Delirium tremens, what a disease. Risk groups and possible consequences of the disease. Possible complications and consequences of delirium tremens

In the 16th century, a wave of an epidemic of a disease swept through Europe, called "English sweating fever", or "English sweat". She was accompanied high level mortality. The epidemic broke out several times between 1485 and 1551.

The first outbreak of the disease was recorded in England. When Henry Tudor, the future king of England, who lived in Brittany, landed on the coast of Wales, he brought English sweat with him. Most of his army, which consisted mainly of Breton and French mercenaries, was infected. By the time of landing on the shore, the disease had just begun to manifest itself.

After Henry Tudor was crowned and established in London, the English sweat spread to the local population, and several thousand people died from it within a month. Then the epidemic subsided, only to reappear in Ireland a few years later.

In 1507 and 1517 the disease broke out again and again in different parts of the country - the cities of Oxford and Cambridge lost half the population. In 1528, the attack returned to London, from where it spread throughout the country. King Henry VIII was forced to leave the capital and move from place to place so as not to get infected.

After some time, the English sweat penetrated the continent, hitting first Hamburg, then Switzerland, then passing the Holy Roman Empire. Later foci of the disease broke out in Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Norway and Sweden. For some reason, France and Italy managed to avoid infection.

In every region strange disease faded away within two weeks. It proceeded quite painfully: the patient began to have a strong chill, his head was spinning and aching, and then aching appeared in the neck, shoulders and limbs. Three hours later came the strongest thirst, fever, and all over the body appeared smelly sweat. The pulse quickened, the heart ached, and the patient began to rave.

The characteristic symptom of the disease was severe drowsiness- it was believed that if a person fell asleep, he would never wake up. Surprisingly, unlike, for example, bubonic plague, patients did not have any rashes or ulcers on the skin. Once having been ill with English sweating fever, a person did not develop immunity and could become infected with it again.

The reasons for the "English sweat" remain mysterious. Contemporaries (including Thomas More) and immediate descendants associated it with dirt and certain harmful substances in nature. Sometimes it is identified with relapsing fever, which is carried by ticks and lice, but the sources do not mention the characteristic traces of insect bites and the resulting irritation.

Other authors associate the disease with hantavirus, which causes hemorrhagic fevers and pulmonary syndrome, close to "English sweat", but it is rarely transmitted from person to person, and such an identification is also not generally recognized.

Today, almost any disease can be cured with the help of medicine. But during the Middle Ages, doctors were powerless even in the face of the most innocent diseases. In that distant era, epidemics claimed tens of thousands of lives (even during war and famine, less people). The plague was not always the cause of mass mortality, often people died from simple infections, such as prickly heat. In medieval England, death from this disease was common.

What is known about this disease?

So, prickly heat, what is it? In medieval England, people died en masse from this disease, but in fact it’s not so serious illness. Sweating is a disease skin, which manifests itself in the form of dermatitis due to increased sweating. The rash is small red blisters, which are often accompanied by swelling. In general, this irritation is characteristic of young children, although it also occurs in adults, as was the case in medieval England. Prickly heat usually accompanies heart disease, disorders endocrine system, can also appear as a result of obesity.

Learn more about the causes of sweating

This kind of rash occurs as a result of a violation of the evaporation of sweat from the surface of the skin.

But the cause of increased sweating can be such ailments and conditions as:

Cardiovascular diseases.
Violations in the functioning of the endocrine system, diabetes.
Excess body mass index.
Heat.
Use of cosmetics and fatty creams in the heat.
Strong physical exercise.
Stay in an unventilated and hot room.
Out-of-season clothing made from breathable fabric.
Disease of the nervous system.
Hot climate.
Failure to comply with basic hygiene.

The last point, perhaps, became fatal for the inhabitants of medieval England. Sweating at that time appeared due to the fact that people long time walked in sweat-soaked clothes or wore shoes that had poor contact with the air.

