Need a Cure for Consumption? How about Cannabis Sativa?

In the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, consumption was rampant and there was no cure. Patients and families were desperate for any type of treatment to cure the dreaded disease or to lessen its symptoms.  Many patients went to sanatoriums, some went into caves trying to be cured and others turned to remedies that they could use at home and that were sold in their local town or by mail.  It was unknown in the late 1880s whether or not consumption was contagious.  However, poor sanitation, spitting in the streets, and living in a home with an infected patient all contributed to its spread.

 In Rochester, a businessman by the name of W. A. Noyes hopped on the remedy bandwagon and began selling his consumption curing remedy, Cannabis Sativa, not only in Rochester, but through the mail to patients all over the country.

His office was in the Powers building in downtown Rochester and was one of 2 high rise building in the city. The Powers building still stands today.  Noyes’ remedy was advertised as The Home Treatment for consumption, bronchitis, asthmas, and other lung conditions. 

What was in this remedy that promised healing for so many lung conditions?  The full list of ingredients are not known, but they included Cannabis Sativa.

Cannabis Stevia is a species that is part of the Cannabis family of plants.  Sativa simply means that it is a cultivated plant.  Its main psychoactive ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and it is still used today as medicinal and recreational cannabis.

From all across the country, patients and families would order Cannabis Sativa from Noyes and they would often write back to him and share with him how well it worked.  Noyes published the flyer below in Rochester in 1897 to advertise the great healing properties of The Home Treatment and it included positive reviews from patients.

Other than his remedy for consumption and other lung conditions, not much else is known about W. A. Noyes.  The bacillus that causes consumption (tuberculosis) was discovered in 1882 but it wasn’t until 1946 that streptomycin was developed to provide a cure.

Public Health Week

“Go Tell the Crocodiles” by Rowan Moore Gerety is available for checkout at Miner Library, along with several other Public Health titles.

We asked Arielle Schecter and Shannon Cleary about the National Public Health Week display the URMC Public Health Interest Group created. Schecter and Cleary are both MS 1 and co-leaders of the Public Health Interest Group at URMC.

1.      What does Public Health week mean to you?

Public health is for everyone! Everything about the human experience is related to public health: social relationships, global community, politics, planning for the future, education, technology, medicine, language, war, peace: It all has a bearing on the health of us as individuals and members of society. Public Health Week is a great opportunity to connect ourselves to the extraordinary, imaginative public health work going on all across the country.

2.      What public health issues are most important to you/the Rochester community?

Many of us in the medical school are newcomers to Rochester, and we feel so welcomed. We think it’s our responsibility to explore our roles as physicians-in-training, and learn more about the health realities here. We see challenges related to socioeconomic mobility, education, transportation, healthcare, food security, and environmental sustainability. We want to do our part to promote wellness among our new neighbors.

3.      What made you want to collaborate with Miner Library for Public Health week?

Libraries are amazing! In important ways, they function as public health spaces, in that there is room for everyone to get connected to what matters to them and their communities. Our Miner librarians and library staff are wonderful resources for us as students. They have really gone out of their way to make this event happen, and we are very grateful. 

4.      Which featured book is your favorite?

I loved reading “Go Tell the Crocodiles” by the journalist Rowan Moore Gerety. It really compellingly discusses the convergence of multiple public health factors: war, agriculture, government infrastructure, bureaucracy, and people just trying to live their lives without getting eaten by crocodiles.

5.      Which featured book are you excited to read?

I’m most excited to read a book that one of our librarians pulled for us: It’s a book about the history of cholera in London, called “Ghost Map.”

Upcoming Classes by Miner Library

Here are the classes offered by Miner Library for the upcoming month:

Blackboard: Using Zoom to make virtual connections

Date: Tuesday, April 16, 2019 Time: 9:00am – 10:00am

Register

For a full list of Miner Library’s classes, visit our Classes page.

Have a question? Contact Miner Library’s Answer Desk @ 585-275-3361.

Women’s History Month: Women in Medicine, Rochester, NY

As we celebrate Women’s History Month this March, let’s take a look at the important contributions of women in medicine in Rochester, NY.

In January 1887 the Provident Dispensary was opened for business. It provided free medical care for women and children and was operated solely by women physicians. The clinic was located on Front Street in the city of Rochester by the Genesee River. Rochester City Council supplied Provident Dispensary with three rent free rooms and a $100 budget. The rest of their funds came from private donors.

