Overview
Tuberculosis is a disease that has been around for thousands of years and has worked in many ways to shape our culture. It was often viewed as a romantic, desirable disease that once shaped beauty standards for women, and had great influence over a large amount of literature and art, particularly around the Victorian era.
Origins
Where did Tuberculosis come from?
Tuberculosis has identified itself as a disease that has been prevalent for much of human history. It is estimated to have been around for as long as 70,000 years. It has been hypothesized that the genus Mycobacterium originated more than 150 million years ago. Egyptian mummies, dating back to 2400 BC, reveal skeletal deformities typical of tuberculosis, and similar abnormalities are clearly illustrated in early Egyptian art.
The first written documents describing tuberculosis, dating back to 3300 and 2300 years ago, were found in India and in China. In the same period, in the Andean region, archeological evidence of early tuberculosis was found in Peruvian mummies, suggesting that the disease was present even before the colonization of the first Europeans in South America. In the bible, the ancient Hebrew word “schachepheth” is used in the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus in order to describe the disease. In Ancient Greece tuberculosis was well known and called Phtisis. Hippocrates described Phtisis as a fatal disease especially for young adults, defining its symptoms and the characteristic tubercular lung lesions.
The Royal Touch
What does royalty have to do with tuberculosis?
In the Middle Ages, scrofula, a disease affecting cervical lymph nodes, was described as a new clinical form of TB. The illness was known in England and France as "king's evil", and it was widely believed that persons affected could heal after a royal touch .
Monarchs would perform the “Royal touch” where the infected would kneel at their feet and be blessed, In some cases this did appear to have positive effects, but it was likely these improvements were due to a better diet and living conditions staying at the palace. Queen Anne was the last to use the royal touch.
Industrial Revolution
How did tuberculosis develop such a strong grasp on society?
In Italian health law, in particular in an edict issued by the Republic of Lucca in 1699, there is the first official reference to the infectious nature of the disease. In 1720, for the first time, the infectious origin of TB was conjectured by the English physician Benjamin Marten, in his publication "A new theory of Consumption".
In 1838-39, up to a third of English tradesmen and employees died of TB, whereas the same proportion decreased to a sixth in the upper class.By 1850, between 75-90% of all people on earth had the tuberculosis bacterium in them.At one hospital in Paris in the early 1800s, tuberculosis was identified to be the cause of death in more than 1/3 of all autopsies. The term “White Plague” was coined in the 18th century to describe TB as a variation of the “Black Plague” used to describe the bubonic plague which had previously ravaged the world population.
In 1810, the French physician Gaspard-Laurent Bayle of Vernet described the disseminated "miliary" TB, recognizing TB not only as a disease affecting the lung, but a generalized one, clinically defined by coughing, difficulty in breathing, fever and purulent expectoration. The first treatment widely used in this time to treat tuberculosis was the well known “tuberculosis sanatoriums” and the fresh air and access to symptom treatment did seem to have beneficial effects.
Koch vs. Pasteur
How did we learn all we know about TB?
A German physician named Robert Koch was the first to be able to isolate the tubercle bacillus. Paul Ehrlich, his student, developed the staining method for acid-fast bacteria which include TB. Using the methylene blue staining created by Paul Ehrlich, he identified, isolated and cultivated the bacillus in animal serum. Finally he reproduced the disease by inoculating the bacillus into laboratory animals.
However, his well established scientific rival, Louis Pasteur was actually the first to suggest the contagious nature of TB. Koch presented this result to the Society of Physiology in Berlin on 24 March 1882. This was when the race to find a cure started between Koch and Pasteur. Koch created a cure known as tuberculin but it had many adverse effects and killed multiple individuals as well as not being effective.
As it turns out neither would be the one to identify the cure. A student named Albert Schatz found streptomycin which worked in order to cure tuberculosis completely. After this discovery, sanatoriums essentially emptied overnight.