English epidemic

Prickly heat first appeared in medieval England in 1485. This epidemic flared up intermittently for nearly a century. By a strange coincidence, prickly heat manifested itself as soon as Henry Tudor came to power. Not even two weeks have passed since the beginning of his reign, and a strange epidemic has already managed to claim several thousand lives. For the Tudor dynasty, this was a fatal sign: as soon as they took over the ruling elite, prickly heat quickly spread throughout medieval England.

“Without a chance of recovery” - this is precisely the characteristic that can be given to the disease of prickly heat in the Middle Ages. As soon as a person became a victim of an epidemic, he was automatically considered dead. Of course, attempts were made to treat, but at that time they did not bring the desired results.

sweaty fever

The prickly heat was accompanied not only skin dermatitis, her constant companion has always been a fever. As a result, this disease became known as English sweating fever, she returned to England 5 times, taking new lives with her.

During the reign of Henry VIII, death from sweating fever was terrible and painful. There were even rumors among the population that as long as the Tudor dynasty ruled, the disease would not leave England. In 1528, the epidemic broke out with such force that the ruler had to dissolve the court and leave the country. The last pandemic in England was dated 1551.

Versions

As is known, in medieval Europe more than half of the population died from the plague, however, its cause has long been found. But what triggered the English sweating fever remains a secret even today. Scientists can only speculate.

Most affected by the epidemic where more than half of the population died from the disease. What are the causes of prickly heat in England in the 16th century? Is it something unknown (like fate or divine punishment) or is it a kind of unexplored virus? So far, scientists put forward only versions:

In ancient times, the main sources of infection and epidemics were complete unsanitary conditions. Already in the Middle Ages, the air in England was contaminated with toxic fumes, because people did not really care about how to dispose of waste (usually they decomposed peacefully in the doorways). The contents of the chamber pots shamelessly poured out of the windows, and muddy streams flowed through the streets, poisoning the soil. Because of this disregard for the environment, even the water in the wells was unfit for consumption. Naturally, such conditions could cause many serious diseases, and not just prickly heat.
It is also believed that in medieval England prickly heat is a disease caused by the bites of lice and ticks, which even today spread dangerous infections.
It was also believed that prickly heat was caused by hantavirus (a disease that affects rodents and is dangerous to humans). Truth, science community this has not been proven.
The epidemic could have been caused by the testing of a new bacteriological weapon, or prickly heat was simply a type of influenza.
There is a version that prickly heat developed due to the British addiction to ale (an alcoholic drink that was popular during the reign of Henry VIII).
And, of course, they blame the Tudor dynasty for everything, in particular the ruler Henry 8, who appeared on the territory of England with an army of French legionnaires, thereby laying the foundation for the spread of a new disease - prickly heat.

Medieval scholars believed that English sweating fever was due to the damp climate, warm clothing during the hot season, earthquakes, and the position of the planets. Of course, most of these assumptions are devoid of logical foundations.

How did the disease manifest itself in the Middle Ages?

There is an opinion that prickly heat in ancient England is a disease from which there is no escape. Today prickly heat is not considered something dangerous, but in those distant times, few people escaped from it. The first symptoms began to appear immediately after infection. The patient began high fever, chills and dizziness. All this was accompanied unbearable pain in the neck, shoulders, arms, legs and head. After a while, the patient developed a fever, he began to become delirious, the heartbeat quickened, and an unbearable thirst began to torment the person. At the same time, the patient had profuse sweating.

In most cases, the heart simply could not withstand such a load, but if a person infected with prickly heat managed to survive, then a rash appeared on his body.

Types of rash

The rash that appeared on the body during prickly heat was of two types:

In the first case, these were scarlet-like scaly patches. In general, in addition to general discomfort and itching, they did not cause problems.
In the second case, hemorrhagic blisters could be observed, which bled at autopsy.

Dangerous during the illness was the appearance of drowsiness. The patient was not allowed to sleep, because if he fell into a dream, he would not wake up again. If a person remained alive for a day, then he could recover.

Immunity and treatment

Treatment of prickly heat in medieval England seemed possible, however, the method was far from medical. The doctors of that time insisted that the room should have a moderate and constant temperature, the patient should be dressed according to the weather, he should not be cold or hot, the only way a person could increase his chances of recovery. The opinion that it was necessary to sweat was erroneous - this only aggravated the condition.

