medical term

[john w.]

Found today... a soldier who was described as an insane soldier under sentence..

what I want to know is.. they describe the condition as INCIPIENT GENERAL PARALYSISOF THE INSANE..

Any thoughts?

John

[Malcolm]

A cause of Incipient General Paralysis of the Insane is the latter stage of syphillus.

Aye

Malcolm

[Malcolm]

Having said the above he may have been suffering from something else.

Winston Churchill's father supposedly died ' with IGPI associated with syphilus'

but -

See http://www.winstonchurchill.org/myths/syphilis.htm

quote

But this is not clear because Dr. Roose uses the term "general paralysis" to refer to a condition caused by the disease, and to a condition caused by "exhaustion." He once commented, "Chronic inflammation of the brain attacks persons of exhausted habits, brought on by excesses and irregular living. The patient has frequent headaches and gradual loss of health, and then gets a perversion of most of the senses, as of sight, taste, smell,etc., and in fact, all the symptoms of the incipient mania. The only treatment is to try and combat the various morbid symptoms as they arise and improve the general health in every way; but, in two or three years, general paralysis is almost sure to occur."18 Here the term "general paralysis" is clearly associated with exhaustion--not syphilis.

unquote.

I would suppose front-line service causes ' exhaustion '

He could also have had a degenerative neurological disease or tumor.

Aye

Malcolm

[john w.]

Cheers for that.. it really does explain a lot

John