Let’s take a nostalgic journey into the peculiarities of medical history. In times not so long ago, medicine embraced some rather intriguing ideas and practices that, although considered sensible at the time, now appear utterly bizarre. Join me as we delve into the past:
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Doctor’s Preference: Camel Cigarettes Imagine a world where, just half a century ago, smoking wasn’t widely believed to cause cancer, even by doctors themselves. Astonishingly, there was even an advertising campaign endorsing Camel cigarettes in the Journal of the American Medical Association. If you’re old enough, you might recall seeing your doctor puffing away in their office.
- Lobotomy A few decades back, the procedure known as lobotomy was employed as a misguided attempt to assist patients with mental health issues, including depression and anxiety. One technique involved drilling holes into the temples and severing a nerve to disconnect parts of the brain. As if that wasn’t complex enough, a more expedient method emerged—the ice pick lobotomy.
In an ice pick lobotomy, an actual ice pick was hammered into the skull above each eye, and then moved around to scramble the brain. Shockingly, this procedure was performed under local anesthesia, leaving the unfortunate patients awake and aware. One notable doctor of that era, who was trained at Yale, established “Assembly Lines,” striving to break records by performing as many procedures as possible within a given time frame. (As a historical aside, it is worth mentioning that Joe Kennedy, father of John F. Kennedy, had his daughter Rosemary lobotomized at the age of 23 without informing his wife. Following the procedure, Rosemary experienced severe motor and speech impairments, spending the subsequent 60 years of her life in a Wisconsin facility without ever being visited by her father.)
- Mercury as a Medicinal Substance Mercury held a peculiar standing as a panacea for a wide range of ailments for a thousand years. Comedian Chris Rock amusingly highlights how his mother used Robitussin for everything, akin to a cure-all. Have a cough? Take some Tussin. Scrape your knee? Rub some Tussin on it. Fall from a tree with a bone protruding from your leg? Apply Tussin. Mercury, likewise, served as the Tussin of yesteryears.
These are just a few glimpses into the realm of peculiar medical advice from bygone eras. Now, let’s explore some additional treatments that will leave you dumbfounded:
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‘Soothing Syrups’ for Disobedient Children: Essentially bottles of morphine and other narcotics. Carrying one of these in your purse today would likely result in a lengthy prison sentence.
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Sugar for Weight Loss: Even as late as the 1960s, advertisers touted sugar as a healthy, low-calorie alternative to fruit. Oh, how times have changed.
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Heroin as a Cough Suppressant: Thanks to Bayer Pharmaceuticals, heroin was once recommended to relieve coughs. Interestingly, the use and subsequent addiction to OxyContin is considered one of the leading factors behind the rise in heroin usage.
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Amphetamines for Women’s Weight Loss: It’s no wonder some moms could effortlessly raise a dozen children while keeping their homes immaculate.
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Bloodletting: Experiencing high blood pressure, headaches, or an infection? According to the misguided medical beliefs of the past, your “four humors” were probably out of balance. The remedy? Simply drain a pint or two of your blood, and you should be right as rain.
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