title: [Medicine and physical recovery. The care of fatigue in the 18th Century].
abstract: When in the 18th century, physicians became interested in people facing physically-demanding work, they founded their advice and warnings on theoretical models of tiredness and body weariness. These models refer to the elimination of "animal spirits", a substance convoyed by our nerves to contract muscles, to wearing down of solids destruction of body or else inertia of fluids which created weariness due to the blood stasis in the veins. Basing itself on these theories, medicine, helped by physiology in its considerations, intends thus to restore physical strengths. In this way, they put in place a therapy, which makes much of the correct functioning of the human machine whose outlines have been clearly specified.
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Seignan
mesh_terms: D005221:Fatigue / Q000266:history* / Q000628:therapy; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D010686:Philosophy, Medical / Q000266:history*