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Medicines for Weakness: 1900 to c. 1950
Published in John K. Crellin, A Social History of Medicines in the Twentieth Century, 2020
Many would have readily seen a link with autointoxication as they read about torpid and sluggish livers or about the absorption of poisons from the intestinal tract in laxative advertisements. "Decay is not digestion" was a slogan of Cascarets, a chocolate flavored preparation that was sold to correct the problem of weak "bowel-muscles."176 Dangerous, "sluggish" bowels were referred to in many advertisements. Syrup of Figs, for example, alerted elderly men and women in 1912 to deal with torpid livers and weak, sluggish bowels that "allow decaying waste and poisons" to enter into the blood.177 One popular laxative commonly prescribed by physicians, calomel (mercurous chloride), needs mention because it represents an interesting example of a medicine's slow demise. Calomel had long had validation with physicians and the public. Although it came under attack in the nineteenth century by alternative practitioners as dangerous in the doses used,178 many physicians were still prescribing it in the 1930s not only as a laxative but also as teething powders for children, a prepara tion ultimately recognized as dangerous to the general health of children.179
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Published in Anton Sebastian, A Dictionary of the History of Medicine, 2018
Autointoxication [Latin: in, within; Greek: toxikon, poison] Toxemia resulting from the absorption of food products in the intestines under the influence of bacterial action. Described by Charles Jacques Bouchard (1837–1915) in 1887. Until the early 20th century intestinal autointoxication was thought to be responsible for conditions such as anemia, neuralgia, neuritis, headaches, arteriosclerosis, rheumatism and many other diseases. The variety of symptoms was later explained by mechanical pressure of intestinal gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.
Constipation: Evaluation and Management
Published in Laurence R. Sands, Dana R. Sands, Ambulatory Colorectal Surgery, 2008
Badma Bashankaev, Eric G. Weiss, Marat Khaikin
Constipation has been recognized as a medical condition as far back as primeval times. In ancient Egypt, one of Pharaoh’s physician’s titles was “Shepherd of the anus of the Pharaoh.” The Ebers Papyrus (1550 BC) had already contained a “pathophysiologic” explanation of constipation caused by autointoxication (1,2). From that time until the second half of the 20th century, the “autointoxication” theory, including the necessity of daily bowel movements, was the dominant explanation of the condition (2). Changes in lifestyle, diet, increased daily stress, and increased length of life led to the common picture of modern constipation.
‘Neurasthenia gastrica’ revisited: perceptions of nerve-gut interactions in nervous exhaustion, 1880–1920
Published in Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease, 2018
In those cases where some kind of abnormality of the gastrointestinal tract was understood as the cause of gastric (and general) neurasthenia, the therapeutic advice given was somewhat different. For instance, when intestinal autointoxication was considered to be the primary problem, the aim of the treatment was to remove the source of toxemia. This could be done by improving the ‘elimination’ and reducing the often-associated constipation, by the means of drugs (‘emesis or lavage’) or so-called ‘colonic flushings’ [53]. Moreover, yoghurt was assumed to inhibit the toxic putrefactive processes of the intestines [54]. In some cases, a more radical and invasive mode of treatment option was suggested. As pointed out by Campbell McClure: In a certain small proportion of cases it may be even necessary, on account of long-continued and severe gastro-intestinal toxæmia which resists any other form of treatment, to remove the colon and implant the ileum into the sigmoid, as recommended by Sir Arbuthnot Lane. [34, p. 699]
Autointoxication and historical precursors of the microbiome–gut–brain axis
Published in Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease, 2018
In terms of treatment, Chevalier-Lavaure suggested that in future, patients’ faecal matter should be examined in order to find out its toxicity, and the harmful bacteria could then be addressed either through antibacterial measures or through ordinary nutritive methods. Some later researchers suggested alternative methods of addressing autointoxication: rather than eliminating the harmful ‘organisms’, it might be possible to counteract them with the effects of beneficial bacteria.