From Antiquity to the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor: A History of Delirium Tremens

Delirium associated with excessive alcohol consumption has been known since antiquity. This condition became more common as the supply of distilled fermented liquors increased. Delirium, including delirium associated with excessive alcohol consumption, was for many centuries regarded as a form of brain inflammation - "phrenitis" - and was treated with depletion. At the end of the eighteenth century treatment by depletion of alcohol-related delirium began to be replaced by sedation and led to significantly better outcomes. Thomas Sutton established that alcohol-related delirium was a disease sui generis, distinct from phrenitis, and he named it delirium tremens. Because historical accounts of this disease are rare, brief, and not easily accessible, we offer this account of events that culminated in the discovery of the molecular basis of delirium tremens.