How Arsenic went from Poison to Medicine

Arsenic! It’s been used as everything from a poison to an early cancer treatment, and famously, the first cure for syphilis. In this video, I’ll walk you through the history of arsenic in medicine.
☠️NONE OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS VIDEO SHOULD BE USED AS MEDICAL ADVICE OR OPINION. IT IS FOR GENERAL EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT☠️
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[@AhmetwithaT]

It's not a poison, it's just a misunderstood medicine. So as you can see your honor, I was actually trying to cure my husbands syphilis when I fed him a whole bunch of arsenic...

[@PatKellyTeaches]

"Yes, you see, he was very sick...."

[@christopherellis2663]

Why did you give him syphilis?

[@1123JGilbert]

@@christopherellis2663 no sir, he was a debaucherously lecherous man, and as he was allowed, he found many women of the night. He would never touch me with that delicate hand, as you can see I am syphilis free, as are ALL of our children.

[@VoidHalo]

@@christopherellis2663Plus, the fact that she had syphillis means she was committing adultery, which was very much illegal and punishable by law at that point in history. And by knowingly infecting her husband with it in order to hide her misdeeds, she could also be found guilty of assault. I'm not sure about the 1830s, but these days it would definitely be assault of some sort.

[@christopherellis2663]

@@VoidHalo Smoking is assault with a deadly weapon, if one looks into it

[@gorgonzolastan]

My wife had APL leukemia, and arsenic trioxide along with ATRA, which is all trans retinoic acid (it's a compound similar to vitamin A) saved her life, and she's been in remission for over 5 years now. It's interesting what things from the past turn up with new uses.

[@pennymitchell8523]

If you are going to get leukaemia ...AMPML is the one. It's 98% curable

[@nicholasneyhart396]

Wow, here's to another 5 years.

[@VandaRossi-th4zu]

Bonjour, comment vous avez soignez votre femme ? Quel médicament on peut utiliser pour se débarrasser de cet poisson d' arsenic? Merci

[@TexRenner]

1822 medicine looks like the dark ages; by 1922 medicine looks like science, but so much of our real progress has come in these seven decades I have benefitted so much from. Acalabrutinib is hard enough, I can hardly imagine arsenic.

[@PatKellyTeaches]

That's a great comment. The influenza pandemic of 1918 was a huge turning point in scientific medicine

[@zaggnutt]

Mercury enemas, Hamlin’s Wizard Oil, elephants, murder and Syphilis? This one has it all! Great video!

[@PatKellyTeaches]

Thanks Brandon. It was a fun one to research!

[@all4one5]

I’m a biochemist bachelors in my final year and I just found your channel. It is AWESOME for listening while I do things around the house to keep my brain on topic and the gears turning. Thanks

[@skybluskyblueify]

Dogs with adult heartworms used to be treated with an arsenic-based drug. They have to be confined to a cage and closely monitored as the arsenic-based drug slowly killed the adult heartworms.

[@Nikki-lodeon]

That's interesting. The treatment is pretty much the same today, but just not with arsenic.

[@rey3472]

@@Nikki-lodeon The drug is still used. Melarsomine. Three injections administered at 30 day intervals. I just read about an alternative treatment involving Moxidectin and Doxycycline, but that treatment must be continued for a year. It is not preferred as the first treatment. Moxidectin is normally used as a heartworm preventative.

[@suspectsn0thing]

Really interesting - I was aware of the 1800s-era folk remedies using arsenic, but hadn't heard of it being used in an actual proven product, let alone one reapproved for use in the current millennium. Also, looking out up, arsenic trioxide has a real crazy looking molecular structure. Neat stuff.

[@PatKellyTeaches]

I appreciate that. Arsenicals, strangely, come up again in my next video.

[@suspectsn0thing]

@@PatKellyTeaches looking forward to it!

