Ether/Or

by Matthew Heron

A podcast about the history of anaesthesia, the gases we use to put people to sleep, and how the safety of patients became central to a modern speciality.

Latest episodes

Showing 7 · updated from the feed

6: The Depth of the Problem

Over sixty years after the discovery of chloroform anaesthesia, doctors would finally get a conclusive answer about its risks. And as we head towards the 200th anniversar

Nov 20 2021
33 min

5: The Commissions

Chloroform could stop patients breathing if you accidentally gave too much, but could it also cause the heart to suddenly stop beating? John Snow thought it did, but doct

Nov 13 2021
34 min

4: By Principle or By Rule

Chloroform's ease of use and lack of side effects compared to ether made it an attractive choice for doctors and patients, but as its use spread across the country, docto

Nov 6 2021
36 min

3: A Scottish Solution

Now ether anaesthesia had been discovered, how were doctors going to use it? And what was the experience like for the patients? As doctors struggled to get to grips with

Oct 30 2021
35 min

2: A Question of Attribution

Horace Wells' nitrous oxide demonstration had been a disaster, but in it an old colleague would see opportunity. A second demonstration of painless surgery would have an

Oct 23 2021
34 min

1: The Agony and the Ecstasy

How does surgery with anaesthesia today compare to surgery without it? And how did we discover that breathing in gas could relieve the pain of an amputation? In the mid 1

Oct 16 2021
31 min

Introducing: Ether/Or

Ether/Or is about the discovery of anaesthesia, and all its advantages. But it's also about the many problems that came with it. From failed attempts to fatal consequence

Oct 3 2021
2 min

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#134 NEW Life Sciences US

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