nPostednon September 30, 2013
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| The first use of ether as anesthesia was such a big deal that a painting was made commemorating the event… |
nOnenreally bad thing about living in the past was the terrible medicalncare. Not only did people not understand as much as we do now aboutnthe causes and cures of illnesses, and about the importance ofnwashing hands and of sanitation, they didn’t even have anesthesia tonuse during operations and dental procedures.
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nSonpeople had to endure agony! n
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nOrnthey kept putting off needed procedures because they feared thenpain…and of course that often led to more pain, and sometimes death.
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nManyndoctors and dentists used alcohol or marijuana or even hashish tonkill some of the pain—or to make their patients care less about thenpain, at least. But other medical practitioners and chemists began tonexperiment with chemicals that might do a better job than whiskey.nOne experimenter invented “sweet vitriol,” and another inventedn“laughing gas.” At first these experiments were done on animals,nnot humans. By the end of the 1700s, people began to experiment onnthemselves with these substances. n
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| This was William Morton’s first inhaler. |
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nFinally,non this date in 1846, an American dentist named William Morton pulledna patient’s tooth using ether as anesthesia—and the toothnextraction was completely painless! Morton went further and arrangedna public demonstration of ether on a patient undergoing surgery. Thatnoperation was a huge success, and word spread about this pain-freenmedical option!
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nWhatnis pain? Find out here.
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nAlsonon this date:
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Chewing-gumnmogul William Wrigley’s birthday
Chewing-gumnmogul William Wrigley’s birthdayn
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nAnniversarynof the commissioning of the world’s first nuclear submarine
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nPlannAhead!
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on Octobernholidays, Octobernbirthdays,nand historicalnanniversaries in October.