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Alcohol and Liver Cirrhosis in Twentieth-Century Britain Cirrhosis as a Nutritional Disorder

Alcohol and Liver Cirrhosis in Twentieth-Century Britain : Cirrhosis as a Nutritional Disorder [Continuing on interwar developments, this chapter traces the consolidation of fragmented understandings of cirrhosis aetiology under the Nutritional Deficiency Theory (NDT) after the Second World War. A study of scientific journals from the 1930s to the 1950s illustrates the complex and laborious process by which medical scientists came to view cirrhosis as a disease borne out of the deficiency of vital nutrients. The theory owed its international popularity to its endorsement by E. Morton Jellinek, the leading mid-century American alcohol researcher who promoted the disease concept of alcoholism. The widespread acceptance of the NDT in medical circles led to the total dismissal of the Direct Toxicity Theory (DTT), directly coinciding with the diminished problematisation of drink in postwar Britain. Although the NDT transpired to be ‘wrong’ by the 1970s, it nevertheless appeared at the time to be the best explanation for the repeated failure to prove alcohol’s direct toxic action on the liver. The framing of cirrhosis as a disease of malnutrition played a critical role in dismissing its reputation as the quintessential disease of alcoholism.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

Alcohol and Liver Cirrhosis in Twentieth-Century Britain Cirrhosis as a Nutritional Disorder

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Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
ISBN
978-3-031-27106-9
Pages
99 –154
DOI
10.1007/978-3-031-27107-6_4
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[Continuing on interwar developments, this chapter traces the consolidation of fragmented understandings of cirrhosis aetiology under the Nutritional Deficiency Theory (NDT) after the Second World War. A study of scientific journals from the 1930s to the 1950s illustrates the complex and laborious process by which medical scientists came to view cirrhosis as a disease borne out of the deficiency of vital nutrients. The theory owed its international popularity to its endorsement by E. Morton Jellinek, the leading mid-century American alcohol researcher who promoted the disease concept of alcoholism. The widespread acceptance of the NDT in medical circles led to the total dismissal of the Direct Toxicity Theory (DTT), directly coinciding with the diminished problematisation of drink in postwar Britain. Although the NDT transpired to be ‘wrong’ by the 1970s, it nevertheless appeared at the time to be the best explanation for the repeated failure to prove alcohol’s direct toxic action on the liver. The framing of cirrhosis as a disease of malnutrition played a critical role in dismissing its reputation as the quintessential disease of alcoholism.]

Published: Apr 29, 2023

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