Is there a doctor in the house?

[rolanni]

I'm looking for information on how a Regency-period doctor might describe/diagnose a stroke.

All assistance greatly appreciated.

Comments

[otaku-tetsuko.livejournal.com]

Depends on how it presented symptomatically - if the behavior was strange before hand, it might be called an apoplexy. But the term "Stroke" was also in vogue by then...let me do a little hunting in boxes and I'll get back to you.

[queenmaggie.livejournal.com]

I know that earlier periods would also have called it a "Palsy" depending on how badly affected the speech and motor centers were.

[zola.livejournal.com]

Yep, it's apoplexy

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9748

[(Anonymous)]

Laura Kinsale's book Flowers in the Storm is regency era and the hero suffers a cerebral hemorrhage and can't speak etc and is basically locked up as insane. So maybe they wouldn't diagnose a stroke? It's a long time since I read the book so I can't remember how it was talked about. Not sure if she talks about any of her reference sources anywhere.

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry, Flowers From The Storm. Bad typing.

Couple of thoughts - not much help, I'm afraid.

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

First, googling "regency period medical information" turned up a British publication about Regency times http://www.amazon.co.uk/Georgette-Heyers-Regency-Jennifer-Kloester/dp/0434013293

The first review there is by Anne Woodley of the Janeites, who seems to be a Regency fan - and there is a Jane Austen center over here http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/janeites.html which might be helpful?

Might post this somewhere on Baen's Bar, since I know there are Heyer fans over there and historians?

[swedishsis.livejournal.com]

Medscape has an article on Virchow (1821-1902) that has some interesting background history on strokes:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/545324

it includes a reference page and one of their references is:

Schiller F: Concepts of stroke before and after Virchow. Med Hist 14:115–131, 1970

since Virchow's work was mainly mid 19th century that reference may have descriptions from the time period you are looking for?

[otaku-tetsuko.livejournal.com]

That's why I said symptoms presented count - if they don't look like they're "having an apoplexy" that is, thrashing a bit or otherwise acting odd ---the Regency favorite is turning red or purple in the face and sputtering without being able to speak and then falling over CRASH!--- it might not be diagnosed correctly.

[barsukthom.livejournal.com]

Apoplexy is probably the "scientific" term, as "Stroke" is short for "Elf-Stroke." Which you probably knew.

[6-penny.livejournal.com]

It may be a hair early in period, but have you looked at Lisa Picard's 'Dr Johnson's London. She covers EVERYTHING, from the rich to the poor, clothes, various jobs (what was involved in the cleaning of clothes is fascinating) medicine, including dentistry (don't read before having a root canal which I did) etc. In her 'Restoration London' she has a marvellous section about the problems involved in having privies emptied - sometimes accessed through a neighbors house.