4 ms·

It's kind of striking how much faith they used to put in the power of climate to affect health. Histories of the period very frequently include people moving sp

It's kind of striking how much faith they used to put in the power of climate to affect health. Histories of the period very frequently include people moving specifically because they are told the climate will improve their health. I wonder if there was anything to it or if it was the equivalent of a fad diet.

variaga 6y ago
Probably a mix; for respiratory conditions, the _abysmal_ air quality in London (look up the "Great Stink" of 1858) and other industrial(izing) cities meant a move to somewhere the air was cleaner would have a rapid, measurable effect on health. (The Victorian understanding of the word "climate" would have included "air quality" as a factor.) Other medical conditions (Cholera) that were exacerbated by poor sanitation would also show lower prevalence in the countryside, but the "climate" would be correlation, instead of causation. And some of it was undoubtedly just a way of showing off in an "I spend 4 months a year on the French Riviera for the climate, on advice of my Doctor. PS I am wealthy enough to summer in France and have a personal Doctor." sort of way.
- flukus 6y ago
  > but the "climate" would be correlation, instead of causation. Two I've heard in the modern era are asthma and allergies. I'm not sure if it helps with asthma but different climates definitely affect allergies, particular the prevalence of more evergreen trees in warmer climates means there's a reduced/missing allergy season.
- mc32 6y ago
  People like Keats were told Mediterranean climates were good for his tuberculosis. Quite a few people would take that sort of advice when that was a prevailing ailment.
- leoc 6y ago
  Moving would also mean a change of diet or at least a change of food suppliers, and given how horribly adulterated things like bread could be especially in the big cities, that might have been a (probably mostly unnoticed) contributing factor to some people's recoveries too.
- dumbfoundded 6y ago
  Allergies are certainly one factor that changes with climate.
darkerside 6y ago
There's probably a conflation of "mindfulness" in there. Since it wasn't a word at the time (I would presume), the meaning of it was probably mixed into other concepts, like climate.
Sniffnoy 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory
drc500free 6y ago
My wife and I are moving for climate. She has some rare diseases, and does very poorly where we currently live. Any time we travel to somewhere without high dust and mold levels, many of her problems clear up. What's surprising to me is really how little modern physicians pay attention to climate.
- kqr 6y ago
  I don't think that is very surprising. A lot of people have rather strong bonds to the places they live in, and telling them "my medicine for you is move somewhere else" probably does not go over well in the general case.
saagarjha 6y ago
Well if you consider that back then there was a ton of soot and disease in the air in cities and their wallpaper was likely to literally contain arsenic I can’t see why it couldn’t actually help.

variaga 6y ago

Probably a mix; for respiratory conditions, the _abysmal_ air quality in London (look up the "Great Stink" of 1858) and other industrial(izing) cities meant a move to somewhere the air was cleaner would have a rapid, measurable effect on health. (The Victorian understanding of the word "climate" would have included "air quality" as a factor.) Other medical conditions (Cholera) that were exacerbated by poor sanitation would also show lower prevalence in the countryside, but the "climate" would be correlation, instead of causation. And some of it was undoubtedly just a way of showing off in an "I spend 4 months a year on the French Riviera for the climate, on advice of my Doctor. PS I am wealthy enough to summer in France and have a personal Doctor." sort of way.

flukus 6y ago
> but the "climate" would be correlation, instead of causation. Two I've heard in the modern era are asthma and allergies. I'm not sure if it helps with asthma but different climates definitely affect allergies, particular the prevalence of more evergreen trees in warmer climates means there's a reduced/missing allergy season.
mc32 6y ago
People like Keats were told Mediterranean climates were good for his tuberculosis. Quite a few people would take that sort of advice when that was a prevailing ailment.
leoc 6y ago
Moving would also mean a change of diet or at least a change of food suppliers, and given how horribly adulterated things like bread could be especially in the big cities, that might have been a (probably mostly unnoticed) contributing factor to some people's recoveries too.
dumbfoundded 6y ago
Allergies are certainly one factor that changes with climate.

darkerside 6y ago

There's probably a conflation of "mindfulness" in there. Since it wasn't a word at the time (I would presume), the meaning of it was probably mixed into other concepts, like climate.

Sniffnoy 6y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory

drc500free 6y ago

My wife and I are moving for climate. She has some rare diseases, and does very poorly where we currently live. Any time we travel to somewhere without high dust and mold levels, many of her problems clear up. What's surprising to me is really how little modern physicians pay attention to climate.

kqr 6y ago
I don't think that is very surprising. A lot of people have rather strong bonds to the places they live in, and telling them "my medicine for you is move somewhere else" probably does not go over well in the general case.

saagarjha 6y ago

Well if you consider that back then there was a ton of soot and disease in the air in cities and their wallpaper was likely to literally contain arsenic I can’t see why it couldn’t actually help.