Dr. John Snow: Medical Pioneer in Cholera
“You know nothing, Jon Snow!” As it turns out, there is one John Snow who did know quite a great deal!
Forgive me if the Game of Thrones reference is unfamiliar… or worse yet, a reminder of a fabulous TV show that ended up having the worse final seasons of all time. Indeed, for me the pain is still too near.
Moving on…. Today I am back with a third awesome historical video from Weird History on YouTube. This one may have initially caught my eye due to the aforementioned name similarity, but I am sharing it purely for the fascinating medical history value. Not surprising to anyone who knows my novels and personal career choice, medicine is deeply ingrained into my soul. Dr. John Snow is exactly the type of real life physician who inspired me to write Dr. George Darcy.
A mini-soapbox lecture — We must never forget the great men and women who forged ahead through overwhelming odds, their primary motivation to improve humanity through better health. Tragically, it is a desire largely lost today. As this historical video reveals, politicians ignoring real science and data in favor of power and control, even at the expense of human life, have always occurred. Today the very definition of “science” is what people in power want it to be, regardless of what is truth. These people, including far too many who have medical degrees and work for once-prestigious institutions of higher learning and medicine, almost always have nefarious purposes which have scant to do with caring about health and facts.
The story of Dr. John Snow’s fight to save lives and solve the riddle of a deadly disease, in this case cholera, while being thwarted time and again by the elites who only pretended to be concerned for the people, is an all too familiar refrain today. History will not look kindly upon what has been done during this pandemic. Weird History once again proves that political stupidity is a main feature of human civilization, as they did with the video on Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis and handwashing, which I shared last October. I give it another year, maybe two, and they’ll be making one on Covid and the evil Dr. Fauci.
Getting back to history, cholera, and Dr. Snow… here is the blurb by Weird History for this video:
Maps have the power to change minds, as the 1861 map that convinced Lincoln to end slavery proves. Maps also have the power to save lives. One such map, the John Snow map, single handedly ended a cholera outbreak and revolutionized epidemiology. Dr. John Snow’s cholera map of London charted deaths in the Soho neighborhood during the 1854 cholera outbreak.
Thank you for that, we think alike!
Wise minds think alike!
I do agree that ineptitude by the authorities can make matter worse, Generally I don’t believe in hoaxes or deliberate refusal to acknowledge scientific findings… except, when the Doctor in Australia who discovered that stomach ulcers could be treated with antibiotics , he found his findings were not put into effect for quite a while. Why? Because too many in the medical profession were making their living off repeat visits for problems with the digestive tract. So there is room for the theory that sometimes the best way to treat things is not handled in a rational manner.
Thanks for sharing that example, Linda. Not one I was familiar with, but proves that while hopefully not the norm, it does happen. As a medical person, I do believe the majority of doctors, medical scientists, etc. DO care about ultimately improving health. That said, questioning is what true science is all about, and blind belief is ludicrous.
Appreciate the thoughtful comment. Cheers!