At the intersection of the clinic and the laboratory : the invention, dissemination, and application of organ replacement therapy in late-Victorian medical culture
This thesis re-evaluates the initial use of organ replacement therapy in Britain during the 1890s with regard to the thyroid gland and the associated disease entity of myxoedema as paradigmatic examples. The scope of my argument, however, encompasses the period between the 1850s and 1910s, as it approaches this subject from three perspectives. Firstly, this thesis examines the difficult and multifaceted history of thyroid insufficiency disorders between 1850 and 1878, such as endemic cretinism and goitre. Secondly, the introduction of myxoedema as a distinct clinical entity between 1878 and 1888 is discussed. Finally, the professional debates surrounding the new therapeutic approach of organ replacement therapy and its clinical application and scientific assessment are analysed for the period from the 1890s onward. By focussing on the notions of disease causation via key historical figures and their publications, I argue that there was a mutual influence between the conception of myxoedema and organ replacement therapy, and that neither one would otherwise have become acceptable by the standards of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century scientific medicine. The origins of the ensemble of the new concepts
Becker, Daniel
At the intersection of the clinic and the laboratory : the invention, dissemination, and application of organ replacement therapy in late-Victorian medical culture. This thesis re-evaluates the initial use of organ replacement therapy in Britain during the 1890s with regard to the thyroid gland and the associated disease entity of myxoedema as paradigmatic examples. The scope of my argument, however, encompasses the period between the 1850s and 1910s, as it approaches this subject from three perspectives. Firstly, this thesis examines the difficult and multifaceted history of thyroid insufficiency disorders between 1850 and 1878, such as endemic cretinism and goitre. Secondly, the introduction of myxoedema as a distinct clinical entity between 1878 and 1888 is discussed. Finally, the professional debates surrounding the new therapeutic approach of organ replacement therapy and its clinical application and scientific assessment are analysed for the period from the 1890s onward. By focussing on the notions of disease causation via key historical figures and their publications, I argue that there was a mutual influence between the conception of myxoedema and organ replacement therapy, and that neither one would otherwise have become acceptable by the standards of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century scientific medicine. The origins of the ensemble of the new concepts
intersection laboratory invention dissemination application organ replacement therapy late_victorian medical culture re_evaluates initial use organ replacement therapy britain regard associate disease entity paradigmatic example scope argument however encompass period approach_subject perspective firstly examines difficult multifaceted history insufficiency disorder endemic secondly introduction distinct clinical entity discuss finally professional debate_surround new therapeutic organ replacement therapy clinical application scientific assessment analyse period onward focus notion disease causation via key historical_figure publication argue mutual influence conception organ replacement therapy neither one_would otherwise become acceptable standard late_nineteenth early twentieth_century scientific medicine origin new concept