It is worth noting that immunity was not developed against prickly heat, a recovered person could get sick again and more than once. In that case, he was doomed - stricken the immune system has not been restored.

prickly heat victims

An epidemic usually breaks out in warm time years and struck people selectively. Surprising is the fact that most of the victims of miliaria were healthy and tough people from wealthy families. Very rarely women, children, old people and weak men. If they were struck by this disease, then they coped with it surprisingly quickly and easily.

It is worth noting that foreigners and people from the lower stratum of the population were spared the disease, but the noble and healthy citizens faded away after a few hours.

Six aldermen, three sheriffs, two lords from the royal family, Crown Prince Arthur of Wales, representatives of the Tudor dynasty, the favorite son of Henry VIII and the sons of Charles Brandon - they all became victims of prickly heat. This disease took people by surprise. That is why it is said that in the Middle Ages, the disease of prickly heat is practically incurable disease. Nobody knew about the reasons or about proper treatment, nor about who will be the "victim" next time. The one who was full of energy yesterday, the next day could be dead. Even today, the prickly heat epidemic has left many unanswered questions.

The French philosopher Émile Littre rightly remarked:

Suddenly, a deadly infection emerges from an unknown depth and cuts off human generations with its destructive breath, like a reaper cuts off ears of corn. The causes are unknown, the effect is terrible, the spread is immeasurable: nothing can cause more strong anxiety. It seems that mortality will be limitless, devastation will be endless, and that the outbreak of fire will stop only for lack of food.

Last time The prickly heat epidemic appeared in the world in 1551. After no one heard about her, she disappeared as suddenly as she appeared. And what we call prickly heat today is fundamentally different from that terrible disease that, with a manic predilection, hunted healthy and full of strength people.

A person who finds himself in a state of delirium tremens or, as a rule, experiences terrible torment from obsessive visions and painful paranoia.

And it is not surprising, because this condition is a consequence of an acute one, when the withdrawal (hangover) syndrome is at its peak, that is, from about the third to the fifth day after drinking.

What delirium tremens, what are the symptoms of this disease, and how it is treated, we will consider in detail.

Symptoms and features of the development of the disease

Hallucinations, delusions, and persecution mania are, in fact, symptoms of the delirium tremens disease, which begins after long binge. Usually, symptoms begin towards the night, and continue throughout the next day. One can only sympathize with a person in this situation and send him for treatment as soon as possible. If this is not done, then the consequences of the delirium tremens disease can be serious, up to complete mental insanity.

Alcoholic psychosis in the diagnosis of "delirious tremens" differs extremely rapid development. It lasts at a non-dangerous stage for others for a very short time. Its signs are quite easy to distinguish. First, the patient has harbingers of the disease - sleep is disturbed, short dreams filled with nightmares, sometimes causing him to wake up in terror. The consequences of such a painful sleep with the ailment "white tremens" are immersion in unaccountable anxiety, a kind of animal fear, depression.

It begins to seem to a person that terrible monsters (sometimes in the form of aliens or evil spirits) continue to haunt him outside of sleep, because he begins to see and hear them almost in reality. The whole world becomes hostile to him - the voices of loved ones who are trying to offer him a trip to the hospital for treatment are transformed into threats in a sick imagination, and ordinary objects seem to be murder weapons.

The symptoms of the disease "white tremens" include excessive activity the patient in an attempt to attract the police to his condition, bystanders, to whom the patient rushes for help from imaginary persecutors and murderers. If an alcoholic develops such symptoms, then it is necessary to take Urgent measures. it clear signs diseases "white fever".

This condition is sometimes fraught with tragic consequences, because these reasons and circumstances make the alcoholic defenseless. A person with delirium tremens is completely unable to measure the degree of danger and ways to protect against it. This explains the rather frequent cases of falling out of a window, throwing a car or even a train under the wheels, which are committed by a person who has fallen ill with delirium tremens and is driven by unbridled panic. You can't leave him alone at home.

