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You may be interested in this - written by Clare Craig and myself

https://open.substack.com/pub/hartuk/p/the-smallpox-vanishing-act

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How much harm has been done by those who know next to nothing but have a position to keep up? The medical profession is just another priesthood, spouting meaningless mumbo jumbo and dispensing poisonous potions to keep the naïve and the gullible fearful and compliant. The greatest contribution to human health has been the availability of clean drinking water, mains sewerage and household waste disposal, not medics dispensing Big Pharma.

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May 14Liked by Roman Bystrianyk

The period covered in this excellent articles is generally the "industrial revolution". It has been, in my view, the most profound shift in the way society lives, ever. It more or less has set us on the path we are on, & those who have profited enormously from it enabling essentially total global domination are now pivoting to an even more profound shift, not just in the way society lives, but in the actual transformation of biological life itself. This has been possible because of the poisoned fruits of the "industrial revolution". We are so out of balance it is not funny.

Whilst I agree sanitation & other measures were responsible for better health outcomes, let's not forget these measures were necessary in the first place, BECAUSE of, the effects of the industrial revolution. The mining, the building of industries, the development of chemicals used in industry (including medicine), the petroleum, the coal, roads, railways, on & on & on.

On the one hand society "prospered" by having amazing new consumables to buy, & yet on the other hand, the societal costs of that have been deliberately underestimated.

Could the fruits of the ingenuity of the industrial revolution been used wisely? Probably, & I believe various inventions during the 1800s could have put us on a much brighter path. But somewhere along the way, after many skirmishes & battles, a darker road seems to have been chosen for us.

We may have been seduced.

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author

Excellent observations! Almost all history programs emphasize the amazing inventions (e.g. steam engine). Still, seldom the huge cost in lives lost mining the coal in lives and air pollution destroying people’s health. If we were more in balance with nature, as we more closely achieved by the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, then these severe health problems virtually vanished.

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I agree with your observations, however, it is important to remember that the problems alleviated by clean water and sanitation existed long before the industrial revolution; the average life expectancy of a mediaeval Londoner was three years and for those who moved to the city from the countryside just one year, on average, because of diseases caused by foul water and poor sanitation.

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May 12Liked by Roman Bystrianyk

Thank you

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May 16Liked by Roman Bystrianyk

Excellent article! Thank you!

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Thank you Roman, I absolutely agree smallpox is just chickenpox plus severe vitamin C deficiency. I'm a naturopathic nutritionist and when I contracted chickenpox in my 50s, I increased my vitamin C supplementation as soon as I spotted the lesions. I immediately stopped getting any new ones, and by the next day the ones I had were starting to fade. I never got any itching, and everything was gone within the next three days.

Here's my Substack piece about smallpox https://linlaz.substack.com/p/smallpox-bedbugs-and-vitamin-c

I think you have already written about the bed bug connection discovered by Dr Charles Campbell?

I love your book Dissolving Illusions. I have been sharing the link everywhere I can. Btw I met Michelle on a Telegram channel, I'm so glad you are in the truth community too. I have some information on vitamin A that I think maybe you don't know. You are probably aware that it always used to be called the "anti-infection vitamin". Perhaps you would like to DM me and I will send it to you. Very best wishes and thanks for your tireless work.

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Really interesting. Are you able to comment on the attribution of hundreds of thousands of deaths among Australian Aboriginals in the years after the settlement at Sydney Cove in 1788? Because it's possible all of that is just made up, by people convinced of the lethality of smallpox.

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author

Yes, there are still mysteries to me that I have not delved into. Similarly, North American people were said to have been largely decimated by various infectious diseases. Is that an assumption or really verified? I have not been able to investigate. Of course, the further you go back in history, the less reliable the data (if there is any) is. It would be interesting for someone to dig in and see what evidence there is.

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Jun 14·edited Jun 14

Yes, I'm glad you see my point. In my experience, there's two wars to write history. One is to read primary documents and see where that takes you, while keeping an open mind. The other is to presume an historical narrative based on theories, and interpret primary documents in that light. A great deal of activist history is written by the latter approach. And here I'm talking about such things as the history of contact with indigenous peoples. And that would cover things like smallpox outbreaks and how devastating they were. But quite possibly the same applies to the writing of medical history too, and it may be you're one of the first to approach this medical history with an open mind rather than presume a narrative.

