Through studies of Egyptian mummies it is understood that the subjects of Pharaoh Rameses (about 1200BC) suffered with ‘Phthisis’, a wasting disease, or TB as we know it today. It is spread by coughing, spitting or sneezing.
The organism causing it, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, was not discovered until 1882. Early in 1810 it was recognised as the same disease as ‘Scrofula’ or ‘Consumption’. In its’ most common form it has caseous tubercles (semi-dried cheese-like abscesses) in the lungs.
Like the ‘Miasma’ theory about cholera, there was much opposition to the ‘germ’ theory of TB right up until 1865.
By 1893, TB accounted for the death of 20% of the population of England.
Various treatments were tried, but fresh air was still being advocated as well as a healthy diet and minimal exercise. After the Public Health Act 1921 was introduced, many sanatoriums were opened around the country to cater for the observation, treatment and care of affected people. The Cheshire Joint Sanatorium was opened in 1923 at Loggerheads, Staffordshire, a year after the Wrenbury Hall Tuberculosis Colony. Most sanatoria had closed by the 1960’s due to more effective treatments.
Calcium solutions were injected into patients at Wrenbury by Dr Peter W. Edwards, “the Chief” as he was known, and even gold salts had been tried as they reportedly inhibited TB growth. Painful injections with, sadly, no benefit.
From 1915 – 1953 a new technique of injecting air into the chest (‘Artificial Pneumothorax’) was used to collapse the affected lung giving the tubercles no stimulation, allowing the body to ‘wall’ them off. Top-ups of air were required periodically to keep the lung deflated, but it did help in many cases.
By 1942 Mass Miniature Radiography was being offered to screen for TB. Three million people were radiographed a year by 1961 using these mobile units. The Nantwich Chronicle reported that during the screening in 1951 at Nantwich, 1,706 people had been examined and 4 active cases of TB discovered.
A ‘one-off’ vaccine was developed to protect against TB. This ‘Bacillus Calmette-Guerin’ vaccine (BCG), introduced in 1950, was stopped in 2005 in the UK. Everyone was given a skin test called the Mantoux test. If you had no reaction you got the vaccine! (Upper left arm area… look for the scar!)
TB case statistics show that in 1950 there were 50,000 cases in the UK but by 2013 there were 7,290 cases. Modern antibiotic combinations are able to cure TB.
You can learn more about the Cheshire Joint Sanatorium here.
You can read more about the turberculosis treatment at Wrenbury Hall here.