Dr James Le Fanu: 11 October
Benjamin Franklin was lucky not to have electrocuted himself when famously – if foolishly – he ew his kite into a thunderstorm back in 1752. Still, his demonstration of the electrical nature of lightning had two immediately bene cial e ects.
First it seemed sensible to t tall wooden buildings with a metal lightning conductor to safely transmit the electrical charge to the ground – thus preventing them from bursting into ames, as they had a habit of doing, during a thunderstorm. Next, his experiment inspired the father of Methodism, John Wesley, to propose that electricity might be an e ective treatment for a range of medical conditions.
Wesley, like many of the clergy at the time, was much concerned by the physical health of his parishioners. Alongside his inspirational message of spiritual salvation, he advocated a frugal diet, regular exercise, rising early and personal hygiene – coining the well-known adage, ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’. He was also deeply impressed by how the human body would give off sparks when exposed to an electric charge. ‘Who can comprehend how this ethereal fire issues out of my fingers?’ he wrote. Convinced that so seemingly supernatural a phenomenon must have a benign purpose, he purchased an electrical appliance for the treatment of those attending his medical dispensary.
His machine generated only a modest electrical charge, so ‘no one has received any hurt thereby’ he wrote, but for thousands it had done ‘unspeakable good’ – resulting, he claimed, in ‘an immediate cure for some, more gradual for others’ of numerous ailments, including rheumatism, sciatica, epilepsy and melancholia.
The human body, we now know, to be one vast electrical circuit, transmitting at any instant a billion impulses along its 45 miles of cabling. It would be surprising if electricity did not have some of the e ects Wesley claimed – as indeed has turned out to be the case. Most dramatically, the electric shock of a de brillator, when applied to the chest, can bring the apparently dead back to life.
Electroconvulsive therapy remains the most effective of all treatments for melancholia or severe depression. Electricity encourages wounds to heal and fractured bones to mend.
The main beneficiaries of electrotherapy, as in Wesley’s time, are those in constant pain from neurological or rheumatological conditions. The mechanism is one of counter irritation where stimulation of the nerves beneath the skin – known as Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation (TENS) – blocks transmission of the pain sensation to the brain.
This week’s medical query comes courtesy of a lady from Suffolk troubled by discomfort in her leg since a deep vein thrombosis following the birth of her son 30 years ago.
‘I do lots of walking to keep my circulation moving,’ she writes – and in the warmer months her legs are fine. ‘But as soon as the temperature starts to fall they feel constantly cold and achy.’
These symptoms are known as ‘post-thrombotic syndrome’ caused by blockage of the veins that return blood to the heart. It is best to keep the circulation owing with regular exercise; swelling can be minimised with compression bandages. Horse chestnut seed extract, is claimed to help discomfort.
Email drjames@lady.co.uk
First it seemed sensible to t tall wooden buildings with a metal lightning conductor to safely transmit the electrical charge to the ground – thus preventing them from bursting into ames, as they had a habit of doing, during a thunderstorm. Next, his experiment inspired the father of Methodism, John Wesley, to propose that electricity might be an e ective treatment for a range of medical conditions.
Wesley, like many of the clergy at the time, was much concerned by the physical health of his parishioners. Alongside his inspirational message of spiritual salvation, he advocated a frugal diet, regular exercise, rising early and personal hygiene – coining the well-known adage, ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’. He was also deeply impressed by how the human body would give off sparks when exposed to an electric charge. ‘Who can comprehend how this ethereal fire issues out of my fingers?’ he wrote. Convinced that so seemingly supernatural a phenomenon must have a benign purpose, he purchased an electrical appliance for the treatment of those attending his medical dispensary.
His machine generated only a modest electrical charge, so ‘no one has received any hurt thereby’ he wrote, but for thousands it had done ‘unspeakable good’ – resulting, he claimed, in ‘an immediate cure for some, more gradual for others’ of numerous ailments, including rheumatism, sciatica, epilepsy and melancholia.
The human body, we now know, to be one vast electrical circuit, transmitting at any instant a billion impulses along its 45 miles of cabling. It would be surprising if electricity did not have some of the e ects Wesley claimed – as indeed has turned out to be the case. Most dramatically, the electric shock of a de brillator, when applied to the chest, can bring the apparently dead back to life.
Electroconvulsive therapy remains the most effective of all treatments for melancholia or severe depression. Electricity encourages wounds to heal and fractured bones to mend.
The main beneficiaries of electrotherapy, as in Wesley’s time, are those in constant pain from neurological or rheumatological conditions. The mechanism is one of counter irritation where stimulation of the nerves beneath the skin – known as Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation (TENS) – blocks transmission of the pain sensation to the brain.
This week’s medical query comes courtesy of a lady from Suffolk troubled by discomfort in her leg since a deep vein thrombosis following the birth of her son 30 years ago.
‘I do lots of walking to keep my circulation moving,’ she writes – and in the warmer months her legs are fine. ‘But as soon as the temperature starts to fall they feel constantly cold and achy.’
These symptoms are known as ‘post-thrombotic syndrome’ caused by blockage of the veins that return blood to the heart. It is best to keep the circulation owing with regular exercise; swelling can be minimised with compression bandages. Horse chestnut seed extract, is claimed to help discomfort.
Email drjames@lady.co.uk