Anesthesia Started As A Party Drug

Before general anesthesia, surgery was a gruesome affair. The main reason we now have effective pain relief during medical procedures is because of...parties?! Maren Hunsberger follows the story of anesthetic gasses from the Old Operating Theatre in London through to today's science of modern anesthesia.
Fascinating Fails tells the stories of accidents in history that have resulted in some of our biggest discoveries, inventions, and breakthroughs. Following those often jaw-dropping (and sometimes hilarious) fails through time to today, host Maren Hunsberger asks: "What's next?". By talking to today's innovative young scientists, engineers, artists, and other big thinkers, we see how the mistakes of the past are leading us into the science of tomorrow...and toward a better future.
Original Production Funding Provided by National Science Foundation - Grant No. 2120006 Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
*****
PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: to.pbs.org/DonateTerra
*****
Subscribe to PBS Terra so you never miss an episode! bit.ly/3mOfd77
And keep up with Fascinating Fails and PBS Terra on:
Facebook: / pbsdigitalstudios
Twitter: / pbsds
Instagram: / pbsterra

[@judiththomas109]

Queen Victoria received chloroform during the birth of her eighth child. This seemed to dispel some of the "moral" issue of anesthesia during childbirth. Apparently, this helped to bring anesthesia to the forefront.

[@itchy7879]

Really loving how this series embraces the awkwardness of invention and being in front of a camera explaining things. It's really fun to see how past and current science is messy, very good science communication

[@Acceleronics]

I was a product design engineer for my 40 year career (now retired :-). Over those years, it became clear that I (and we) learn more from our failures (I won't ever do THAT again!) than from our successes (I don't know why that worked, but I'm glad it did). Excellent video!

[@pliktl]

screen shotted this. i need to remind myself of this from time to time. so much of the process can feel like failure, but the aha-moment always comes if perseverant.

[@claire_seaton]

Woohoo! This was so much fun to work on, and with an absolute dream team to boot!

[@sarayorath8836]

Historian and Mother of Leeches. The job title of dreams! Such a wonderful episode!

[@halonothing1]

I watched a video years ago of a boy, maybe 8 years old in a developing African country (sorry, I can't recall which one after so long) having his tonsils removed without anesthesia because they didn't have any. They just went in and cut them out in a few seconds while his mother held him tight, then he leaned forward and half choked on the blood that was now gushing out of his throat. I'll never forget that. The fact that in this day and age people still have surgeries without anesthesia. We take so much for granted in the developed world than we even realize. Videos like this help make you appreciate it, but videos like what I saw make you realize it's still something that some people have to endure.

[@Pou1gie1]

It is also due to medical racism, as they mentioned.

[@lizziereid5908]

I learnt SO much from this episode! AND I remember it all! WOW. It's definetly the host's almost colloquial delivery that feels far less intimidating and therefore less pressurised on my ability to learn and remember the information. What a bonus to know that I will be asking for an epidural instead of general anaesthesia during birth if I have children! Thanks Brilliant B Productions and PBS for saving a girl some significant pain! I'm telling everyone to watch this.

[@austinmitchell2652]

I really enjoyed this format! I would love to see more videos like this that incorporate history, travel, interviews, and modern science

[@elizabethschiraldi7036]

Learnt a lot and definitely the patients need to understand all options and still crazy that childbirth for ethnic groups in UK is still higher risk. Well said Dr Watson.

[@CDRaff]

You say "too much fun at parties" I say "just the right amount of fun at parties". P.S. I love how obvious it is that early scientists were mainly motivated by getting as high as possible and calling it 'research'. P.P.S. Please do a video on Robert Liston and have a "Bahar Reaction Cam".

[@popmonkey]

love the way doctor Watson talks about her epidural. my wife still talks about it 20 years later. it's magic

[@MattHeron]

Incredible episode! Great fun to watch with some really important messages about anaesthesia and the provision of safe anaesthetic care!!

[@MBMCincy63]

Fascinating!! It's so very hard to comprehend that time seems so long ago yet in reality it's not been that long ago we just discovered the way to anesthetize someone.

[@magesalmanac6424]

That really puts it into perspective. I think we are lucky to live in this day and age.

[@tanyadudnikova9522]

Amazing! Loved working on this - never thought Anesthesia could be so interesting ;)

[@thexanderthemander]

A note about the correlation between general anesthesia vs epidural during child birth and health of the baby and mother, correlation does not equal causation. It is possible that the reason there are more health issues correlated with general anesthesia is because general anesthesia is more likely to be used in situations where there are serious complications.

[@SethinaWatson]

Loved this episode. Thanks for making it!

[@rachel_rexxx]

Fascinating stuff! Also cute earrings

[@magesalmanac6424]

Oh wow I didn’t notice them, her whole outfit is great 😊

[@Jennifer83881]

Excellent settings, I love seeing the old artifacts & details. Interesting topic too. Well done guys. 👍🏼

[@prettypic444]

I love the behind the scenes reactions- it was a great tension reliever and fits in great with the series theme (also, I want to see all the deleted fart jokes in this epside )

[@IanGrams]

Really loving this series so far. I had heard of the nitrous parties but it was real cool to hear how they then spurred the development of anesthesia. I do hope I live to see the day we get a better grasp on its mechanism of action and can develop new and improved methods.

[@Caterfree10]

“Birthing person” I love y’all. 💜✨

[@jfu5222]

Engaging topic, great host, thanks to everyone who made this possible.

[@Blackbird_Singing_in_the-Night]

Loved this! Both the subject matter and the presentation were engaging and fun to watch!

[@BrownieX001]

Yeah raves = science!

