Data democracy! ‘doctor. Google (2023) vs. “Every Man Has His Own Physician” (1767) – Code of Health Care

By Michael Melinson

In 1767, as the American colonists’ protests against “taxation without representation” intensified, a Boston publisher reprinted a book by a British physician that seemed tailor-made for the growing spirit of independence.

talk about “Democratizing health care information“,”Participatory medicine” And “healthy citizens“! Every man has his own doctorby Dr. John Theobald, has an impressive subtitle: A full range of effective and approved treatments for every disease affecting the human body. With clear instructions for combined use. It is necessary to have it in all families, especially those who reside in the country.

Theobald’s fellow doctors no doubt winced at the quote from 2^{Abbreviation II}The 20th-century Greek philosopher Celsus is featured prominently on the book’s cover page.

“Diseases are cured, not by rhetoric,” the quotation read, “but by remedies, so that if a person without any learning is well acquainted with those remedies which have been discovered by practice, he will be a much better physician than one who has refined His talent for speaking without experience.”

Translation: Better to read my book than consult inferior doctors.

To celebrate Americans’ independent spirit, I decided to compare some of Dr. Theobald’s recommendations to those of the 21st century, “Dr. Google.” Like Dr. Google, which receives a mind-boggling 70,000 healthcare search queries every minute, Dr. Theobald also provides citations for his advice that, he assures readers, is based on “the writings of the most eminent physicians.”

Sometimes, the advice-givers across the centuries coincide. Dr. Theobald wrote, citing Dr. Shine. Expert Dr. Google, on the Mayo Clinic staff, offers the same recipe: Stay hydrated, perhaps with warm lemon water with honey, and try to rest. Personally, I think the phrase “bag of whey”—sherry plus weak milk and sugar—sounds more fun.

Dr. Google recommends treating a sprain by applying ice to it. In Dr. Theobald’s time, when the lack of reliable refrigeration meant that ice was not always available, the remedy attributed to “Dr. Sharp” was more sophisticated and fragrant: “After preparing with warm vinegar, apply poultices of old beer, and oatmeal, with a little lard every day until the pain and swelling subside.”

in Every man has his own doctor Many herbal remedies. To remove warts, for example, dr. Theobald, quoting “Dr. Heister,” recommends “rubbing them with celandine juice.” Surprisingly, Dr. Google agrees. A search for “celandine” and “warts” quickly reveals all Article in the Journal of Public Health Concluding that celandine can, in fact, cause viral skin warts to disappear.

Even more unexpected is what appears at first glance to be a false claim about cancer. Dr. Theobald writes that “Dr. Storck of Vienna highly recommends the use of hemlock in cancerous conditions and gives many surprising examples of its success.” Shockingly, Dr. Google basically agrees, revealing that ground hemlock contains paclitaxel (Taxol), used as a chemotherapy drug.

But just like excessive Googling can be dangerous to your health, it can also be dangerous Every man has his own doctor. “Head”? Attributed to “Dr. Haller,” we get this remedy: “Put leeches behind the ears and take twenty drops of castor oil in a glass of water frequently.” Aspirin, anyone?

Likewise, acknowledging that diabetes is not always treatable, Dr. Theobald’s prescription, taken from “Dr. Mead,” gives pause: “Take sassafras shavings two ounces, guaiacum one ounce, licorice root three ounces, coriander seed, bruises, Six dirhams; steeping it cold in one gallon of lemon water for two or three days, and the dose being half a liter three or four times a day.”

As told by historian Gordon Wood in Radicalism of the American RevolutionOne consequence of the nation’s revolutionary success was the growing sense that ordinary people could not trust the elites. In an analysis that seems uncomfortably familiar, Wood writes that attacks on elite opinion and celebration of “public normal judgment” led to a scattering of power as it was necessary for knowledge and truth to become “more fluid and changeable”.

While we should certainly celebrate the kind of democratization of medical information that he stands for Every man has his own doctor (which would be reprinted for decades), as well as the online outlets of information available today, availability does not guarantee reliability. As with democracy itself, where people and their leaders need to see themselves in partnership, a trusted physician-patient partnership remains paramount.

Michael L. Mellinson is President of Health Quality Advisors LLC, an author and visiting scholar at the Kellogg School of Management. He can be reached at michael @ healthqualityadvisors.