10 of the most absurd things, once viewed as beneficial

Throughout its history, mankind does not stop looking for new ways to treat the disease live longer and look better in general to keep yourself in good shape.

In this list you will find the 10 funds, each of which is at a certain point in history it was considered "miraculous". Perhaps it will serve as another reminder that we should not suffer the insufficiently proven tool, even if at first glance it seems a panacea ...

1. Mercury

mercury popularity as a medicine began with Dr. John Hunter (XVI century) said that with the help of this material has cured himself of syphilis. Usually Syphilis occurs in three stages with periods of remission that can last up to two to three years.

Apparently, one of these remissions and Hunter took for healing. He died of a heart attack during an argument about the benefits of its "magical" medicine.

2. Tobacco

The first action of tobacco experienced the natives of the New World in the XV century. Tobacco is smoked for pleasure, for disinfection, treat headaches and colds, to get rid of tiredness ... It was used even as an anesthetic. When the tobacco is delivered to Europe, it was seen as a panacea, and bestowed epithets like "holy herb" and "divine medicine".

In the XVII and the beginning of the XIX century in Europe were popular tobacco enemas. And in India, it was considered useful for the teeth of tobacco, which led to the emergence of tobacco toothpaste.

3. Lobotomy

The first step of dissecting the proportion of the human brain have been conducted in the 1890s. It was believed that in this way you can cure mental illness. During the peak of the popularity of lobotomies, which came in the 1940-50 years of operation about 40 thousand were carried out in the UK alone. And a little later, the neurologist Walter Freeman has developed a method that eliminates the need for drilling the skull. It was called "transorbital lobotomy." Patient using electric shocks resulted in unconsciousness, and then an instrument resembling ice pick was inserted into the brain through the gap above the eyeball. After that, the movement of the handle back and forth are cut fibers of the frontal lobes. Then the same procedure was repeated on the other side.

4. LSD

During the 1950s and early '60s, scientists exploring LSD came to the conclusion that this drug can be used in the treatment of alcoholism, schizophrenia and the correction of criminal behavior. Despite the fact that today most people LSD does not cause more associations with health benefits, Norwegian scientists are still working hard to learn how to use it to treat alcoholism and schizophrenia.

5. tapeworms

In the 1950s, people began to intentionally infect themselves tapeworm to lose weight.

The idea was that the tapeworm - a parasite, hence it takes away from your body that you eat. So much of the calories that you consume will get the worm.

However, the result of the presence of the parasite was not only weight loss, but also stomach aches, headaches, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, bloating and deficiency of nutrients. In addition, the worm does not always remain in the stomach. Sometimes he traveled all over the body, including the brain, which could result in the saddest way.

6. Cocaine

In addition to Coca-Cola, cocaine was a part of a huge number of different drugs. His euphoric, stimulating and analgesic effect allowed him to earn a reputation as an ideal addition to a healthy lifestyle, especially if you need a little cheer. Long before the emergence of drug cartels and the war between drug traffickers, cocaine revered miracle-herb, healing everything in the world, and will sing the greatest medical luminaries.

7. Radioactive beverages

In the early 1900s, people believed radioactivity extremely useful. They are happy to buy the infected subjects radiation - radium pendants for rheumatism, uranium blankets for arthritis, anti-aging cosmetics radioactive, radioactive water, and so on.

Especially popular was the use of radioactive water, when the radiation was detected in the thermal mineral springs known for their healing properties.

People thought that the radiation in the water - a natural phenomenon, and, of course, there were those who decided to earn some money. It began a brisk trade with contaminated drinks. Renowned industrialist Eben Byers, in his own statement, was drinking at the time of not less than three bottles a day. In 1932, Wall Street Journal devoted Byers and radioactive water a long article titled "The result from the use of the drink seemed perfect, until he lost most of his jaw."

8. Shark Cartilage

Shark cartilage is sold as an additive to aid in the treatment of cancer.

In the 1950s, the surgeon John Prudden began to study the possibilities of using the cartilage of various animals for medical purposes. After a while he said that he was able to obtain a reduction of tumors and found a way to treat cancer. The results of his research no longer repeated and checked. Nevertheless, the "Sharks do not get sick of cancer" after the publication of the book (1992), in alternative medicine treatment for cancer of shark cartilage became extremely popular. The main idea of ​​the book is that if the sharks do not get cancer, and their skeleton is composed almost entirely of cartilage, then, consequently, they contain something that can protect against this terrible disease.

Further scientific research has not revealed in the cartilage of no use to the human body. But since 42 sharks with cancerous tumors were found.

9. Heroin as a cough remedy

Heroin cough syrup was developed laboratory Bayer (chemical and pharmaceutical company) in 1898 and immediately became a great success. Its production ceased only in 1910, when it addictive properties were significantly higher than originally anticipated.

10. Bleed

For centuries doctors used bloodletting to facilitate the patient's condition at a number of diseases, including pneumonia, fever, back pain, rheumatism, headache, melancholy, and so on. D.

With the help of this procedure have been treated more ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, and its popularity continued until the early 19th century. The original idea was that the disease is an evil spirit, which can be released from the body, together with a portion of the patient's blood. Later bloodletting healers seemed necessary to maintain the balance of fluids, the violation of which they regarded as the cause of all health problems.