Provoking factors

There are a number of factors or conditions under which the state of delirium tremens may be exacerbated or manifested by extremely severe symptoms. Provoking factors include any situation with a rapidly changing or turbulent environment:

tense atmosphere at work or outside the home;
family scandal;
being in crowded and potentially dangerous places (public transport, train, plane);
skull trauma, brain disease, fever or dehydration, whatever the cause.

It is believed that in a state of rest, silence and subdued light, the risk of hallucinations during delirium tremens is significantly reduced, but they can be completely eliminated without special treatment still won't work. It is useless to fight them at home. Trying to cope with the consequences of delirium tremens at home, you can only exacerbate the problem.

Risk groups and possible consequences of the disease

It cannot be said that all alcoholics without exception suffer from “white tremens”. Some manage to get around this trouble, despite their addiction to alcohol and regular drinking, but it depends on individual characteristics body and the amount of alcohol consumed. He can drink at home most life and die from cirrhosis of the liver, remaining a more or less adequate person for others. Determine the line beyond which a drinking person will inevitably encounter the most unpleasant symptoms alcoholic psychosis, almost impossible. Sometimes "delirious tremens" occurs after one long drinking bout. There are conditions that increase the risk of developing the disease at times:

If a person has had delirium tremens at least once, the likelihood of its manifestation increases with each subsequent use of alcohol.
Use alcohol surrogates increases not only the risk of developing delirium tremens, but also the likelihood of serious consequences.
Hereditary predisposition also increases the risk of this terrible disease several times.

To dangerous consequences alcoholic psychosis include work disturbances of cardio-vascular system, pneumonia, encephalopathy, a frequent result of which is dementia, up to disability.

You should not hope that the use of "elite" alcohol will protect the lover of alcohol from all these consequences, but from surrogate and cheap wines, replete with harmful impurities, the chances of poisoning the body are maximum.

The course of the disease and its treatment

Usually, delirium tremens occurs within three to five days, but there are cases when the disease is episodic in the form of short-term inclusions (from several minutes to one hour) that pass without treatment.

What should loved ones do at home if this happened to a person at home?

Try to calm the patient.
Remove all sharp and dangerous objects.
If there is a bright light, make it not so harsh.
If the room is too dark, add lighting, but not much.
Exclude further use of alcohol by patients with delirium tremens.
If the attack happened after a very long binge, call " ambulance”, at home you will not cope with the problem.

Cases of manifestations of only individual elements of alcoholic psychosis, expressed causeless fear or depression. These states are more prolonged, but they do not end in true psychosis after drinking. Our ancestors were quite calm about such delirium tremens, who believed that for its treatment it was enough to tie the sick person or close him in a dark room alone with a jar of brine or kvass.

Today's methods involve placing the patient on hospital treatment in the department of narcology or psychiatry. However, this does not mean that fever can be cured with conventional antipsychotic or psychotropic drugs. Such an unqualified approach can completely destroy the patient's health, even lead to completely disastrous consequences.

The basic treatment of alcoholic psychosis should first of all restore in the patient's body the alcohol-disturbed water-salt balance. Be sure to prescribe all the necessary nootropics and vitamin complexes, as well as medicines to support cardiac activity. Finally, sedative (calming) drugs are also used in the treatment, but only to provide the patient good rest i.e. before bed.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that, despite the "obvious fault" of the patient in the diagnosis of "delirious tremens", it is still worth treating his condition exactly as a disease, responding in a timely manner to the first manifestations of symptoms during or after a binge, so that in case the need to provide the patient with the necessary treatment.

Alcohol consumption has a very negative impact on human health and psyche. The first changes affect the main internal organs - the heart, stomach, liver, kidneys. Later negative impact the nervous system is also affected.

Pathological changes in brain structures lead to many complications, the most dangerous of which is recognized as delirium tremens. It is impossible to cope with this disease on your own. Requires the help of doctors and long-term rehabilitation.

What is white fever

Alcohol addiction rarely goes unnoticed. If strong drinks were often consumed for more than ten years, then the entire nervous system, including its central authority- brain. Some patients are diagnosed dangerous disease known as delirium tremens.

