FROM THE HISTORY OF STUDYING CHILD ALCOHOLISM IN RUSSIA IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE XIX — BEGINNING OF THE XX CENTURIES (PART I)

Abstract

Alcoholism in children and adolescents is one of the most acute problems of our time, due to its negative impact on the child’s body development, rapid addiction to alcohol; malignant course of the disease, mental, physical and social degradation of the individual. Historical facts show that since ancient times, alcohol has occupied its niche in the culture and religion of different peoples. Depending on the epoch and the country, different attitudes towards alcohol were formed, information was accumulated about its effect on the body. It was considered either as a sacred drink, or as a medicine or dietary remedy, or as a poison. The article gives a brief excursion into the history of the use of wine as a remedy from antiquity to the first half of the 19th century inclusive. In connection with the topic of the article, primary attention is focused on the attitude of Russian famous doctors practicing in different time to the prescription of wine for children with various painful conditions. The article focuses on the period of the second half of the 19th — early 20th century, when in Russia, as well as in all European countries, there was a sharp increase in alcohol consumption, and it was recognized that child and adolescent alcoholism had acquired the character of a social disaster. This problem became the object of close attention of doctors, scientists, public figures, and the clergy. Among them, the most active researchers of the problem of child alcoholism were doctors: N.I. Grigoriev, V.Ya. Kanel, A.M. Korovin, I.V. Sazhin, I.A. Sikorsky, F.F. Erisman, V.F. Yakubovich, lawyer D.N. Borodin and others. In the scientific works of that time a wide range of problems was considered: the level of consumption of alcohol among the child population, especially among students; causes and factors contributing to the introduction to the use of alcoholic beverages and the formation of alcohol dependence, including the role of the family, school, training workshops. Attention is paid to a relatively common reason for the study period - the careless and sometimes irresponsible prescribing of alcohol by doctors to children without a strict dosage of the amount and time of use, which gave rise to the spread of the opinion about the strengthening and nutritional properties of alcohol among the population l. In addition, the article discusses scientific data on the harmful effects of alcohol on children’s health, on various systems and organs of the child’s body. A special group is presented by works that proposed measures to combat alcoholism among children and adolescents. For the purpose of the most complete and objective coverage of the material analyzed on this topic, the article will be presented in 2 parts.