History of sports medicine - 1914

1914

In 1914 Francis Arthur Bainbridge (1874-1921), Professor of Physiology at London University, published the second edition of 'Physiology of Muscular Exercise'.

1914

The German physiologist Nathan Zuntz (1847-1920) added an X-ray device to the treadmill he developed, which he used to determine the size of the heart during exercise tests.

Until then, it was only possible to make a radiography before and after efforts.

1914

The outbreak of World War I put an end to German dreams to organizatize the VIth Olympics, but also meant the end of the further development of sports medicine research in Germany. And that for several decades.

1914

Hydraulic rowing machine made by Narragansett.

1914

In 1914, the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC started a physiotherapy service. The hospital was known as the 'flagship' of the American army and therefore supplied the first physiotherapists, who were then called 'Reconstruction Aides'. They were nurses with physical education as a background.

1914

In 1902, the German Red Cross had set up its 'Heilanstalten und Berufsschulen' in Hohenlychen. In this institution, located between lakes and forests, tuberculosis patients were treated.

In 1914, August Bier (1861-1949), head surgeon of the Berlin University Hospital La Charité, received the management of the institute. He appointed his pupil Eugen Kisch (1885-1969) as head of the Sports Medicine department and thanks to Bier's great interest in this specialization, it would later become a hugely important institute in the field of sports medical research and sports medical guidance.

1914

An inside view of the Deutschherrnbad in Nurnberg with swimming pool, massage and shower room and Roman steam bath.

1914

The 'classical' Orthopedics developed from the conservative treatment of tuberculosis patients and war-wounded. German pioneers in that area were the surgeons Konrad Biesalski (1868-1930) (photo1), Gustav Drehmann (1869-1932) and Kurt Lindemann (1901-1966) (photo2).

In the United Kingdom that role was reserved for Robert Jones (1857-1933) from Wales, who in 1888 treated 3,000 injuries from the 20,000 workers that where envolved in the construction of the first Manchester Ship Canal. In addition, he carried out 300 operations, developing new techniques for the treatment of fractures. As a result, he became world-famous and many colleagues came to learn his techniques. During the First World War he served as a Territorial Army surgeon, where he observed that both the treatments in the hospitals at the front and those at home were inadequate, and he founded the first military orthopedic hospital. He was appointed Inspector of Military Orthopedics, in which position he was responsible for 30,000 hospital beds. The hospital in Ducane Road, Hammersmith became the role model for British and American orthopedic hospitals. The use of the 'Thomas splint', invented by his uncle Hugh Owen Thomas (1834-1891) for the initial treatment of femoral fractures, reduced the mortality by complicated fractures between 1916 and 1918 from 87% to less than 8%.