ABSTRACT
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, ancient humoral pathology was gradually complemented by new concepts of medical theory. Two important theories that emerged in this context were iatrochemistry and iatrophysics. The physician Johannes Franc (1649-1725) from Ulm and Friedrich Hoffmann (1660-1742), the first professor of the medical faculty of the Fridericiana in Halle (Saale), are representatives of these concepts. In their writings, they conveyed specific instructions for broader therapeutic treatment including various forms of medication. The iatrochemist Franc recorded his therapies in his medical diary. The treatment methods of the iatrophysicist Hoffmann are written down in his twelve-volume Medicina consultatoria. Using the examples of gonorrhea and syphilis, the goal of this paper is to analyze, on the basis of both records, how the two physicians applied the new medical theoretical concepts in the treatment of these diseases. Franc and Hoffmann held the view that these two venereal diseases represent two separate entities. Thus both physicians departed from the traditional theory that gonorrhea was a stage of syphilis. Accordingly, they used different medication therapies for these diseases. Franc and Hoffmann referred to humoral pathological ideas, the discrasia of the humors in expounding the causes of the diseases. The same applies to their basic therapeutic approaches: they implemented humoral pathological concepts in their therapeutic practice. Bloodletting, sweating cures, and water cures as well as strict diets were prescribed. Nevertheless, differences in their treatment methods are clear. Franc consistently supplemented humoral pathology with ideas of iatrochemistry, prescribing treatment of gonorrhea and syphilis with mercury. Hoffmann, on the other hand, explicitly warned against treating gonorrhea with mercury; however, he was not fundamentally opposed to the use of drugs for the treatment of syphilis.
Subject(s)
Gonorrhea , Mercury , Sexually Transmitted Diseases , Smilax , Syphilis , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , Humans , Sexually Transmitted Diseases/drug therapy , Sexually Transmitted Diseases/history , Syphilis/drug therapyABSTRACT
The diary of the town physician Johannes Franc (1649-1725), handwritten in Latin, gives-among other diseases-an overview of sexually transmitted infections affecting citizens in Ulm such as syphilis and gonorrhea. Franc reported on his own experiences in the diary and also included many theoretical details on the causes of the diseases and the corresponding therapies, including ethical considerations. Even in ancient times, there are indications of venereal diseases. However, at the latest with the outbreak of syphilis around the year 1495, the treatment and control of the spread of venereal diseases became an important task of medicine. Before gonococci were detected by Neisser in 1879, sexually transmitted diseases were generally seen as a single disease. However, at the beginning of the 18th century, there were several doctors who treated syphilis and gonorrhea as separate entities. Franc was one of them. Examining the milestones in the history of syphilis and gonorrhea, the present article reviews the existing theories that tried to explain the origins of these diseases. Franc's treatment patterns are illustrated. Franc's case reports indicate a fundamental change in the perception of STIs at the end of the 17th/beginning of the 18th century.
Subject(s)
General Practice/history , General Practitioners/history , Sexually Transmitted Diseases/history , Gonorrhea/history , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , Humans , Physicians , Syphilis/historyABSTRACT
In 1949 Max Hösel (1906-1971) founded the largest urological hospital in the world at that time in the former military hospital in Ulm, which at times had over 250 inpatient beds. In the south German region he had at his disposal the most comprehensive endoscopic operation collective and the greatest experience in transurethral resection of the prostate (TUR-P). From 1948 to 1958 he carried out approximately 13,850 prostate resections with an average adenoma weight of 30 g and a mortality rate of <1%. The technical inadequacies of the resection instruments at that time prompted Hösel to develop a new form of resectoscope, namely the type 782. This resectoscope allowed a fast and complete resection of prostatic adenomas due to the improved visual field and better handling (rotating the operational unit) and also made the transurethral resection of larger prostatic adenomas possible. Therefore, in "Ulm and around Ulm" substantially larger prostatic adenomas could be endoscopically treated and open enucleation was not necessary. Prof. Hösel was an international force as a urologist and in Germany was ranked as one of the pioneers in the field of endoscopic prostate surgery. Although he never held the position of a University Chair, in the municipal hospitals in Ulm he accomplished the foundations for the later University Clinic for Urology.
