During the 4th and 5th centuries it was believed that the full moon drove susceptible individuals to madness through sleep deprivation caused by its intense light.

As late as the 18th century the moon was still held responsible for physical complaints from epilepsy to fever.

The British Lunacy Acts referred to the administration of ‘lunatics’ as late as 1930.

While cholera in now understood to be transmitted by contaminated food and water, in the 19th century the various causes of cholera were believed to include putrid food, cold fruits and passionate fear or rage.

The disease was widespread in Victorian times, prior to sound sanitation and clean water. Common preventative measures included burning tar, wearing flannel girdles and praying. Treatments included passing steam over the patient, pouring boiling water on the stomach, and enemas of tobacco smoke.

This literal meaning persisted until the early 17th century, after which time its usage and meaning began to evolve into its present form.

Today, disease is considered an impairment of normal functioning of the body, typically producing symptoms and signs.

Our understanding of the causes of disease has grown rapidly in recent medical history. Genetic, infective and environmental causes are often complex and the discovery of epigenetics takes this to a whole new exciting level.

The existence of the condition was a point of hot debate between physicians in America’s southern states and abolitionists in the north.

Treatments were cruel and involved whipping and amputation of the toes.

Today, drapetomania is seen as an unfortunate example of scientific racism.

By the 19th century the symptoms ascribed to hysteria were so diverse that some physicians believed one quarter of women suffered from the condition. Treatment involved doctors massaging patients’ genitals to the point of orgasm.

By the late 19th century Sigmund Freud had identified hysteria in both men and women, advocating a ‘talking cure’. The term is no longer used diagnostically.