
The excruciating final hours of George Washington (2014) - Petiver
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/dec-14-1799-excruciating-final-hours-president-george-washington
======
n0mad01
_At 9:30 a.m., another bloodletting of 18 ounces was performed followed by a
similar withdrawal at 11 a.m. At noon, an enema was administered._

or

 _Dr. Craik ordered another bleeding. This time, 32 ounces were removed_

i wonder how much lifespan this measures did take off of him, in this
particular instance maybe hours, days, or even some weeks (of course it could
have also been the primary cause of death). but all this bollocks throughout a
lifespan could well be measured in whole lost years.

of course, i have no idea if this is true or not, it may also be that this
kind of measures, if a body is just healthy enough, have no impact at all in
the long run.

~~~
stevenwoo
A weird case of having too much money
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_Unit...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_net_worth))
since cutting edge medicine he could afford at that time would be quackery
today? The blistering agents applied in his throat and externally seem pretty
painful, one today on my hand or foot is quite a hassle, on top of the
bloodletting weakening a person. The 40% blood on his deathbed sounds
incredible in hindsight but there are a few people who regularly give blood
today as often as is permitted every couple of months without apparent ill
effects.

~~~
leetcrew
it might not be as painful as it sounds. i lost a large amount of blood once
(to the point of browning out), and it basically feels like being really,
really drunk. you don't really understand what's happening and you're pretty
numb to things like pain.

~~~
exolymph
That sounds kinda nice!

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timmytokyo
As ridiculous as these medical treatments sound to the modern ear, I wonder
how people will look back on our "state of the art" 200 years from now.

~~~
andrewflnr
Between the emergence of resistant bacterial strains and growing understanding
of internal microbiomes, the future will not look kindly on our use of
antibiotics. And of course, you don't need to go into the future to find
people who look dimly on the state of the art in nutrition.

~~~
refurb
Won’t look too kindly?

The alternative to antibiotics in a lot of these cases is death.

Not sure anyone would look at that “unkindly”.

~~~
Ensorceled
I believe the parent was thinking of our using antibiotics for things like
increasing growth rates in livestock, hand soap marketing, and viral
infections; but maybe your incredibly uncharitable interpretation is correct
...

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anonu
This story makes me happy that we have modern medicine. But I am reminded that
not too long ago we used to do lobotomies on the regular. So I still take most
medical advice with a grain of salt....

~~~
tw1010
There are way worse things that you could experience which is present even
today (psycological things especially). This doesn't sound too bad actually.

~~~
selestify
What kind of psychological things are so bad?

~~~
KSteffensen
Schizophrenia, depression

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brianbreslin
Amazing how a medical doctor from that era would probably be put in jail today
for the treatments they did.

~~~
geezerjay
We should put things in perspective. Nowadays doctors still treat diseases by
cutting off bits out of the patient, and dentists still employ medieval
procedures.

~~~
Moto7451
Mine uses a scanning array and a 3D milling machine to manufacture implants
and fillings in office. Not all that medieval.

You may just need a new dentist.

~~~
geezerjay
> Mine uses a scanning array and a 3D milling machine to manufacture implants
> and fillings in office. Not all that medieval.

How did your dentist found room in your mouth to jam in some implants?

That sort of thing is pretty medieval even if you sugarcoat your modern day
version of wooden dentures with CAD software and CNC milling machines.

~~~
Moto7451
Because they’re able to detect issues before they get that bad, all my natural
teeth are in place. I come in, they scan my teeth, drill out a tiny amount of
decay before it turns into something that requires a tooth to be removed, and
precisely mill a filling instead of hammering and drilling away my teeth to
fill it with some lead alloy like the days of old. Anyone doing that is stuck
in decades old practices.

I understand where you’re trying to go with your comment. It’s simply not the
case that we’re being given bottles of gin while the dentist pulls out a
hammer and chisel.

I just went in and had part of my tooth replaced because part of it crushed (I
have very bad teeth). I felt zero pain. My heart rate remained under 60 the
whole time. It was quick and easy.

Good Dentists are not mad scientists out to destroy you for financial gain.

~~~
KSteffensen
They might not use lead fillings, but they still use mercury amalgam unless
you tell them not to. Filling your mouth with Mercury seems pretty medieval
even though there are good reasons for it (the mercury amalgam has far better
mechanical properties than the plastic that replaces it).

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TwoBit
So would he have died anyway?

~~~
dhnsmakala
Without these treatments, he could have been alive today. It's a great shame.

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partycoder
George Washington on Native Americans:

"The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their
settlements and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as
possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and
prevent their planting more."

[https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-20-02-...](https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-20-02-0661)

This is part of the scorched earth tactics that resulted in not only the death
of millions of natives but the almost extinction of the American Bison, an
importance source of food and clothing for many tribes.

~~~
liftbigweights
> "The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their
> settlements and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as
> possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and
> prevent their planting more."

There is far worse if you dig further into the history of george washington
and his father/grandfather in regards to the native americans.

> This is part of the scorched earth tactics that resulted in not only the
> death of millions of natives but the almost extinction of the American
> Bison, an importance source of food and clothing for many tribes.

"Kill Every Buffalo You Can! Every Buffalo Dead Is an Indian Gone"

[https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2016/05/the-
buf...](https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2016/05/the-buffalo-
killers/482349/)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bison_skull_pile_edit.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bison_skull_pile_edit.jpg)

It is no secret that the architects of nazi germany admired the genocide of
the native americans and modeled themselves after the US. And yet, we are in
such denial about our role in the death of natives. ( It was "smallpox" ).

"termed a "war of extermination" by Governor Peter Burnett who declared
warfare would not cease with Native Americans "until the Indian race becomes
extinct""

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hardeman_Burnett](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hardeman_Burnett)

~~~
xenadu02
> And yet, we are in such denial about our role in the death of natives. ( It
> was "smallpox" )

You make a good point but you're also wrong.

The way the colonies (and later United States) treated the natives was
absolutely deplorable and immoral. The US (from the founding fathers until
very recent times) is as guilty as you say.

HOWEVER... it cannot be denied that the accidental spread of European diseases
wiped out over 50% of all natives before the era of colonization even began.
Even today if contact is made with isolated peoples great care must be taken
and medical services kept on stand-by. A disease ravaging the isolated group
is a very, very real possibility.

It also means if humanity does every colonize another planet (even in our own
solar system), if the flow of people ever stops we may not be able to re-
establish it due to disease risk.

~~~
specializeded
It’s also fun to think about the scenario where the Americans practiced
husbandry when contact was made, we could have had a two way “genocide”!

~~~
partycoder
For that you would need an animal that breeds in captivity, reaches maturity
quickly, eats inexpensive food (not meat), with good temperament, and that can
be handled in a farming environment (not as agile as deer or as strong as a
bison).

In the Americas, the only animal that responds to that description are llamas,
guinea pigs, capybaras, etc. None of them found in North America.

~~~
specializeded
Yes, I’ve read 1491 as well :)

~~~
partycoder
And I assume 1491 was not all original research :)

