During the 137 years that Powick Hospital was operating from 1852 to 1989 it treated well over 25000 patients from the Worcestershire area. Many of these patients were diagnosed with dementia. Dementia is a syndrome of brain decline that affects memory, thinking, language, mood and behaviour. One patient treated at the hospital for dementia was Eliza Davies, a fifteen year-old girl.
Eliza Davies’ patient notes
Not much is known about Eliza’s life before her admission to Powick Hospital though by using reliable databases and a census of 1871 we are able to know that she lived in the Police buildings of Priory Street in Dudley and that she was the niece to the Sergeant, George Davies. It is also written that her occupation was a scholar. Eliza was admitted to the mental institute on the nineteenth of April 1876 after a diagnosis of dementia. Eliza, being diagnosed with dementia at fifteen years of age, was an early example of a term later coined dementia praecox which is a case of dementia in the late teens or early adulthood. In her patient notes it is written that Eliza was neither epileptic, suicidal nor dangerous to others. It is stated that she had a vacant expression of countenance and that she refused to answer questions, destroys her clothing and uses very bad language. Eliza’s use of bad language is noteworthy because this language was never seen as bad if a male used it and was only seen this way if used by a female. Additionally it is written that she was ‘in dirty habits’ which meant that she needed help going to the bathroom. She also suffered from rheumatism along with heart, liver and kidney problems. Her condition of rheumatism is notable as research has shown that because of the reduced blood flow to vital organs it can lead to the development of dementia. To help treat Eliza she was prescribed ether and digitalis. Sadly no more is known about Eliza apart from the fact that she was being transferred to another hospital to be treated for her condition.
During the 19th century individuals with dementia were starting to be recognised as patients, deserving medical care from specialists known as alienists. Subsequently more and more people were admitted to mental institutes with the specific condition of dementia whereas before this dementia was just a term that simply referred to anyone that had lost the ability to reason. Also during the 1800s doctors came to believe that dementia, specifically elderly dementia, was the result of cerebral atherosclerosis which is a medical condition where plaque builds up in the blood vessels of the brain therefore reducing blood flow to the brain and reducing its abilities.
By Matt Davies, 2024
Student at Prince Henry’s High School, Evesham