Medicine During the Civil War Essay -- essays research papers fc

Medicine During the Civil struggle 1861-1865When Walt Whitman wrote that he believed the corporeal war would never get into the books, this is the side he was talking active (Belferman 1996). Yet, it is important that we remember and recall the medical side of the conflict too, as horrible and terrifying as it was (Adams 1952). Long before doctors and people knew anything some bacteria and what caused disease was the time of Civil contend medicine. repairs during the Civil War (always referred to as surgeons) were incredibly unprepared. Most surgeons had as little as two years of medical school because very few pursued march on education. At that time, Harvard Medical School did not even own a single stethoscope or microscope until well after the war. Most Civil War surgeons had never treated a gun shot wound because they were habitual to treating minor head colds and sore throats. umpteen had never per changeed surgery or even held a scalpel. Medical boards let extremely unqualified students do medicine due to much needed help for wounded soldiers on the sphere. Some ten thousand surgeons served in the Union and about intravenous feeding thousand served in the Southern Confederacy (Cunningham 1958). By far, the deadliest thing that confront the Civil War soldier was disease and infection. For every soldier who died in battle, two died of disease (Cunningham 1958). Among the long list of terminal and fatal diseases that plagued the battlefield as well as the operating table and hospitals were dysentery (a severe form of diarrhea which was very common among the soldiers), measles, small pox, malaria, pneumonia, and camp itch which was caused by skin disease and insects. Malaria was usually brought on by camping in damp areas, where mosquitos were prone to. There were many accompanimentors that came into play which explained why disease spread so rapidly. Among the explanations were as follows inadequate somatogenics before entering the Army, the f act many troops came from rural areas, neglect of camp hygiene, insects and rodents in the area, movie to other infected individuals, lack of clothing and shoes, and poor conditions of food and water. Many unqualified recruits entered the Army and diseases cruelly weeded out those who should have been excluded by physical exams prior to recruiting (Shildt 1986). &... .... The many men and women, North and South, who served in the hospital and salubrious services during the war were proud of their achievements (Adams 1861-1865). The morbidity and mortality rates of both armies showed marked improvement over those of other 19th century wars. The physicians and sanitarians held take in the disease fatalities to levels that their generation considered more than reasonable. It was a gruesome business for doctors and patients uniform yet without the doctors and nurses in blue and gray, much of the young manhood of the States at mid century might not have survived for the take shape of rebuilding. (Adams 1861-1865) Works CitedAdams, George W. Doctors In Blue,Medical History of the Union Baton rougeUniversity of Louisiana Press, 1952Belferman, Mary On Surgerys Cutting delimitation in the Civil War The Washington Post, June 13, 1996Cunningham, H.H. Doctors in Gray, Baton make up University of Louisiana Press, 1958Coco, Gregory A. A Strange and Blighted Land-Gettysburg, The Aftermath, 1995Schildt, John W. Hunter Homes McGuireDoctor in Gray, 1986Adams, George W. Fighting for Time The National Historical Societys-The cooking stove of War 1861-1865 Volume IV