Pellagra and Pellagrous Insanity During the Long Nineteenth Century Pellagra and Pellagrous Insanity During the Long Nineteenth Century
Mental Health in Historical Perspective

Pellagra and Pellagrous Insanity During the Long Nineteenth Century

Beschreibung des Verlags

This open access book explores the history of pellagra, a vitamin deficiency disease brought about by a shift in agriculture to maize, which ravaged Italy from the 1760s. With a focus on the insanity that was caused by the disease, the authors examine how thousands of patients were treated in Italian psychiatric asylums, shedding light on the sufferer’s point of view. Setting pellagrous insanity in a wider context of man-made or societal (anthropogenic) disease, where poverty, diet and disease meet, the book contributes to the history of medicine and science, the history of psychiatry, economic and social history, agrarian history, and food and nutrition history. Additionally, the authors aim to transnationalise Italian history by making comparisons with related issues, such as tertiary syphilis in the UK. Drawing from a wide range of printed and archival sources, including the writings of Italian medical investigators and patient records, the book examines how medical and scientific research was carried out during the long nineteenth century and the uncertainties that this engendered, in terms of classification, explanation, diagnosis and treatment. Offering a unique perspective on an endemic illness which came to be known as the disease of the four ds -- dermatitis, diarrhea, dementia and death—this book provides an engaging account of one of the most perplexing causes of mental illness.

GENRE
Geschichte
ERSCHIENEN
2023
30. April
SPRACHE
EN
Englisch
UMFANG
182
Seiten
VERLAG
Springer International Publishing
GRÖSSE
26,9
 MB

Mehr Bücher von David Gentilcore & Egidio Priani

Pomodoro! Pomodoro!
2010
Food and Health in Early Modern Europe Food and Health in Early Modern Europe
2015
Italy and the Potato: A History, 1550-2000 Italy and the Potato: A History, 1550-2000
2012
Proteins, Pathologies and Politics Proteins, Pathologies and Politics
2018

Andere Bücher in dieser Reihe

Investigating the Body in the Victorian Asylum Investigating the Body in the Victorian Asylum
2017
Healthy Minds in the Twentieth Century Healthy Minds in the Twentieth Century
2019
The Uncanny Rise of Medical Hypnotism, 1888–1914 The Uncanny Rise of Medical Hypnotism, 1888–1914
2023
The Certification of Insanity The Certification of Insanity
2023
Memory, Anniversaries and Mental Health in International Historical Perspective Memory, Anniversaries and Mental Health in International Historical Perspective
2023
Work and Occupation in French and English Mental Hospitals, c.1918-1939 Work and Occupation in French and English Mental Hospitals, c.1918-1939
2023