{"id":1190190,"date":"2022-01-05T10:19:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T15:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1190190"},"modified":"2022-01-05T10:19:39","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T15:19:39","slug":"fact-check-was-the-inventor-of-hand-washing-thrown-in-a-mental-institution-for-his-discovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-was-the-inventor-of-hand-washing-thrown-in-a-mental-institution-for-his-discovery\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Was The Inventor Of Hand Washing \u2018Thrown In A Mental Institution\u2019 For His Discovery?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-was-the-inventor-of-hand-washing-thrown-in-a-mental-institution-for-his-discovery%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1190190&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>A post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/genius004\/photos\/a.962478827228134\/2203114869831184\/?type=3&amp;theater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared on Facebook<\/a> claims the doctor who discovered that hand washing helped prevent the spread of disease was thrown in an insane asylum for his idea.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: Misleading<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>While Ignaz Semmelweis\u2019 discovery may have played an indirect role in his eventual commitment to an asylum in 1865, it was not the direct cause, according to experts.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In 1846, Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor, started a job at the General Hospital in Vienna and set out to figure out why so many women in the maternity ward were dying from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/labs\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3638550\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">puerperal fever<\/a>, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2015\/01\/12\/375663920\/the-doctor-who-championed-hand-washing-and-saved-women-s-lives\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR<\/a>. After much trial and error, Semmelweis hypothesized that \u201ccadaverous particles\u201d were being transferred from the medical students\u2019 cadavers to the women giving birth whom they treated, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>In 1847, he began requiring his medical staff to wash their hands with a chloride solution, a bleaching agent and a disinfectant, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/embryo.asu.edu\/pages\/ignaz-philipp-semmelweis-1818-1865\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Embryo Project at Arizona State University<\/a>. The result was a dramatic decrease in the number of puerperal fever deaths, proving the life-saving power of hand washing, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2015\/01\/12\/375663920\/the-doctor-who-championed-hand-washing-and-saved-women-s-lives\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR<\/a> reported. For this reason, Semmelweis is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC7240806\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">often<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/globalhandwashing.org\/about-handwashing\/history-of-handwashing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">referred<\/a> to as the \u201cfather of hand hygiene.\u201d <strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The post shared on Facebook includes an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alamy.com\/stock-photo-ignaz-semmelweis-1858-139960749.html?irclickid=3wvXC51qVxyIW6CSdOVeVx8AUkGwp21Rrx9Twc0&amp;irgwc=1&amp;utm_source=77643&amp;utm_campaign=Shop%20Royalty%20Free%20at%20Alamy&amp;utm_medium=impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1858 photograph<\/a> of Semmelweis paired with an image of people washing their hands and text that reads, \u201cThe doctor who discovered that hand washing prevented the spread of disease was thrown in a Mental Institution for his crazy idea.\u201d<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2021\/10\/30\/fact-check-nbc-report-creator-of-crab-rangoon-died\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Did NBC News Report That The Creator Of The Crab Rangoon Died?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is misleading to say Semmelweis\u2019 discovery was the direct cause of his&nbsp;commitment to an asylum, according to experts and established history. An article about his life published by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/health\/ignaz-semmelweis-doctor-prescribed-hand-washing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PBS<\/a> explains that Semmelweis was committed to an asylum in 1865, more than a decade after his discovery, after exhibiting erratic behavior and suffering a mental breakdown. The cause of the breakdown is a matter of debate, but possible causes include Alzheimer\u2019s, syphilis, bipolar disorder, blood poisoning and sepsis, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/health\/ignaz-semmelweis-doctor-prescribed-hand-washing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cause of Semmelweis\u2019s mental illness that caused him to be admitted to the Lower Austrian Asylum for \u2018Lunatics\u2019 has been hotly disputed,\u201d said Nicholas Kadar, author of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Ignaz-Semmelweis-Vienna-School-Medicine\/dp\/1680539485\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ignaz Semmelweis and the Vienna School of Medicine<\/a>,\u201d in an email to Check Your Fact. \u201cThe best evidence suggests that he was suffering from an acute psychosis induced by an acute infection he contracted through a cut finger. At that time women were examined internally without gloves &amp; obstetricians were exposed to all sorts of infections, including syphilis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kadar concluded by saying, \u201cThere is no link to his admission &amp; his discovery.\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcgill.ca\/history\/david-wright\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. David Wright<\/a>, Canada Research Chair at McGill University and researcher of the history of mental illness, agreed with Kadar, writing in an email to Check Your Fact the following:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The suggestion that he was admitted to a lunatic asylum solely because of his discovery is ridiculous. That is not how asylum admission protocols worked in the mid-1800s. He would have been evaluated by medically-trained individuals, who would have taken a history of his mental troubles (from family, kin etc.), interviewed him, and made a judgement about whether he would benefit from institutional treatment. This admission protocols also had legal oversight, to prevent malicious and capricious institutional confinement.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>At least one academic paper, however, suggests the hand washing discovery played a role in Semmelweis\u2019 eventual placement in the asylum. Sonja Schreiner, an Austrian <a href=\"https:\/\/kphil.ned.univie.ac.at\/fileadmin\/user_upload\/i_klassische_philologie\/S_Schreiner.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">academic<\/a> and author of the academic paper \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10354-020-00738-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ignaz&nbsp;<span class=\"il\">Semmelweis<\/span>: a victim of harassment?<\/a>\u201c, theorizes the rejection Semmelweis faced when touting his hand washing idea was an important factor in his later mental breakdown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInfluential people did not believe in his discovery or worked against him (silently using his methods),\u201d said Schreiner in an email to Check Your Fact. \u201cThat led \u2013 after years of disappointment, disbelief and anger \u2013 to a severe psychosomatic reaction.\u201d In this way, his discovery may have played an indirect role in his eventual placement in the asylum.<\/p>\n<p>Semmelweis died at the aforementioned asylum in August 1865 after being beaten by the asylum\u2019s guards, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/health\/ignaz-semmelweis-doctor-prescribed-hand-washing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PBS<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A post shared on Facebook claims the doctor who discovered that hand washing helped prevent the spread of disease was thrown in an insane asylum for his idea.Verdict: Misleading While &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1190190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1190190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1190190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1190190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1190190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1190190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1190190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}