The disease has another name: alcoholic delirium. It's flowing in acute form psychosis, which is associated with the use of alcohol. The pathology has a characteristic clinical picture, but its most striking symptom is the appearance of hallucinations different nature. They can be visual, tactile or auditory.

Delirium tremens develops only against the background of alcohol abuse, and at least 8-10 years should pass from the onset of dependence to the appearance of the first symptoms of psychosis. During this time, a person already manages to reach the second or third stage of alcoholism.

It is noteworthy that delirium tremens never manifests itself in a state of intoxication. Signs of delirium develop only at the exit from the binge. For this reason, sometimes occurring hallucinations are considered as a sign of withdrawal symptoms. Many believe that they will subside on their own later. This is a dangerous delusion, sometimes costing a person his life.

According to statistics, about 10% of cases of alcoholic delirium are fatal. Doctors explain that defeat does not always lead to death internal organs and their inability to perform their functions. Often, alcoholics during psychosis unintentionally receive injuries incompatible with life. Some decide to commit suicide.

How the disease develops

Delirium tremens does not arise without a reason. This pathology develops only with prolonged poisoning of the body with drinks containing ethanol.

At the same time, no doctor can accurately answer whether an alcoholic will be susceptible to this form of psychosis. Doctors identify several factors that predetermine the onset of the disease. These include:

transferred traumatic brain injury;
pathological changes internal organs, including the liver;
regular and prolonged binges;
drinking low-quality alcohol.

Initially ethanol It does not affect the psyche, but the internal organs. Maximum load with dependence lies on the liver. This gland is designed to produce enzymes that break down alcohol and turn it into safe compounds. If ethyl alcohol is supplied in excess, the body cannot cope. Gradually, its cells are destroyed under the influence of aggressive substances. Consequently, the gland secretes less and less enzymes, which leads to the accumulation of toxins inside the body.

Excess acetaldehyde is detrimental to nervous system. Its central structure is the brain. It is gradually damaged. The constant supply of ever new portions of dangerous liquids does not give the tissues a chance to recover. Gradually, neural tissues die off, which inevitably affects the psyche.

On the early stages Dependence pathological changes are not shown. Only human behavior changes. He becomes irritable and nervous, often showing unreasonable aggression. With constant binges for 8-10 years, irreversible changes are triggered, which lead to the development of delirium tremens, accompanied by hallucinations when trying to give up alcohol.

The main forms of pathology

Doctors assure that each patient has delirium according to his own individual scenario. The variety of manifestations is connected with the fact that the disease has several forms, each of which has its own characteristic features:

The considered classification allows us to understand that all forms of alcoholic delirium are divided according to the severity of the symptoms. This means that the approach to patients should be individual.

Stages of disease development

Delirium tremens goes through several successive stages in its development. The sooner action is taken, the higher the chances of a favorable prognosis. Signs of pathology will appear both during wakefulness and in sleep.

This means that at careful attention to drinking person really notice them.

The third stage of alcoholic delirium is considered the most dangerous. If in the early stages it is still possible to take any measures to eliminate the symptoms, then here the condition worsens so much that the patient constantly suffers from insomnia. Later, he completely loses his adequacy and can do strange things, sometimes leading to injury or even death.

Signs and symptoms

Doctors explain that the manifestations of delirium tremens do not end with hallucinations and sleep disturbances. In addition, these symptoms can signal the presence of other pathologies. To put accurate diagnosis, you need to show the person to the doctor. The specialist will pay attention to the time of the course of the attack.

Hallucinations in alcoholic delirium are usually temporary. The attack can develop suddenly, but it lasts a limited period. Usually its length is from two to eight days. Only 5% of all cases can be called protracted.

An attack of delirium tremens begins during a break in the reception alcoholic beverages. The body, accustomed to the regular intake of ethanol, reacts with psychosis in an acute form. Suddenly, a person begins to see non-existent objects or hear voices. They prevent him from sleeping and resting, deprive him of strength and energy, force him to be afraid and panic. Of course, the mood of an alcoholic worsens.