Subject(s)
Endoscopy/history , Prostatectomy/history , Prostatic Neoplasms/history , Prostatic Neoplasms/surgery , Urology/history , Germany , History, 20th Century , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Of national medicohistorical importance was the town physician Johannes Franc (1649-1725). His diary written in Latin gives - among other diseases - an overview of urological diseases affecting citizens in Ulm around 1700. It also allows a look into the "workshop" of a scholar who studied contemporary medicine in comprehensive manner. Franc's case reports illustrate a fundamental change in the perception of the patient at the end of the 17th/beginning of the 18th century.
Subject(s)
General Practice/history , General Practitioners/history , Patient Acceptance of Health Care , Physician-Patient Relations , Urologic Diseases/history , Germany , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , HumansABSTRACT
In addition to the local barber surgeons, operations in Ulm were also carried out by travelling lithotomists, or wound physicians, who moved from town to town. The Ulm public medical officer Johannes Scultetus (1595-1645) was of nationwide medical historical importance and whose work"Wundartzneyisches Zeughauß" which was published posthumously was a milestone in surgical literature and included the technique for lithotomy. In the nineteenth century Ulm was the endemic region for urolithiasis and some physicians from the Ulm region were considered to be the most experienced lithotomists. At the end of the Ulm lithotomy period there were various physicians from the Palm family and amongst these Johannes Palm was particularly outstanding. The normal methods of lithotomy used in the nineteenth century varied mainly in the access route to the bladder. The only remaining evidence of the old lithotomists is the classical lithotomy position in the operating room.
Subject(s)
Barber Surgeons/history , Lithotripsy/history , Urologic Surgical Procedures/history , Urology/history , Germany , History, 17th Century , HumansABSTRACT
After implementation of the Law for the Prevention of Progeny with Hereditary Diseases on 1 January 1934 the first enforced sterilizations were undertaken at the Städtische Krankenhaus-Heilig-Geist-Spital in Ravensburg. Between April 1934 and March 1938, 389 sterilization operations were performed. For later years no data is available, but it can be assumed that the total number is significantly greater. Patients affected were transferred to the Städtische Krankenhaus by the Psychiatric Clinic Weissenau, Gertrudisheim, and the Clinic for Deaf and Dumb in Wilhelmsdorf. In only about half of the cases was the rationale for the sterilization program stated. The main reasons included: mental illness (57%), schizophrenia (23%), and epilepsy (6%). This was similar to the total data published for all of Germany.
Subject(s)
Eugenics/history , Hospitals/history , Mental Disorders/history , National Socialism/history , Sterilization, Involuntary/history , Germany , History, 20th Century , HumansABSTRACT
In the seventeenth century it was customary in medicine to copy texts from other authors without citing the source. This practice is illustrated by the diary of Johannes Franc (16491725), a physician in the city of Ulm, who handwrote a practice journal in Latin and German Gothic script entering text passages plagiarized as follows: he reproduced them almost word for word in order to pass them off as his own experiences, used them as a model for his prescriptions and as a template for his case histories, and integrated them into his work to support his argumentation. In addition, he summarized texts from various sources, refined them by omitting portions, and incorporated his own experiences for embellishment. These plagiarism techniques and the purpose they served are analyzed and compared to some passages taken from the original texts.
Subject(s)
Medical Records , Plagiarism , Reference Books, Medical , Urology/history , Germany , History, 17th Century , History, 18th CenturyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article was to achieve a commemoration of patients of the Healing and Nursing Institute in Günzburg who were victims of "Aktion T4". METHODS: On the basis of pre-defined criteria several individual patient documents were selected for this study and analyzed historically. Most items of information concerning patient histories and diagnoses were obtained from the stock R 179 of the branch office of the federal archives in Berlin Lichterfelde. Further supplementary information was extracted from administrative documents and patient charts of the archives of the psychiatric department at the regional hospital Günzburg. RESULTS: The historical reconstruction of three individual life histories contributes to a literary memorial for the victims. CONCLUSIONS: It is a historical responsibility to remember the victims of the "Aktion T4" by contributing to a reconstruction of their life histories.