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This investigation has been in the back of my mind for a while. It’s a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit the other data. That doesn’t mean it’s not true, so it’s worth digging into that history to evolve our understanding of what happened and what could happen. Here are two interesting tidbits of data from the mid-1800s that show that tuberculosis (the biggest killer in the 1800s) and other diseases did not appear in natives until they were “civilized.” The use of “modern” medicine such as mercury is when things were made worse. Is this part of the reason for native people’s increase in deaths from these diseases? This at least points in that direction. Further research is needed. Have you done any research in this area?

…one most interesting fact in the history of the spread and prevalence of consumption. It is found in the history of the American Indians,—at one time numbering many millions of people… such a thing as a case of pulmonary consumption has never been observed, while those people remained in their savage state. Bring them into our settlements, civilize them, educate them, and let them adopt our habits, and they become as liable to consumption as we ourselves.

[Samuel Sheldon Fitch, AM, MD, Six Discourses on the Functions of the Lungs; and Causes, Prevention, and Cure of Pulmonary Consumption, Asthma, and Diseases of the Heart, 1853, New York, pp. 35–36.]

It does not appear, from the testimony of travelers, that disease [tuberculosis] prevailed to much extent among the North American Indians, until the white people taught them the use of poisons. Major Long, in the account which he has given of his expedition to the Rocky Mountains, says that rheumatism is rare among them. No case of consumption, or jaundice, fell under his observation. Decayed teeth were rare. Baldness seemed to be almost unknown, the hair being always retained, however advanced the age of the individual. Dysentery, fever, and ague and fever, were exceedingly rare… Within the last ten or fifteen years, however, since they have accustomed themselves to the use of calomel, and other poisons, which they obtain from the whites, their diseases have multiplied, and they do not any longer experience the same strength of body, or vigor of constitution.

[Dr. Morris Mattson, The American Vegetable Practice or a New and Improved Guide to Health, vol 1, 1841, p. 47.]

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Jun 14Liked by Roman Bystrianyk

On my device I can't move the cursor up to edit an autocorrect-generated typo in my comment, so note in my first sentence I meant "two WAYS to" , not "two wars to"

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If smallpox had been a mild disease, its impact on human history would have been significantly different. Smallpox is estimated to have caused the deaths of hundreds of millions of people, particularly in the 20th century before its eradication in 1980.

It played a significant role in the conquest and colonization of the Americas, contributing to the decline of the Aztec and Inca empires. The disease also had a profound effect on European history, with some estimates suggesting smallpox claimed 60 million lives in the 18th century alone.

If smallpox were a mild disease, these devastating effects would not have occurred. The loss of life and subsequent social, political, and economic impacts would have been significantly reduced. The demographic shifts and power dynamics that were influenced by smallpox outbreaks would likely have taken a different course.

Furthermore, the eradication of smallpox, which was a global effort spearheaded by the World Health Organization, would not have been as urgent or necessary.

The resources and efforts dedicated to smallpox vaccination and containment could have been directed to other pressing health issues.

In terms of medical advancements, the development of the smallpox vaccine by Edward Jenner in 1796 was a significant milestone in the history of medicine.

If smallpox had been a mild disease, this vaccine might not have been developed or it might have been developed much later, potentially delaying the development of other vaccines and the concept of vaccination itself.

All in all, if smallpox had been a mild disease, it would not have had the devastating effects on human populations and history that it did. The course of medical and scientific advancements might also have been different.

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I noticed that some of the doctors blamed the nurses for the maltreatments. Was there a distinct school of nursing at that time or how were the nurses learning their trade?

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author

I'm really not sure what education/training took place. I'm sure it widely varied from decade to decade. My understanding is that often times they (doctors, surgeons, nurses, etc.) had minimal education on the order of weeks.

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your watermark.silverchair link is expired and maybe behind a paywall. try posting a url without the token code.

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Thanks that worked!

Yes lots of disease bacteria probably transmitted by ticks and bugs and bathwater (when not thrown out with baby) and washing/drinking water.

Mosquitos are known to transmit malaria in some regions.

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You may find the following of interest.

http://whale.to/a/campbell2.html

http://whale.to/b/a/campbell.html

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Thanks. Bedbugs are such a scourge!

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May 20Liked by Roman Bystrianyk

Essential oils are quite efficacious. Lavender, eucalyptus, thyme, tea tree, clove, citronella.

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