Human behavior during an attack of delirium tremens becomes atypical. He not only hears voices, but also tries to answer them. Sometimes alcoholics have a dialogue with them. It is noteworthy that it is easy to convince them that voice and sound really exist.

Visions reach their peak before the moment of falling asleep. They become more and more realistic, which frightens the alcoholic. He cannot sleep well and suffers from insomnia for at least two days. Relief comes only when he manages to fall asleep soundly. Gradually, the symptoms of delirium tremens weaken, the person returns to his usual state.

Doctors also urge to understand that a person after a single attack of alcoholic delirium will no longer be the same. During psychosis, part of the brain cells are destroyed, which leads to memory disorders. People forget some events that happened to them before. Themselves same hallucinations, they usually remember quite clearly.

In the most severe cases delirium tremens is manifested not only by the occurrence of hallucinations. All organ systems respond to an excess of toxic metabolites of alcohol, which forms a characteristic clinical picture. In the list of main physiological symptoms alcoholic delirium includes:

A similar picture is typical for especially severe forms of delirium tremens. It means that pathological changes have covered vast areas of neuronal tissue, and the body is severely depleted due to an excess of ethanol and its decay products.

When to see a doctor

An attack of delirium tremens can greatly frighten both the alcoholic himself and his relatives, but doctors urge not to lose self-control. It is important to help the person while it is still possible. The sooner action is taken, the more effective the treatment will be.

It is necessary to consult a doctor for any suspicion of alcoholic delirium. It is not necessary to wait for delusions and hallucinations. Even mood swings when quitting drinking should be a wake-up call.

It is not necessary to immediately call an ambulance. It is enough to seek advice from a narcologist or psychotherapist. Such specialists will be able to determine how likely the threat of an attack is. They will also explain what can be done to cope with alcohol addiction.

Ways to treat delirium tremens

If the attack has already begun, action must be taken immediately. First of all, it is important to understand that it will not work to help the victim on your own. You need to call an ambulance. By phone, be sure to inform the dispatcher that the person is drinking and, against the background of the refusal, he has developed hallucinations.

Patients with attacks of delirium tremens are hospitalized in a psychiatric ward or placed in a drug treatment center. Already in a hospital, treatment begins, including a set of measures aimed at the urgent removal of alcohol metabolites from the body. To the list necessary procedures includes:

AT without fail appoint and medications, including, nootropic drugs, vitamins, potassium. All of them are required for the regeneration of neural tissue damaged during prolonged alcoholism.

It is noteworthy that psychotropic drugs do not prescribe to patients with delirium. They are able to further aggravate the situation, increasing the intensity of the manifestations of psychosis. Their use is only possible in rare cases, for example, with prolonged insomnia.

Prognosis and complications

Alcoholic delirium is an ambiguous condition, so it is difficult for doctors to make a prediction. As a rule, with a timely response, the attack is successfully stopped, and the patient recovers, but this is possible only with a competent approach.

Sometimes the damage is so strong that mental disorders become irreversible. So, doctors often fail to restore a person's memory. The following symptoms indicate that in the process of treatment difficulties are possible:

These signs signal deep damage to all internal organs, including the brain. The human body loses the ability to resist the constant influx of toxins. This means that the chances of a favorable prognosis are minimized.

Can delirium tremens be avoided?

No doctor can answer in the affirmative the question of whether drinking always leads to alcoholic delirium. However, than more people drinks, the higher the risk of developing pathology. The disease can be avoided if you promptly respond to the slightest changes in the psyche, including increased anxiety or sudden mood swings.

The ideal measure for the prevention of delirium tremens is treatment alcohol addiction and complete failure from alcohol. it the only way avoid acute psychosis, accompanied by delusions and hallucinations.

It is best to treat addiction in its early stages, when withdrawal syndrome You can still endure, but the psyche is not significantly damaged. There are many available ways, among which the most popular drug encodings. The procedure will get rid of constant desire drink due to the formation of aversion to alcohol. Hazardous liquids will no longer penetrate the body, therefore, the threat of developing delirium tremens will disappear.

