http://www.howitworksdaily.com HowIt Works 067
DID YOU KNOW? Surgery was once not considered medicine, with surgeons considered on par with butchers
For some medical inventors, it wasn’t
even important how true their claims were –
it was about creating a believable business
model. The art was in the conv incing. From
drugs that could be sold to combat any pain,
leav ing patients on a medical high, to water-
based potions that did nothing but make
people feel like it was doing them good.
Tapeworms were voluntarily ingested w ith theAnti-asthmacigarettes
Inthe19thcentury,cigaretteswere
widelyconsideredtobenefithealth.
Asthmaticswouldinhalesmokein
hopeofriddingthemselvesofthe
condition,buttodayweknowit kills
anddamagesthebronchioles,only
makingthislimitedbreathingworse.
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Toxicity© PixabayCocainefortoothache
Today’sillegaldrugswereprescribedfor
anextensivelistofillnesses.Inanother
caseofcreatingdrugaddictsfrom
patients,cocainewasusedasan
anaestheticfortoothache.Dentistsalso
usedcocaineduringsurgeries.
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Toxicity
©GettyStrychnineforfatigue
Fornearlytwocenturiespeopleused
strychninepillstokeepalert.Athletes
tookthemtokeepenergylevelsup,while
studentsusedthemedicationtostay
awakeduringexams.Thealkaloidcould
beusedforalmostanything.
Unfortunately,justfivemilligramsofthe
stuffwasenoughtokill.Lessthanthis
amountcausedrapidheartrates,lossof
consciousnessandcoldsweats.
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Toxicity© Gettyfocus on weight loss, while mothers would
innocently drug their cr y ing babies w ith opioids,
believ ing the after-effect of them passing out
was a triumph for sleep. The medical world has
evolved dramatically since, to the scrutinised
levels we have arrived at in the modern world
Hearing about some of this Victorian medical
treatment, you may feel relieved that our
ailments today can be treated in a morescrupulous fashion, by legitimate dotors and
pharmacists. You might even be appalled that
these dodg y treatments were allowed until 1860
(the Adulteration of Food and Drink Act) in the
UK and 1906 in the US (Pure Food and Drug Act).
However, we need to give the Victorians some
credit, as the only way we’ve attained today’s
medical standards was to learn from some of
these crazy experiments of the past.Chloroformforhiccups
Todaywemighttryholdingourbreathor
drinkingwaterbackwardstocombata
caseofhiccups.If youlivedin the1800s,
however,youcouldbeadvisedtoinhale
chloroform,a chemicalfoundin floor
polish.Bytakingtheselengthstoreduce
theannoyanceofhiccups,vitalorgans
paidtheprice.Chloroformhasthe
potentialtodamagethenervoussystem
aswellastheliverandkidney.
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Toxicity© Illustration by Nicholas ForderElectricbelt
Sendingelectricitythroughthewearers’
body,electricbeltsheldcuringclaimsfor
mostissues– frombackproblemsand
chronicnervousdiseasestoinfertilityor
evena simplelackofconfidence.
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