’ll tell you (: You know
how nowadays we have
drugstores? (Ex: Rite Aid,
Duane Reade, you get the
idea:) Well back in Colonial
Times they had apothecaries!
They sold many things to cure
illnesses. Chalk was sold for
stomachaches, bark was also
sold as another treatment for
fever, and other potions were
sold to heal sick people. What
an interesting pharmacy!
WHAT IS BERIBERI DISEASE?
Beriberi was another
common disease in Colonial
Times. It is caused by the
lack of vitamin B1 in the
body. The function of
vitamin B1 in the body is to
help convert food into
energy. When a person
suffered from Beriberi, the
first symptoms to arise
included fatigue and loss of
appetite.
WHAT WAS THE TREATMENT OF BERIBERI?
Vitamin B1 is most commonly found in foods
such as, rice, eggs, meat, beans, and spinach.
People with this illness were treated by eating
more of these foods. Symptoms would go away
quickly.
WELL THAT’S ALL PEOPLE!
Even though medicine in the Colonial Times was
different, we should appreciate what these people
went through. People risked their lives to find cures
for people with these diseases. They didn’t have the
technology and equipment that we have today. We
should all be thankful for the modern ways of
treating illnesses and diseases today. Besides, if they
didn’t have cures for illnesses, we wouldn’t be able
to come to our AMAZING SCHOOL! (;
GO DOCTORS!!!!!!!
WRITING! !
American Eras The Colonial Era
by Jessica Kross
http://
www.ssdsbergen.org/Colonial/me
dicine.htm
Medicine In Colonial America by
Charlie Samuel
P I C T U R E S ! !
S O U R E S : S M A L L P O X P I C T U R E H T T P : / / W W W . G O O G L E . C O M / I M G R E S ? Q = S M A L L P O X & U M = 1 & H L = E N & S A =N & B I W = 1 0 2 4 & B I H = 6 4 3 & T B M = I S C H & T B N I D = L P W 8 K 1 G W A V U T F M : & I M G RE F U R L = H T T P : / / W W W . N L M . N I H . G O V / M E D L I N E P L U S / E N C Y / I M A G E P A G E S /1 9 0 5 9 . H T M & D O C I D = K K X H M P R 4 N W U H I M & I M G U R L = H T T P : / / W W W . N L M . N IH . G O V / M E D L I N E P L U S / E N C Y / I M A G E S / E N C Y / F U L L S I Z E / 1 9 0 5 9 . J P G & W = 4 00 & H = 3 2 0 & E I = Y K J I T Q C _ D 4 H T 0 G H 7 _ M G Q & Z O O M = 1 & I A C T = R C & D U R = 3 2 9 &S I G = 1 1 7 4 6 3 4 2 5 8 0 6 7 4 7 9 8 2 3 1 8 & P A G E = 3 & T B N H = 1 3 5 & T B N W = 1 6 7 & S T A R T= 3 5 & N D S P = 1 7 & V E D = 1 T : 4 2 9 , R : 1 4 , S : 3 5 & T X = 5 6 & T Y = 7 8
A P O T H E C A R I E S A N D C U T T I N G A R M P I C T U R E : H T T P : / / W W W . S S D S B E R G E N . O R G / C O L O N I A L / M E D I C I N E . H T M
D O C T O R P I C T U R E : H T T P : / / U P L O A D . W I K I M E D I A . O R G / W I K I P E D I A / E N / 6 / 6 A / D O C T O R _ H I B B E R T. P N G
W O N D E R I N G F A C E : H T T P : / / 3 . B P . B L O G S P O T . C O M / - 0 6 Z V S _ _ E Z A M / T Z L B B E A O H O I / A A A A A A A A AO Y / V 3 6 4 I T Y Z F H S / S 1 6 0 0 / W O N D E R I N G . J P G