The medieval disease was common in what is now the United Kingdom for almost a century. The dreadful disease, formerly known as sweating fever, accounted for a large proportion of high mortality in the Middle Ages.

The history of the prickly heat epidemic in England in the 16th century.

The epidemic of prickly heat in England rarely crossed the borders of the state, affecting Scotland and Wales. However, pathology does not have purely English roots. Various sources describe its first episodes in hot and arid countries. Sweating in England under Henry 8 first appeared, which was a bad omen for the beginning of the Tudor dynasty.

Fiery-red Henry Tudor, after defeating Richard III, appeared in England with an army of French legionnaires, who are blamed for the spread of many diseases. Not more than two weeks had passed since Henry's appearance in London, and a new medieval disease, called "sweating fever", progressed more and more and carried away everything more lives. The first epidemic episode fatally struck several thousand people, sparing neither children nor the elderly.

Despite the fact that prickly heat in the Middle Ages was not the only disease with epidemic proportions, death from it was painful and terrible.

Sweating in 16th century England, which arose with the coming to power of Henry, promised him a reign in agony. Outbreaks have occurred more than once and sometimes affected the royal family.

Sweating in 16th century England, which arose with the coming to power of Henry, promised him a reign in agony

Medieval Assumptions

Several hypotheses are put forward as to why prickly heat spread in medieval England at this particular time and in this territory. Eyewitnesses of those times dwelled on the following etiology:

Many believe that English fever had a direct relationship with the dirty air of an industrial city with great content toxic substances.
Another version of the pundits of the time concerned lice and mites, which could spread the infection through bites. However, characteristic marks and possible concomitant irritation have rarely been noted.
The medicine of that time was already aware of hantavirus, the ingestion of which caused fever with pulmonary and hemorrhagic syndromes. Such a theory remained an assumption, since it was not possible at that time to study in detail the mechanism of transmission of the pathogen.

The possibilities of medicine of that time did not allow to study etiological reasons and pathogenesis of the disease thoroughly. Doctors tried to alleviate the painful clinical picture of "English sweat", but medicines and therapeutic measures were not what the patients needed.

On the this moment if in your clinical practice the doctor diagnoses prickly heat, its treatment is usually not difficult. The disease occurs usually in infants and children, functionality sweat glands which have not yet been adjusted in accordance with environment. Only a few days are needed for the patient and his parents or close relatives to forget about the disease.

Today, if a doctor diagnoses prickly heat, it is usually easy to treat.

Modern etiology

Scientists medical profile new time formed several of their opinions about why this pathological process in England was epidemic in nature:

The most common version says that the characteristic sweating in the Middle Ages was a form of influenza. However, a detailed study of the disease according to historical descriptions in recent times allowed this assumption to be challenged.
The English prickly heat is also regarded as a man-made weapon of mass destruction. The first attempts to create biological weapons date back somewhat later than the Middle Ages, which had official registration. But it is also possible to carry out clandestine research on this subject, which "remained behind the scenes."
The disease in 16th century England could have spread due to the fact that the population of any country at that time did not have modern hygiene habits. People simply had no idea about the importance of cleansing the skin, teeth and hair.
The changeable weather in the country forced people to dress warmly even in the summer. The manners of the time did not allow them to take off their clothes outside the home, and the townspeople were forced to sweat in their luxurious outfits. The version is confirmed by the fact that prickly heat in the Middle Ages was recorded mainly among the wealthy population.
Why English prickly heat arose in this area, Wikipedia blames the abuse of alcohol, namely, ale beloved by the British.

Most modern theory represents synthesized or mixed ideas about the etiology of this disease.

Symptom complex of the disease

English prickly heat began acutely with the following symptoms:

Pronounced chills began abruptly and regardless of the ambient temperature.
Instead of episodes mild dizziness comes intense headache extending to the neck and upper shoulder girdle.
In a matter of hours, the patient emitted a huge amount of sweat with unquenchable thirst, palpitations, delirium.
If a person's heart could withstand such an attack, after a while skin rashes. They also covered the head first, then passed to the neck, shoulders and the whole body.