[@zacharythornton1904]

They really do the guy that made mdma he was a phyconot but his wife is a therapist and she started to use it on her clients for therapy

[@laughingoutloud5742]

The past was the worst. That being said, this format is excellent. It shows how important it is to record your observations and results from every "experiment" - even the accidental ones!! Gotta break a lot of eggs and spill a lot of flour to learn how to make a cake! 😉❤️🎂😴👍

[@notinventedhere2]

Loved this episode! What an awesome series.

[@janiekilkelly]

Awesome, fascinating and accessable information presented engagingly.🎉

[@suzannebenson7238]

So fascinating! Great production and I loved seeing the historical venues!

[@TheRandoDude]

This is the best video ever.

[@sarah100200100]

It also highlights how terrifying surgery must have been 😮 in the grand scheme of things not that long ago.....and all those Victorian surgeons getting high 😂 ....

[@laughingoutloud5742]

Absolutely love the names of the leeches! 😂 This is an excellent series - Thank you for educating us about amazing and awesome mistakes!! I freaking love Science!! ❤

[@Trask899]

Another amazing, fascinating, and well made episode! Medical history has been horrifying LOL

[@insulaarachnid]

This was fascinating!

[@ConstantChaos1]

Believe it or not there is actually some promising new literature about hypmotism for pain management, so coupled with being high as fuck i could see it working pretty well js

[@jeaniecox9601]

'You shouldn't be able to remember being general anesthesia or be able to move' *Laughs in EDS*

[@thatguy8514]

Some minor errors like Wells, who saw it in Hartford, but quite enjoyable. Thank you!

[@cpi23]

loved this

[@skybluskyblueify]

The fabulous John Snow, in the 1840s-50s] was famous for his use of anesthesia in addition to starting epidemiology. I guess skipping that tidbit would make the video too long or confuse the story they were trying to teach. Gotta K.I.S it.

[@allenman97]

I learned this from Puppet History😂😂

[@pliktl]

that's epic. i need more puppet history.

[@EvilSnips]

Is that public space where the term 'operation theater' comes from?

[@pbsterra]

Yes indeed! Operating theaters get their name from the fact that in this era, they were designed for an audience of surgeons-in-training to watch operations from the benches to learn more about the human body. It's not just the space featured in this video, but most official hospital operating rooms at the time looked like this.

[@EvilSnips]

@@pbsterra Oh wow that is fascinating! Thank you! Would hate for that to be me on the table haha.

[@jwbowen]

So if the first solvent I try doesn't work, I shouldn't give up and just keep trying more!

[@davidjones6661]

16:50 -- adore the seamless use of inclusive language!

[@LIZZIE-lizzie]

From experience, stairs as such will make you dizzy! We have these walk-ups in NYC and you're dizzy at the fifth floor.

[@dhawthorne1634]

SHOULDN'T. The one time I was under they gave me Nitrous first, then an IV. I remember everything about the IV going in. The feeling of it sliding along inside my arm. The person who inserted it got it too close to my elbow and it exited the vein so they had to try again; then someone said "Just make sure he doesn't bend his arm". The entire procedure I was focused on keeping my arm straight. I remember being asked to relax my arm so they could get the IV out, which scared the shit out of me. I also remember hitting the nurse that tried to walk me out to the car then speed-walking across the parking lot before she could catch up. It took all of my focus to stay in a straight line. I don't remember much about the next 4 hours. I'm not sure if it was from me sleeping off the anesthesia or if they'd given me the first dose of Vicodin before I left. That stuff did nothing for the pain, it just knock me out for 4 hour stretches and kill my appetite,

[@pliktl]

This is hysterical 😂

[@josephdonais4778]

Of course it would have come from recreational snorting. /rolls eyes

[@Pou1gie1]

@16:00 I wish they had interviewed doctors to see why Black women are being given more C-sections and general anesthetic. It seems that doctors are wanting to treat Black women like livestock, as they want them in and out of the delivery room and don't want them to be conscious for the delivery. Essentially, it is a way to shut them up and get rid of them quickly. Whereas Yt women are treated with care and patience.

[@ChrundleTGreat]

Anesthesia is fascinating but I’m more fascinated by what is the cause of Black Women not getting epidurals as often as other women.

[@WITHETSTORMXX]

That might not be true. I'm going to look it up because people race bait these days. I can't imaging that a black woman is in severe pain in labor and asks for epidural and is refused.

[@WITHETSTORMXX]

It's because of insurance coverage

[@IveJustHadAPiss]

Being a non-American I couldn't understand the narrator due to the novelties of her accent and sheer speed of delivery. Ending up checking the video speed in case I'd left it on 1.75x! 😂 Thankfully the technology gods provided subtitles and I ended up enjoying the video.

[@penguin32383]

Anesthesia was seen as immoral a couple centuries ago. Makes one wonder how current "immoral" medical practices will be viewed in the future.

[@chonglers1513]

It was brought up as immoral as soon as it was used to help women. So in this context it would be how current "immoral" medical practices *that are used to help women* will be viewed in the future.

[@magesalmanac6424]

Oh yeah, the religious class were convinced that women were supposed to suffer in childbirth.

[@IWouldLikeToRemainAnonymous]

The sound mixing is not very good at the beginning of the video! I don't know if I want to watch it all when the sound scratches at me, sorry! It was a nice idea to start the video outside but not so much in practice seeing (hearing) the traffic destroyed the ambience. I might come back to the video some other time because the topic seems interesting! Sorry for complaining!

[@quickmythril2398]

someone should get you a real mic.

[@ramonsanchez50]

she talks toooo fast....!

[@badchunky1]

Interesting subject. Annoying chicks attempting to be funny 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@abpccpba]

Interesting story. Bad production. Bye

[@anandjhave]

Lousy commentator