Isaac Jennings (November 7, 1788 March 13, 1874) was an American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and writer who pioneered

orthopathy Orthopathy (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ὀρθός ''orthos'' 'right' and πάθος ''pathos'' 'suffering') or natural hygiene (NH) is a set of alternative medicine, alternative medical beliefs and practices originating from the ''Nature Cur ...

(natural hygiene).

Biography

Jennings was born on November 7, 1788, in

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Connecticut, Trumbull, Easton, Connecticut, Easton, Weston, Connecticut, W ...

.Orcutt, Samuel; Beardsley, Ambrose. (1880)
''The History of the Old Town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880. With Biographies and Genealogies''
Press of Springfield Printing Company. pp. 601-603 He studied medicine with Eli Ives of New Haven. He was licensed to practice medicine and located himself in

Trumbull, Connecticut Trumbull is a New England town, town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, Connecticut, Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, and borders on the cities of Bridgeport, Co ...

. He moved his practice to

Derby, Connecticut Derby is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, approximately west-northwest of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven. It is located in southwest Connecticut at the confluence of the Housatonic River, Housatonic and Naugatuck River ...

, in 1820. Jennings graduated from

Yale School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the medical school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. It is the sixth-oldest m ...

in 1812.Whorton, James C. (2016 edition). ''Crusaders for Fitness: The History of American Health Reformers''. Princeton University Press. pp. 135-136. He obtained his M.D. from Yale in 1828. Jennings practiced conventional medicine for many years but became discouraged with its results. In 1822, Jennings began to give his patients without knowledge,

placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

s of bread pills and coloured water tonics.Lelieveld, H. L. M; Holah, John; Mostert, M. A. (2005). ''Handbook of Hygiene Control in the Food Industry''. Woodhead Publishing Limited. pp. 3-4. His patients health improved but caused controversy when his secret was revealed and his patients requested medicine.Iacobbo, Karen; Iacobbo, Michael. (2004). ''Vegetarian America: A History''. Praeger Publishing. pp. 28-29. He refused to prescribe medicine and his career was damaged. It was noted that "his unorthodox view involved him in many controversies and diminished his practice to some extent." The experiment convinced him that drugs were worthless and by the 1830s, he even discarded placebos. He believed that only nature could "restore her damaged machinery and revitalize it." He described medicine as a "gross delusion". In 1839, he became a member of the Board of Trustees of the

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

.Hoff, Hebbel E. (1961). ''Isaac Jennings and the Magic Bullet''. ''

Bulletin of the History of Medicine The ''Bulletin of the History of Medicine'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1933. It is an official publication of the American Association for the History of Medicine and of the Johns Hopkins Institute of the History ...

'' 35 (1): 71-73. In 1847 at the college, he wrote his book ''Medical Reform''. In his 1867 book ''The Tree of Life'', he defined orthopathy as "from orthos, right, true, erect; and pathos, affection. Nature is always upright—moving in the right direction." His system of orthopathy was known as the "do-nothing cure", "do-nothing mode of treating disease", "let alone plan" and the "no-medicine plan". He prescribed bathing, rest and a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

diet as part of his system.Fletcher, Robert Samuel. (1943)
''A History of Oberlin College From its Foundation Through the Civil War''
Oberlin College. p. 332 His no-medicine plan was based on the idea of

vitalism Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...

.Fletcher, Robert Samuel. (1943)
''A History of Oberlin College From its Foundation Through the Civil War''
Oberlin College. p. 334 He believed that nature does its best to keep the human system in health and to give the best opportunity for the "vital forces" to work, the patient must rest and not be disturbed by medicine or stimulants. He was a congregationalist and deacon in Derby and Oberlin. Jennings was a temperance activist and opposed the use of

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

and all

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

s. He was a vegetarian and opposed the consumption of coffee, tea,

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

and

spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

s. He considered the use of coffee and tea to be injurious and a "great sin in the church". In 1867, the ''Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal'' described Jennings' methods of utilizing bread pills as "down right quackery and imposition" and a "disgrace to the regular profession". A review of his book ''The Tree of Life'' suggested it was "without a particle of merit" and the ideas would not be popular with people of the present day. Jennings died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on March 13, 1874, in

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located about southwest of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 8,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin ...

. Jennings influenced many natural hygienists including Felix L. Oswald, Russell T. Trall, Herbert M. Shelton, Hilton Hotema and many others. He has been listed as a father of the hygiene movement.Lloyd, Iva. (2009). ''The History of Naturopathic Medicine: A Canadian Perspective''. McArthur & Company. p. 386.

Publications

''Medical Reform: A Treatise on Man's Physical Being and Disorders''
(1847)
''The Philosophy of Human Life''
(1852)
''The Tree of Life: Or, Human Degeneracy, its Nature and Remedy: Based on the Elevating Principle of Orthopathy''
(1867)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Isaac 1788 births 1874 deaths 19th-century American physicians American Congregationalists American health and wellness writers American temperance activists American vegetarianism activists Deaths from pneumonia in Ohio Orthopaths People from Fairfield, Connecticut Pseudoscientific diet advocates Opponents of tea drinking Vitalists Yale School of Medicine alumni

Biography

Publications

See also

References