[@whoareyoulookingfor]

you mentioned chemo, would you ever do a video on the history of chemotherapy? my mom was just diagnosed with breast cancer and starts her treatment next week. my histmed specialty is in surgical instruments and techniques, so i don't know much about it, and i just found your channel and enjoy your videos! much better than the absolute history channels & the like where there's an error every other scene

[@PatKellyTeaches]

First of all, I wish you and your family the best of luck with your mom's treatment. I've been there -- it's no fun to be apart of. Second, yes! I have a 25 minute video on history of breast cancer in the works. As a surgical historian, you'll love the section about Halstead, I'm sure!

[@whoareyoulookingfor]

@@PatKellyTeaches thank you very much for your response! i'll pass on the wishes to my mom, she'll appreciate it 😊 i very much look forward to your future videos, and halstead is quite a character! 😆 apart from his operations and sterile techniques, i especially like the story of caroline hampton's hands being irritated from the disinfectants so he created rubber gloves, talk about true love!

[@jamessalomon9343]

During WW2 my dad was stationed in China. While there he contracted Amebic dysentery. He was treated with Arsenic, which cured the disease. However, the medication caused neurologic problems. Specifically, he developed a tremor in both hands. This was a serious problem because my dad was a Photographer. Consequently, he used a large, heavy, 4x5 Speed Graphic for most of his work. The camera was heavy enough to keep his hands steady and the large negatives hid any imperfections.

[@ettinakitten5047]

Bloodletting does still see limited use as a medical treatment for hemochromatosis, a genetic condition that leads to iron buildup eventually damaging the liver. Kind of like trephining - cutting a hole in the skull - which seems to have been used for a ton of medical conditions in the Stone Age in Europe, but now is only used to treat brain swelling.

[@marchhair01]

I worked for one of the companies that sold Arsenic for APL. It’s a wonderful therapy that is well tolerated. It did take some persuasion to convince the oncology nurses to infuse ‘poison’ into the patients.

[@angelicamaedelacruz616]

Wowww! Just woww! This video made me excited to study toxicology for Pharma. This just felt like I’ve traveled through time with the significance of Arsenic in the history and its relevance in Modern Medicine. Thank you so much.

[@PatKellyTeaches]

Heck yeah, this kind of comment means a lot. Best of luck in your studies!

[@FusionDeveloper]

They also used mercury and lead.

[@PatKellyTeaches]

Anybody want a peanut?

[@just__ryan_]

I loved the reference! One of my favorite movies of all time.

[@PatKellyTeaches]

@@just__ryan_ Same! I almost made an iocane powder reference (there have been people who developed a tolerance to arsenic just like Wesley's tolerance to iocane powder) but one reference was enough.

[@Chris_winthers]

Never says peanuts without the t

[@ashleelarsen5002]

I like Basil - less side effects That's true according to the Internet it has antimicrobial properties

[@Rachel-sx8zw]

Dimercaprol?

[@christophervaca7116]

Fun fact: Arsenic and Old Lace takes place in my hometown, Windsor, CT.

[@PatKellyTeaches]

There are certainly worse claims to fame for a hometown!

[@albigensiac3206]

Wow, I'm a year too late, to be commenting, but... As a fibre dyer (of wool, alpaca etc.) I'm always astounded by the connections between dyes and medicines. Arsenic has been truly bad-mouthed amongst dyers for a very long time, since a Swedish chemist named Karl Scheele, made a dye in 1775 called (you guessed it) "Scheele's Green". that contained large amounts of As203, (an arsenic compound). Women loved this shade of green and bought dresses dyed with it, until they and their dance partners and husbands started dying. (As in death dying, not fibre dyeing). In fact, when Napoleon was banished to St Helena Island, the house he died in was wallpapered with green paper that contained Scheele's toxic dye. So there is a theory that he died of arsenic poisoning.

[@mommachupacabra]

Mom told me that back in the 1930's she got low dose arsenic for her plaque psoriasis. She stated that it worked, and her plaque reduced to smaller localized patches to her joints for the rest of her life.

[@everflores9484]

I've been watching a ton of your videos lately, patrick and i just really wanted to tell you how amazing they are! Concise, interesting, well-researched; Keep going!