During this time, dispensaries were founded to meet the needs of urban, working poor families. Dispensaries held clinic hours and made home visits. Beyond medical needs, they met the social needs of their patients, helping them find employment, providing food and clothing, and teaching about hygiene and sanitation. Unlike other dispensaries, Provident Dispensary was founded specifically to serve women and children.

Provident Dispensary was established in conjunction with the Practitioner’s Society, a medical society for women in Rochester. Women physicians during this time period were largely excluded from practicing in hospitals. Provident Dispensary gave women the chance to practice medicine, maintain their skills, and care for poor women and children, a core value of their mission.

In addition to the physicians, there was 15 member Advisory Board of laywomen recruited from area churches and synagogues. Members of the Advisory Committee encouraged poor women from their churches and neighborhoods to seek medical care at the dispensary.

Provident Dispensary met critical medical needs for a decade. However, it closed its doors after 10 years. Financially, it never stood on solid ground. The decision to close was also likely based on the emergence of hospital outpatient clinics that served marginalized areas and women physicians were beginning to find inroads to hospital practice.

Even with Provident Dispensary closure, the founders still found ways to maintain their founding philosophy through the establishment of evening clinics for the working poor and charity wards in hospitals.

Remembering the shoulders that we stand on, the founders of Provident Dispensary were: Drs. Sarah Dolley, Mary Stark, Anna Searing, Harriet Turner, Eveline Ballintine, Frances Hamilton, Lettie Woodruff, Sarah Perry, Mary Brownell, Marion Craig, Mary Slaight, and Minerva Palmer.

If you would like to know more about Dr. Sarah Dolley, you can read her profile in Changing the Face of Medicine. She was the third woman to graduate from medical school in the United States and the first to complete a hospital internship. Dr. Dolley was also active in the suffrage movement.  

Learn more:

Restoring the Balance: Women Physicians and the Profession of Medicine 1850-1995.

History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York: From the Earliest Historic Times to the Beginning of 1907, Volume 1

Elsevier Passwords Exposed

Due to an error on the part of Elsevier, login information was exposed.

If you have created personal accounts with Elsevier platforms, we strongly urge you to change your passwords. Platforms that may be affected are:  ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, Reaxys, Mendeley, and Engineering Village.  

Is Miner’s website old, ancient, or prehistoric? Here’s what we think and what we’re doing about it!

What’s older than our website?

1. Stonehenge
2. Mona Lisa
3. Methuselah
4. None of the above

If you selected “4” as your response, it’s O.K. We’re not offended.

We’re the first to admit it. Our site is antiquated. Old-fashioned. Outdated.

The good great fantastic news is that we’ll soon relaunch the Miner site with better functionality and a sparkling new look and feel.  

At first, our team will be focusing on the front page. Our search features will be bigger, bolder, and easier to understand. And no more hunting around for our hours. They’ll be right up front, too.

While you’re oohing and ahhing over the front page, we’ll be hard at work giving the rest of the site a long overdue clean-up and face lift.

We’ll keep you posted!

P.S. Interested to know how old 1, 2, and 3 are? Stonehenge is 5,019 years old. Leonardo da Vinci painted Mona Lisa c. 1503; so she’s 516 years old. And Methuselah? Well, he was said to have died at the age of 969.

Micromedex is URMC’s New Drug Database

Big changes are happening in eRecord! In collaboration with the Pharmacy Department, we are rolling out access to our new drug database, Micromedex! The link is now available in eRecord and on the Miner Library Homepage, under Quick Links.

For all of your drug information database needs or questions, check out Miner’s Micromedex guide.

• Click on the Guides & Tutorials link on the Miner Library Homepage.
• From the Guides & Tutorials page, click on Micromedex.

The Micromedex guide provides links to helpful resources and training materials.

The IBM Micromedex Druf Ref. IBM Micromedex Drug Int., Neofax, and Pediatrics apps are available for free, through URMC’s licensing agreement. They are available for download on Apple and Android devices.​ The apps require a password. Directions are available on the Mobile Apps tab.

There is also a tab with information on Neofax and Pediatrics, IBM’s neonatal and pediatric drug resource. This database provides patient-specific drug dosing calculators and information, neonatal and pediatric drug monographs, and nutrition comparison tables. Neofax can be accessed through the Micromedex portal.

For all of your Micromedex and drug information needs, please check out the Micromedex guide here. Contact Liz Grace with any questions.