The chemistry of sleep
Ethanol - the earliest anaesthetic?
For centuries surgery was a brutal and barbaric process, the part of
medicine no-one really wanted to know. In the Christian world the Church
did what little surgery there was, until in 1163 the Pope decreed that
monks and priests could no longer be involved in bloodletting. However
the barbers who cut the hair and beards of the monks and priests had
no such scruples, and they began to use their razors and knives for
lancing veins and boils and amputating diseased limbs where necessary.
 These
barber-surgeons developed a fearsome reputation, and no wonder. The
only form of anaesthesia was alcoholic drinks (containing ethanol, C2H5OH),
and people only submitted to surgery as a last resort – drinking
lots of brandy before being held down while your leg was sawn off had
limited appeal! The great majority of people who had surgery died within
days from shock, blood loss or infection, although enough must have
survived for the practice to continue. The red and white pole outside
traditional barber’s shops is a relic of this. The pole represents
white bandages stained with blood, showing that the barber was willing
to do more than give you a shave!
The use of effective anaesthetics was probably the single most important
development in the history of surgery. Imagine the difference. For the
patient, no more terror and agony, no more being held down whilst your
body was opened up in front of your eyes. For the surgeon, delicacy
and precise work became possible when the patient was no longer screaming
in agony - anaesthetics gave them the luxury of a still patient and
time to consider what to do.
The arrival of effective anaesthetics
Modern anaesthetics
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