The American Lung Association is dedicated to the cure and control of all lung diseases, but its formation in 1904 was in response to only one: tuberculosis. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, tuberculosis (TB) was the leading cause of death in the United States, and one of the most feared diseases in the world.
Formerly called “consumption,” tuberculosis is characterized externally by fatigue, night sweats, and a general “wasting away” of the victim. Typically but not exclusively a disease of the lungs, TB is also marked by a persistent coughing-up of thick white phlegm, sometimes blood.
Cartoon by Fred O. Seibel
There was no reliable treatment for tuberculosis. Some physicians prescribed bleedings and purgings, but most often, doctors simply advised their patients to rest, eat well, and exercise outdoors.[1] Very few recovered. Those who survived their first bout with the disease were haunted by severe recurrences that destroyed any hope for an active life.
Kentucky TB Association Ad, ca. 1945
It was estimated that, at the turn of the century, 450 Americans died of tuberculosis every day, most between ages 15 and 44.[2] The disease was so common and so terrible that it was often equated with death itself.
Tuberculosis was primarily a disease of the city, where crowded and often filthy living conditions provided an ideal environment for the spread of the disease. The urban poor represented the vast majority of TB victims.
Villemin, Koch & Contagion
Jean-Antoine Villemin (1827-1892)
Science took its first real step toward the control oftuberculosis in 1868, when Frenchman Jean-Antoine Villemin proved that TB was in fact contagious. Before Villemin, many scientists believed thattuberculosis was hereditary. In fact, some stubbornly held on to this belief even after Villemin published his results.[3]
Robert Koch (1843-1910)
In 1882, German microbiologist Robert Koch converted most of the remaining skeptics when he isolated the causative agent of the disease, a rod-shaped bacterium now called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, or simply, the tubercle bacillus.
The work of Villemin and Koch did not immediately lead to a cure, but their discoveries helped revolutionize the popular view of the disease. They had demonstrated that the tubercle bacillus was present in the victim’s sputum. A single cough or sneeze might contain hundreds of bacilli. The message seemed clear: stay away from people with tuberculosis.
Cover Up!
This new rule of behavior was sensible, but it made the tubercular invalid an “untouchable,” a complete outcast. Many lost their jobs because of the panic they created among co-workers. Many landlords refused to house them. Hotel proprietors, forced to consider the safety of other guests, turned them away.[4] Rejected by society, tuberculosis victims gathered in secluded tuberculosis hospitals to die.
Trudeau & the Sanatorium
Edward Livingston Trudeau (1848-1915)
Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau (1848-1915) was the first American to promote isolation as a means not only to spare the healthy, but to heal the sick. Trudeau believed that a period of rest and moderate exercise in the cool, fresh air of the mountains was a cure for tuberculosis. In 1885, he opened the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium (often called “the Little Red Cottage”) at Saranac Lake, New York, the first rest home for tuberculosis patients in the United States.
Dr. Trudeau’s sanatorium plan was based on personal experience. When he was nineteen, Trudeau watched his older brother die of TB, an experience that convinced him to become a physician. In 1872, just a year after leaving medical school, he, too, contracted tuberculosis. Faced with what he believed to be a sure and speedy death, Trudeau left his medical practice in New York City and set off for his favorite resort in the Adirondacks to die.[5] There, instead of wasting away, he steadily regained his strength, due entirely, he believed, to healthy diet and outdoor exercise. Experiments on tubercular rabbits in his lab at the cottage seemed to verify his belief. In February of 1885, Trudeau welcomed the first group of hopeful patients to his sanatorium in the woods.
Child Memorial Infirmary with open-air porches for tuberculosis patients at Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium, Saranac Lake, N.Y. Library of Congress.
Trudeau required his guests to follow a strict regimen of diet and exercise. They were given three meals every day, and a glass of milk every four hours. Trudeau and his staff encouraged their patients to spend as much time as possible outdoors. At first, this meant extended periods of sitting on the sanatorium veranda (the open-air porch was a standard feature of Trudeau-style sanatoriums). Gradually, patients spent more time walking than sitting, until they were able to spend 8 to 10 hours per day exercising outdoors, regardless of weather.[6] Trudeau made his rest home available to the poor by setting a very low rent and providing free medical service. By 1900, what started as a single red cottage was a small village, a 22-building complex that included a library, a chapel, and an infirmary.
FAQs
Patients were treated for TB with fresh air, good food and sometimes surgery. America built many sanatoriums to care for persons with TB. In 1904, there were 115 sanatoriums with the capacity for 8,000 patients expanding to 839 sanatoriums with the capacity for 136,000 patients in 1953.
What is the early treatment of tuberculosis? ›
For initial empiric treatment of TB, start patients on a 4-drug regimen: isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol. Once the TB isolate is known to be fully susceptible, ethambutol can be discontinued.
