In July of 1919, at the age of 70, he developed a severe cough. He wrote to his sister-in-law in October: "There is nothing I do not know of the varieties & vagaries of coughs and coughing - the outcome is far away. Shunt the whole pharmacopoeia, except opium. It alone in some form does the job. What a comfort it has been!"
United States National Library of Medicine
B20151
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He died on December 29, 1919, probably from a secondary bacterial infection of the lungs following a viral infection.
The opium helped calm his wracking cough, but had no effect on the bacterial infection - it treated the symptom, not the disease itself. Today, a doctor would probably prescribe antibiotics, unknown in Osler's day, to fight the bacterial infection. But the patient might also be given codeine, derived from the Opium Poppy, to quiet coughing and allow rest.
He died on December 29, 1919, probably from a secondary bacterial infection of the lungs following a viral infection.
The opium helped calm his wracking cough, but had no effect on the bacterial infection - it treated the symptom, not the disease itself. Today, a doctor would probably prescribe antibiotics, unknown in Osler's day, to fight the bacterial infection. But the patient might also be given codeine, derived from the Opium Poppy, to quiet coughing and allow rest.
Missouri Botanical Garden
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