The rash was not of the same type, and the healers of that time distinguished two of its types:

morbilliform rashes were hyperemic scaly patches;
hemorrhagic rash at the site of the papules forms blisters, which, after opening, bleed and become inflamed;

This pathological process had the most danger sign- craving for sleep. It was believed that if you let the patient fall asleep, it will be impossible to wake him up.

English prickly heat began acutely

The severity of symptoms could be observed for up to seven days. If the patient managed to survive, he quickly recovered. Only open blisters on the skin healed for a long time, the infection to which could join a second time, which prompted new torments from open bleeding ulcers.

In England, the 16th century survived the prickly heat three times, which significantly hit the population of the mighty power at that time.

If the disease recurred, it would inevitably carry a fatal outcome. An epidemic disease already at the first outbreak undermined the immune system, which could not cope with a new attack. According to statistics, only 1% of those who fell ill with a dangerous disease at that time survived and returned to a full life.

Complications of the disease

Mainly thanks to a huge number deaths English fever became famous in the Middle Ages. Complete recovery after a debilitating illness was extremely rare, the following complications arose:

Furunculosis was not uncommon in the Middle Ages due to low hygiene standards. Prickly heat complicated by furunculosis in England in the 16th century led to the inevitable death of patients. Inflammatory formations mutilated appearance, formed fistulas, depleted and killed.
English prickly heat, as Wikipedia points out, led to neurogenic disorders. The survivor of an episode of the disease is guaranteed to experience various neuritis and phantom residual pain along the way. central nerves. Coordination of movements, sensitive conduction, and speech activity also suffered.

Sweating in England made the 16th century fatal for the English population, unable to resist it at that time. . The disease itself and its complications have flared up three times in this century.

medieval therapy

Such mass death prickly heat in medieval England carried not only due to polyetiological factors, but also due to incorrect treatment. Practical medicine could not form as an independent trend between the assumptions of "pundits" and the recipes of traditional healers.

Such a serious illness in the Middle Ages could not be treated effectively due to several reasons:

Low quality food. Poor processing and the very technology of food production in the Middle Ages was at a relatively low level. The food did not contain essential vitamins and nutrients so that prickly heat in England under Henry 8 had a barrier to its development.
Most of the population worked hard, which was also reflected in the level physical health. Wikipedia notes not only prickly heat in the Middle Ages as a common disease, because “undermined” immunity became an excellent breeding ground for plague, smallpox, scabies and many other diseases.
The prickly heat epidemic in England brought with it the notion that the sick must sweat. The disease itself carries with it a feverish condition, which was only aggravated by methods medieval treatment. Patients were wrapped up, rubbed with fat and warming liquids. Prickly heat in medieval England thus claimed the lives of the sick even faster and spread en masse.

Modern ideas about what kind of treatment prickly heat should have received in 16th century England are fundamentally different. Level modern medicine and social development does not allow the disease to be epidemic.

"Notable Patients"

Medieval prickly heat tended to affect predominantly men. Women, children and the elderly also got sick, but not so painfully and massively. Sweating fever was not a disease selective by social class. The peasants, and the townspeople, and the people of the royal family, as well as their entourage, were sick.

Sweating in England under Henry VIII claimed the lives of many military personnel. Already the first epidemic mercilessly took the lives of several sheriffs and aldermen. The representatives of the royal family also did not escape the English prickly heat: a painful illness did not spare the only and long-awaited son of the red king, who so dreamed of an heir. Perhaps the most desperate wife of Henry - Anna Boleyn - managed to survive the illness and was deprived of her life for another reason. The prickly heat did not allow the majestic Prince of Wales to live to be crowned.

Sweating in the Middle Ages switched to the followers of the Tudor dynasty for lack of its male representatives. Bloody Mary shed many tears with the death of her two sons, which is to blame for the sweating fever.

Several times prickly heat in medieval England left countless victims. This disease, like many in the Middle Ages, vague and distant, carries many unexplored mysteries and secrets that will surely be revealed to humanity over time.