When was the first treatment for tuberculosis discovered? ›
The major historical landmarks of tuberculosis (TB) therapy include: the discovery of effective medications (streptomycin and para-aminosalicylic acid) in 1944; the revelation of “triple therapy” (streptomycin, para-aminosalicylic acid and isoniazid) in 1952, which assured cure; recognition in the 1970s that isoniazid ...
How is tuberculosis treated by antibiotics American Lung Association? ›
How Is Active TB Treated? If you have an active TB disease you will probably be treated with a combination of antibacterial medications for a period of six to 12 months. The most common treatment for active TB is isoniazid INH in combination with three other drugs—rifampin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol.
What was the life expectancy of a person with tuberculosis in 1900? ›
Getting tuberculosis in 1900 was a death sentence—and a drawn-out one at that. Suffers of the infectious disease that typically attacks the lungs had an average of three years to live. But those years would be filled with coughing and chest pains.
What was the old medicine for tuberculosis? ›
In the early 1960s, ethambutol was shown to be effective and better tolerated than para-aminosalicylic acid, which it replaced. In the 1970s, rifampin found its place as a keystone in the therapy of tuberculosis.
What animal did tuberculosis come from? ›
It is a major zoonotic disease, and cattle are the main source of infection for humans. It also affects other domesticated animals such as sheep, goats, equines, pigs, dogs and cats, and wildlife species such as wild boars, deer, and antelopes.
What is the first line treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis? ›
First-line agents for treatment of TB disease consist of isoniazid, a rifamycin (rifampin or [less frequently] either rifapentine or rifabutin), pyrazinamide, and ethambutol; in addition, moxifloxacin is a first-line agent when administered in combination with isoniazid, rifapentine, and pyrazinamide [6].
What are the 5 treatments for TB? ›
The standardized regimens for anti-TB treatment recommended by WHO include five essential medicines designated as “first line”: isoniazid (H), rifampicin (R), pyrazinamide (Z), ethambutol (E) and streptomycin (S). Table 2.1 shows the recommended doses for adults and children.
Was there a cure for tuberculosis in the 1899? ›
There were over half a million cases of drug-resistant TB in 2017 alone. There was no hope of a cure for TB in 1899 when Arthur Morgan contracts the disease – the world's first antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered in 1928, and the first TB drug, streptomycin was discovered in 1943.
Artificial pneumothorax (APT) was the first positive treatment of tuberculosis to cause improvement. As a basic of therapy after 1910 it was replaced by chemotherapy 30 years later. Its development followed an early 19th century observation that spontaneous pneumothorax improved a tuberculosis patient.
What was the gold treatment for TB? ›
Created in Denmark in 1925, sanocrysin (sodium-gold-thio-sulphate) was said to neutralize TB and confer immunity. Side-effects to the intramuscular injections were severe, though, including fever, weight loss, vomiting, and – in many cases – death.
How was TB treated before antibiotics? ›
The predominant form of treatment of tuberculosis throughout the first half of the twentieth century, in Britain and elsewhere, was 'sanatorium treatment', whereby patients were confined in institutions in which they rested, exercised, ate wholesome food and followed careful routines, all of which were thought to ...
What kills tuberculosis on surfaces? ›
For Tuberculosis, it is recommended a dilution of 1 part of bleach and 4 parts of water (1/5 solution). Follow label directions of the disinfectant.
What happens if you skip TB medicine for 2 days? ›
What if I do not take the medicine? If you don't take Rifampin, miss too many days, or stop taking the medicine before your doctor or nurse tells you to, you may become sick with active TB disease. It is important to kill TB germs so you and your family stay healthy.
How did people survive tuberculosis? ›
There was no reliable treatment for tuberculosis. Some physicians prescribed bleedings and purgings, but most often, doctors simply advised their patients to rest, eat well, and exercise outdoors. [1] Very few recovered.
What was the cure for tuberculosis in 1899? ›
There was no hope of a cure for TB in 1899 when Arthur Morgan contracts the disease – the world's first antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered in 1928, and the first TB drug, streptomycin was discovered in 1943.
How did they treat TB in the 1920s? ›
The predominant form of treatment of tuberculosis throughout the first half of the 20th century, in Britain and elsewhere, was 'sanatorium treatment', whereby patients were confined in institutions in which they rested, exercised, ate wholesome food and followed careful routines, all of which were thought to control ...
Was tuberculosis a death sentence? ›
Although TB-related mortality rates have mostly gone down a lot in the 21st century, a diagnosis of tuberculosis was considered as good as a death sentence in the ancient and medieval ages. Back in the day, it was considered the scourge of mankind.
)
