As part of my research for a novella, I had to learn something about how asthma was treated in the Regency. First, doctors had to rule out consumption, the common cold, flu, hay fever (what we’d now deem allergies to pollen, etc.), and other pulmonary possibilities. Once they determined that the illness was asthma (yes, humans have known about asthma for a very long time), there were the usual quack remedies, like inflating the lungs with a bellows or breathing in the fumes of hydrocyanic acid (“Here’s a dose of cyanide for your asthma, Honey!”). But breathing the smoke of burning thorn-apple leaves was considered the most effective treatment, and since that contained anticholinergic properties, it operated much like the drugs used to treat a variety of respiratory issues do now. So, our ancestors weren’t always wrong about medical science!
