Disease and its causes in 19th century Chile: Dr. Guillermo Blest’s view

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the medical thought of Doctor Guillermo Blest, exposed both in the medical reports that he sent to the government authorities and in a document that he published in 1828 entitled “Assay on the most common and active causes of the diseases that are suffered in Santiago de Chile with indications of the best means to avoid its destructive influence”. In them, Blest presents the principles of irritability (Broussais) and excitability (Brown) as central elements to explain the causes of diseases. Likewise, the miasmatic theory coexists with these explanatory principles, allowing Blest to configure an explanatory panorama of the disease.