'Whiskey is the cure'... Treatments for Cholera in 1832

Dangerous 'quack' cures for the coronavirus are being shared online in the midst of the current epidemic. 

​Lemon juice, lavender oil, elderberries, liquid silver and hot water are among the remedies being suggested on Facebook, particularly in anti-vaccination circles. This echos the raft of toxic compounds which were touted as curative during the Great Cholera Epidemic of 1832. 
Cholera was little understood in the early nineteenth century, and the medical profession failed to make the link between contaminated water and the disease. Miasma theory, which cited rotting organic substances as the cause of illness, held sway among public health reformers. The lack of understanding of the nature and vectors of transmission of the disease, was the main factor in its spread and epidemic character. The cholera microbe was not identified until 1883, by the physician Robert Koch, but in 1832 there was little that could be done to save an infected patient. 
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There was, however, a vast array of purported treatments for cholera; many were based on traditional cures, and some on emerging scientific rationale.  Most were simply ineffective, given the limited nature of the knowledge of the pathology of the disease.  The common practice of delivering emetics and enemas to encourage purging led to a further, and often catastrophic depletion of a patient’s body fluids. 

A patient despairs over which Cholera treatment. (Wellcome Collection)

​Bleeding, a traditional remedy for restoring circulatory balance was a common treatment, as were the administration of mercury, opium and laudanum, common drugs during the period.  The rage of substances prescribed was diverse, from ammonia, arsenic, camphor, castor-oil and even turpentine. Virtually all treatments only made the patient worse, their dehydrating effects simply hasting death. There was a belief that alcohol provided some immunity to the disease and hence it was consumed widely. Brandy and whiskey were commonly used to encourage patients to vomit, and were considered to be both preventative and curative.  Whiskey mixed with ginger was frequently given to children as a daily preventative measure. Nurses at the Sligo fever hospital stayed permanently drunk in the hope of avoiding infection. Much of the populace of Sligo spent the epidemic in an intoxicated state.

The Cholera Man - prepared to ward off the disease! (Wellcome Collection)

Who could dispense medicines? 

In the 1830s, Medicines were generally dispensed by Apothecaries  or Chemists as we would now call them, who compounded medicines and were theoretically overseen by the College of Physicans.  Physicans, (MDs), treated internal disease, and Surgeons treated external conditions, including amputations . By 1832, there was a certain amount of tension between the professions. Apothecaries could practice a limited amount of surgical tasks, and in the 1830s, there were many ‘Surgeon-apothecaries’, a prototype general practitioner, not always in agreement with the Physicians.  
However, all were in agreement to warn the public about trusting the 'quack' or fraudster, purveying supposed cures for the disease, and making a fast shilling off the impoverished masses. 

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Scientific Age

Today, we are lucky to live in an age of science and with good healthcare. An outbreak of cholera today, would be quickly tackled with preventative measures such as antibiotics, rehydration and an emergency supply of clean water. But that all is dependent on a functioning civil society. Cholera is still endemic, maintained at a baseline level, always ready to erupt again. It has largely disappeared from the developed world, due to modern water treatment and efficient sewerage networks. However, it can rear its ugly head very suddenly, as was the case in Haiti, following the devastating earthquake of 2010. Continuing civil war in Yemen has lead to a debilitating and on-going cholera epidemic, and the disease is still prevalent in poorer countries in Africa and Southeast Asia. An appreciation of our own society's dalliance with cholera, should give us empathy with those who continue suffer under its lethal shadow.