[@PatKellyTeaches]

That means a lot Ever, thank you! More to come soon

[@taliwalt5332]

12:56 I paused the video halfway through when some part of my brain said “🤔hold on, I’m sure I remember hearing something about a leukemia treatment derived from arsenic” I wasted a few minutes trying to dig up the source (so I could sound super smart in the comments section, of course). “Silly me”, I think as I roll my eyes at myself 🙄. If I’d been more patient, I could have spared myself the trouble. Wonderful video as always!

[@PatKellyTeaches]

That's not wasted time at all! I'm excited that you care enough about the subject to fact check the video while watching it. I also always include a link to a fact checked script in the description 👍

[@submargi]

Underrated channel

[@Lubicuss]

this video deserves more likes

[@FusionDeveloper]

I study medicine for education. When i saw that soo many medications at the store were just different name brands and different marketing, I decided I needed to learn medicine.

[@windstorminator]

Your videos deserve millions of views, thank you for making them, can't stop watching them lol

[@xuanwu2932]

So much work put into these videos. Thank you! I love this channel!

[@pkre707]

Imagine how many were murdered and got away with murder by arsenic without ever being found out.

[@jayronfinan]

So glad to have found your channel! I came across it searching for Paul Ehrlich and arsenic. I'm SUPER impressed by your quality (it's right up there with Crash Course and other favorites)! It's very apparent that a lot of time and attention to detail went into this. You do a very good job presenting (very engaging). Also, thank you for not speaking too fast like many others do. Your balance of photos to "face" time is spot on. Great graphics and picture selection. Most importantly, excellent content. Such interesting stories. As a teacher, I will definitely be using your videos and share with my students and as a lover of history, I'll be watching myself as well. You are filling a huge void in KZbin as there is so much to be told with the history of medicine/biology. Thank you again and I have no doubt you will reach 100K subscribers soon!

[@konnerb9269]

My sister had APL and was treated with a arsenic trioxide and vitamin A combo mix of drugs. She has been in remission for 5 years now

[@niccoloreiss842]

13:12 actually, while we have completely stopped using mercury in medicine (at least to my knowledge), we do still use bloodletting! Albeit, only for certain conditions. Mainly hemochromatosis, but also for polycythemia vera and porphyria cutanea tarda. In addition we use leeches a LOT still, for general venous congestion or tissue necrosis, yeah, but most commonly in plastic surgery as an adjunct to graft tissue healing (a purpose which medicinal leeches are actually fully FDA approved for) and to make sure that tiny delicate blood vessels near surgical sites remain active and speed wound healing.

[@michaeljohnston6856]

You’re videos are fascinating, some of this stuff I should have known earlier in life. Makes me feel lucky to be alive in 2023

[@PatKellyTeaches]

That is certainly a growing theme here. Thank goodness we're not all eating arsenic anymore

[@xenoxaos1]

Sorry to say but bloodletting is still a necessary medical procedure. It's used to treat polycythemia vera as well as other issues. Although today it has a better name and doesn't use leeches. Therapeutic phlebotomy. And depending on the facility, the blood can actually be donated. I have to donate blood every month or so or I could risk having strokes.

[@davidbmason]

This is fascinating. Subscribed. Please make more videos about the history of medicines.

[@PatKellyTeaches]

More coming soon! Thanks for the kind words

[@Davidbirdman101]

I read a book once, where a psycho was addicted to arsenic. The name of the book was, "Rose ", by a guy named Martin Cruz Smith. I always wondered how the guy could take arsenic without dying. It's a great read by the way.

[@stevengill1736]

You should do a bit on strychnine, which really has no medical use whatsoever (currently), yet was prescribed for a number of conditions...for a time. I remember when I was studying pharmacology as a youngster, and read of the history you spoke of. Now of course we think of chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer, but technically it applies to most meds as you pointed out....

[@dextermorgan1]

"Everything's good in moderation"

[@ladyblackstar4260]

These videos are awesome! Really scratching my itch for random information

[@johnmichaelrichards]

Arsenic is not entirely odorless - many describe it as smelling like garlic, whereas cyanide smells of almonds.

