-----Original Message----- From: John B Davies [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 18 March 2009 11:02 To: '[email protected]' Subject: RE: [Black Country] Cirrhosis of the Liver Lois There are many references to Cirrhosis of the Liver which can be found by a Google search. But you should be careful with present day medical details for a death 140 or so years ago. I shall try to make my comments as simple and understandable as possible and relevant to the 1870s. No doubt there will be others armed with present day knowledge who will find fault with this. The liver is perhaps the largest solid organ within the body and performs a host of chemical functions upon which the health of the whole body depends. Cirrhosis of the liver is a condition usually of slow onset and long development where the delicate liver cells become damaged and replaced by scar tissue. The liver is large and at first has sufficient spare capacity to cope with the loss of properly functioning cells. You will appreciate that the earlier and heavier the abuse of the liver is, the earlier and more severe is the damage to the liver. The commonest by far, cause of this damage resulting in Cirrhosis was and remains the heavy consumption of alcoholic drink. The alcohol is usually ethyl alcohol. You should remember too that in the 1800s there were few if any national breweries and the control of brewing in the many small breweries and public houses brewing their own drink varied greatly. Many strange substances were sometimes added to these uncontrolled brews. Methylated spirit or methyl alcohol was one of these. At that time too the chemical industry was small and certainly did not produce the great variety of chemicals we have now. It has always been a commonplace that publicans die young and 33 as in your example although uncommon would not be rare. It depends largely on how much he drank and the atmospheric pollution of alcohol, tobacco, unwashed bodies and contaminants from customer's workplaces and of course his own hours in that environment. Medically the tests which we have today did not exist then. He would probably be unaware of his condition until it was far advanced. The licensing magistrates could only compare their sight of him with sight of other publicans. Many causes of cirrhosis are now known but the exposure to them in the 1870s would have been rare indeed. In recent years cirrhosis of the liver has been diagnosed in people in their 20s and there are cases in women. This is probably associated with the greater consumption of cheap liquor. Other causes may be hepatitis from overseas travel although "yellow jaundice" has been known for many years. This has been a very short answer to your questions but I hope it has been of some help. John B Davies Hermanus, South Africa -----Original Message----- I'm hoping someone can help me understand a death which occurred in the 1870's.? The victim was 33 and the cause of death was given by his widow as cirrhosis of the liver.? Less than six months earlier he had appeared at his sister's house (after several years of not hearing from him) and convinced her and her policeman husband that he was capable of providing for their son's education.? He was a publican, and I understand this would require a yearly appearance at the licensing board.? Curiously, he continued to appear for review for two years after his death.? BTW, his wife had remarried about three months after his death. I would like to know something of the course such a disease takes.? Could he seem healthy a few months before his death?? It may have only been one or two months after his visit.? We're not sure of the date of the visit.? Could he have been such a severe alcoholic and still passed the licensing review?? Would cirrhosis of the liver take a man who was only 33?? Doesn't it take longer?? Would there be other hazards a publican might face with chemicals that could cause such a death?? Ideas, anyone? Of course we are proud of his perseverance and diligence in continuing to report after his death. Cheers :),? Lois

A very big thank you, John.? I had been thinking he was too young for his liver to be so far gone, but obviously not.? He must have been able to hold it together pretty well since he fooled both his sister and the licensing board.? What a sad, early, and preventable way to go.? Thank you so much for sharing your expertise. Regards, Lois -----Original Message----- From: John B Davies <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, 18 Mar 2009 5:06 am Subject: [Black Country] FW: Cirrhosis of the Liver -----Original Message----- From: John B Davies [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 18 March 2009 11:02 To: '[email protected]' Subject: RE: [Black Country] Cirrhosis of the Liver Lois There are many references to Cirrhosis of the Liver which can be found by a Google search. But you should be careful with present day medical details for a death 140 or so years ago. I shall try to make my comments as simple and understandable as possible and relevant to the 1870s. No doubt there will be others armed with present day knowledge who will find fault with this. The liver is perhaps the largest solid organ within the body and performs a host of chemical functions upon which the health of the whole body depends. Cirrhosis of the liver is a condition usually of slow onset and long development where the delicate liver cells become damaged and replaced by scar tissue. The liver is large and at first has sufficient spare capacity to cope with the loss of properly functioning cells. You will appreciate that the earlier and heavier the abuse of the liver is, the earlier and more severe is the damage to the liver. The commonest by far, cause of this damage resulting in Cirrhosis was and remains the heavy consumption of alcoholic drink. The alcohol is usually ethyl alcohol. You should remember too that in the 1800s there were few if any national breweries and the control of brewing in the many small breweries and public houses brewing their own drink varied greatly. Many strange substances were sometimes added to these uncontrolled brews. Methylated spirit or methyl alcohol was one of these. At that time too the chemical industry was small and certainly did not produce the great variety of chemicals we have now. It has always been a commonplace that publicans die young and 33 as in your example although uncommon would not be rare. It depends largely on how much he drank and the atmospheric pollution of alcohol, tobacco, unwashed bodies and contaminants from customer's workplaces and of course his own hours in that environment. Medically the tests which we have today did not exist then. He would probably be unaware of his condition until it was far advanced. The licensing magistrates could only compare their sight of him with sight of other publicans. Many causes of cirrhosis are now known but the exposure to them in the 1870s would have been rare indeed. In recent years cirrhosis of the liver has been diagnosed in people in their 20s and there are cases in women. This is probably associated with the greater consumption of cheap liquor. Other causes may be hepatitis from overseas travel although "yellow jaundice" has been known for many years. This has been a very short answer to your questions but I hope it has been of some help. John B Davies Hermanus, South Africa -----Original Message----- I'm hoping someone can help me understand a death which occurred in the 1870's.? The victim was 33 and the cause of death was given by his widow as cirrhosis of the liver.? Less than six months earlier he had appeared at his sister's house (after several years of not hearing from him) and convinced her and her policeman husband that he was capable of providing for their son's education.? He was a publican, and I understand this would require a yearly appearance at the licensing board.? Curiously, he continued to appear for review for two years after his death.? BTW, his wife had remarried about three months after his death. I would like to know something of the course such a disease takes.? Could he seem healthy a few months before his death?? It may have only been one or two months after his visit.? We're not sure of the date of the visit.? Could he have been such a severe alcoholic and still passed the licensing review?? Would cirrhosis of the liver take a man who was only 33?? Doesn't it take longer?? Would there be other hazards a publican might face with chemicals that could cause such a death?? Ideas, anyone? Of course we are proud of his perseverance and diligence in continuing to report after his death. Cheers :),? Lois ------------------------------------- The only List that specifically covers the whole of the Black Country. Run by Black Country folk who were born and still live in the area. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message