{"title":"Ibsen's wallet - an insight into the poet's prescriptions.","authors":"Erlend Hem, Jan Frich","doi":"10.4045/tidsskr.24.0526","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In the spring of 2018, the Henrik Ibsen Museum in Skien was preparing for a new exhibition featuring the poet's personal possessions. During this process, they found a wallet containing three prescriptions. What medications were involved, what was the treatment for and could it have been harmful to him?</p><p><strong>Material and method: </strong>We have studied the three prescriptions in light of information regarding Ibsen's health and the medical understanding and practices of the time.</p><p><strong>Results and interpretation: </strong>The prescriptions show that Ibsen used potassium iodide, potassium bromide and uricedin, likely for arteriosclerosis, insomnia and constipation. One of the prescriptions was for Ibsen's wife, Suzannah, for an iodine-based medication in the form of sodium iodide. Ibsen likely started using these medications when Edvard Bull became his doctor in 1903. Given Bull's robust medical knowledge and exceptional, energetic monitoring of Ibsen's health, there is no reason to believe the treatment was harmful.</p>","PeriodicalId":23123,"journal":{"name":"Tidsskrift for Den Norske Laegeforening","volume":"145 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Tidsskrift for Den Norske Laegeforening","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4045/tidsskr.24.0526","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/4/22 0:00:00","PubModel":"Print","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: In the spring of 2018, the Henrik Ibsen Museum in Skien was preparing for a new exhibition featuring the poet's personal possessions. During this process, they found a wallet containing three prescriptions. What medications were involved, what was the treatment for and could it have been harmful to him?
Material and method: We have studied the three prescriptions in light of information regarding Ibsen's health and the medical understanding and practices of the time.
Results and interpretation: The prescriptions show that Ibsen used potassium iodide, potassium bromide and uricedin, likely for arteriosclerosis, insomnia and constipation. One of the prescriptions was for Ibsen's wife, Suzannah, for an iodine-based medication in the form of sodium iodide. Ibsen likely started using these medications when Edvard Bull became his doctor in 1903. Given Bull's robust medical knowledge and exceptional, energetic monitoring of Ibsen's health, there is no reason to believe the treatment was harmful.
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