[@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648]

Oxyd, my Potass.

[@Nikki-lodeon]

Fantastic video! As always 😊

[@PatKellyTeaches]

Thank you! 😊

[@kaiakakos]

Wow! This is so interesting! Thank you ☺️

[@PatKellyTeaches]

Glad you liked it!

[@VoidHalo]

Where did you get this 1809 British Pharmacopeaia? I looked for one online, assuming there would be a PDF, but I can't seem to find one. I would imagine such an obsolete text would be free.

[@michaelproust7891]

Excellent video as usual. Try and explain why 'Germ Theory ' came so late to humanity, we had been living with stinks for so long. Could you do a video on the Plague, explaining why one town was ravaged yet the next survived, untouched, the penny just didn't drop!

[@FusionDeveloper]

Poisons are fun in fictional stories and video games.

[@bioZone101]

4:36 🤯 so cool

[@hernanefrain6085]

What amazing storytelling

[@mistersir3020]

Arsenic is also an essential element to human life (organic arsenic). Same way nitrites are toxic but nitrogen is of course an essential element for all life.

[@alexisflory6496]

First: don't use aresnic. They know what to look for. Use thallium instead. Just as easy to get, and less likely to be guessed and tested for. Second. Found you by accident and now I'm sad there aren't more subscribers.

[@ulfpe]

It was also used in the first bronze alloys

[@henrydickerson9776]

Technically, bloodletting is still a treatment, but only for hemochromatosis.

[@joelb8653]

Have you done one on sulfa drugs. They are confusing and still in widespread use.

[@PatKellyTeaches]

Dude! You must have access to my Google Docs, since I'm working on a video about sulfanilamide

[@joelb8653]

@@PatKellyTeaches I don't but I'm looking forward to it. It amazes me that they were used topically and internally and apparently worked pretty well.

[@dalentoews3418]

Bloodletting is still used although rarely. I had a cousin who had dangerously high iron levels. Part of his treatment was removing some of his blood and then donating blood once it got to a safer level.

[@jod125]

What caused the high iron levels?

[@leroyproud294]

Did arsenic and bismuth have any positive effects on actually curing syphilis? This happened during the 30s in the US. Of course, they were still injecting Calomel in late stage syphilis.

[@MitzvosGolem1]

Excellent 👍 Kindly do a video on Ignaz SemmelweisHungarian Doctor who came up with germ theory of disease long before Pastuer . Was mocked banned for such in 1860 died penny less in a hospital helping others. Thanks

[@PatKellyTeaches]

I've gotten lots of requests to make a Semmelweis video. I'll definitely add it to the list

[@adivrsity]

You are under rated

[@ettinakitten5047]

I learned about ATP from the Creatures game series.

[@mikeyzero2439]

"Infecting Rabbits With Syphilis" is my least favorite nursery rhyme.

[@unnaturalredhead1559]

“Pliny the Elder put it in the same category as medicines like mercury” I mean, if the shoe fits…

[@marshalldaniels9836]

🌺 Promo_SM!!!

[@Brother-Louis]

Sahachiro Hata received three Nobel nominations, yet Hideyo Noguchi known for discovering the agent of syphilis as the cause of progressive paralytic disease, gets his face printed on the ¥100 banknote.

[@PeaceLoveUnityRespect]

You should consider modeling

[@Nmethyltransferase]

There is no quinine video. It doesn't exist.

[@PatKellyTeaches]

Thanks for letting me know. Should be good now

[@rallyworld3417]

Okay let me tell u there is no elixir in ayurveda idk howPPL got this idea .. arsenic and other heavy metal is used as drug on very small doses also don't take these things .. these drugs used in ayurveda is not same as today's metals or arsenic of found in nature

[@Anervaria]

james marsh just hated to see a girlboss win 💔

[@knpark2025]

So... arsenic is natually found in combination with sulfur... are people digging for AsS?😂

[@Really658]

Legalize hemlock.

[@kforest2745]

“inheritance medicine” what a pathetic species wow