title: Historical review: suspension therapy for the treatment of tabes dorsalis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Suspension therapy was developed by a Russian doctor, A. Motschutkovsky and at the end of the 19th century it was a popular treatment for tabes dorsalis. It was endorsed by Jean-Martin Charcot in France and Weir Mitchell in the United States; but after 10 years, it was abandoned because it proved to be useless and some patients developed paralysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The effect of suspension upon a spinal cord affected by tabes dorsalis and a healthy spinal cord has been analyzed in the light of current knowledge. The benefits of suspension were thought to be due to an improvement in the blood supply to the spinal cord and due to the suggestibility or the placebo effect. Key Message: Analysis of the contemporary literature in the light of current research shows that suspension therapy was a powerful weapon that could cause impairment to the conductivity of the spinal cord and this has important implications for current therapy such as the use of Harrington rods.
authors.affiliation: MA History of Medicine, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Marie-France
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.forename: John Russell
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Silver
mesh_terms: D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D009142:Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; D009989:Orthotic Devices / Q000266:history*; D013606:Tabes Dorsalis / Q000266:history* / Q000628:therapy*