Physicians of yesteryear didn’t always get the diagnosis or the treatment right. But in their defense, they didn’t have the benefits of decades of clinical research, enhanced imaging, and sophisticated pharmacology. In many cases, they were simply using trial and error. That said, they did manage to come up with some perplexing interventions. Some will make you scratch your head, others may make you rub your eyes in disbelief—and some may even make your stomach churn. Things get even scarier when people who aren’t doctors start doling out medical wisdom. Here are 10 of the worst pieces of health advice of all time. Smoking to cure asthma In the 19th and 20th centuries, asthma was shrouded in medical mystery. Many doctors, according to the Cambridge Journal of Medical Histories, resorted to folkloric remedies. One of these so-called cures was the inhalation of Datura stramonium, also known as jimson weed. Asthma sufferers would smoke “medicated” cigarettes that combined jimson with lobelia, tobacco, and potash. It’s rumored that President Theodore Roosevelt was prescribed cigars as a remedy for his own persistent childhood asthma, along with strong, black coffee and whiskey. But this may be national folklore on par with George Washington’s cherry tree. Lead for skin conditions The Romans gave us a myriad laudable innovations, such as the arch, the viaduct, and durable roadways. Medicinal lead, however, was not one of them. In the 1st century, Tiberius Claudius Menecrates, personal physician to the Roman Emperor, used lead oxide pastes to treat various skin conditions, including sores and boils. These diachylon plasters remained in use even into the 20th century. Beer for pregnant women and nursing mothers From the 1920s to the 1940s, Guinness made various health claims in advertising about its luscious, velvety stout beer. That is, until they were told to stop. In the United Kingdom, doctors used to prescribe Guinness to blood donors as well as pregnant and nursing mothers. Blood donors would receive an extra dose of iron from the beer, the thinking went. As for nursing mothers, cultural beliefs supported the notion that Guinness helped with milk production. These practices have not withstood the test of time, as any health benefits are negated by the alcohol content. Coffee enemas to ‘detoxify’ Here’s one that the colorectal surgeons will enjoy: Gwyneth Paltrow thinks it’s a good idea for patients to use coffee enemas. For $135, your patients can self-administer this highly dubious treatment. While enemas are sometimes used for extreme constipation—when other interventions have failed—Paltrow and others believe that coffee enemas help the body cleanse and detoxify by purging undigested food from the gastrointestinal tract. The title of this 1997 paper on the practice couldn’t be more clear: Colonic Irrigation and the Theory of Autointoxication: A Triumph of Ignorance over Science. And that’s the bottom line. Medicinal mercury for syphilis Why should lead have all of the fun? Mercury has also had a critical role in the dark ages of medicine, perhaps most entertainingly as a syphilis cure. This historical overview explains how mercury made the leap as an element of alchemy into medicine. At the end of the 15th century, people resorted to using “Arabian quicksilver,” a holdout from the alchemical age, as a treatment for the rapidly spreading disease. It was later administered in pill and ointment forms—and used as a treatment up until the 1940s when penicillin arrived. ‘Soothing syrup’ to calm fussy babies Can’t get the baby to go to sleep? You could try a warm bottle, some gentle rocking, and—in the late 1800s to early 1900s—some of Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup. The primary active ingredients? Morphine and alcohol. The makers allegedly sold about 1.5 million bottles annually. At the time, medicines were not required to list ingredients. The drug was condemned by the American Medical Association in 1911, but it continued to sell until 1930. Dog hair to cure rabies Many think of the phrase “hair of the dog” as an ill-advised hangover cure: drink a little bit more the next morning of whatever caused your sorry state the night before. But the phrase actually has another more perplexing origin in medical folklore. It was once believed that a person infected with rabies could be cured by a paste or salve made from the hair of the animal that had bitten them. Not only is this totally ineffective, but the person tasked with getting the hair also usually contracts rabies when they’re inevitably bitten. Urine for…just about everything Google “urine therapy” and you’ll be struck with the sudden awful realization that, yes, people do believe there are health benefits to drinking one’s own urine. This editorial in the Pan African Medical Journal explains that, while this has been going on for millennia, there’s no identifiable benefit to drinking your own urine, unless you’re in a situation in which you have no water and are dying of thirst, “but most of the time there are better or tastier ways to improve one’s health.” The editorial says some proponents of urine-drinking claim that the medical establishment has attempted to downplay the health benefits of urine consumption. Holes in the head According to fossil evidence, boring holes in the skull, also known as trephination, has taken place for thousands of years. This article explains that early surgeons believed the practice could alleviate seizures, mental disorders, migraines, and intracranial diseases. Trephination persists today among people who believe it has consciousness-altering properties. The tapeworm diet Swallowing capsules containing tapeworms may have been a popular practice in the Victorian era, according to this article. Women reportedly ingested tapeworms to achieve the aesthetic standard of a slim waistline. The selling point of the diet was clear: Eat what you want, and the tapeworm will consume it for you. It’s weight loss without the pain of hunger. That is, until you start experiencing abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting because you’ve swallowed a potentially deadly parasite. Source
