# What valid treatments did pre “germ theory” doctors provide?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-valid-treatments-did-pre-germ-theory-doctors-provide/838441>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 10, 2019, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-valid-treatments-did-pre-germ-theory-doctors-provide/838441 "2019-08-10T03:30:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-valid-treatments-did-pre-germ-theory-doctors-provide/838441/21 "2019-08-12T01:43:32Z")

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[Artemisinin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisinin) is an anti-malarial drug found in _Artemisia annua_, which was used in traditional Chinese medicine. However, it was one of many malarial treatments in traditional Chinese medicine and the rest were likely totally useless.

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**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-valid-treatments-did-pre-germ-theory-doctors-provide/838441/22 "2019-08-12T04:19:31Z")

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[Ignaz Semmelweis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis) proved the efficacy of antiseptic procedures to reduce deaths from ‘childbirth fever’ - years before Louis Pasteur formulated the germ theory of disease that became generally accepted.

However…

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> Despite various publications of results where hand washing reduced mortality to below 1%, Semmelweis’s observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. Semmelweis could offer no acceptable scientific explanation for his findings, and some doctors were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands and mocked him for it.

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**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-valid-treatments-did-pre-germ-theory-doctors-provide/838441/23 "2019-08-12T11:06:29Z")

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I was reading about asclepeions (temple/hospitals of Asclepius) in ancient Greece. Part of the treatment they provided was a ritual bath followed by sleep where the god would (hopefully) visit the patient in a dream. One article I read suggested that the prescription of rest plus basic hygeine was probably better than nothing.

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