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