Outdated Medical Treatments Used Throughout History

If you have ever wondered why there are so many regulations on healthcare and pharmaceuticals or why billions of dollars are spent each year on research, this is the reason why. While ancient medicine is becoming more and more popular, some treatments need to stay in the past. Many of these potions and procedures were not just unhelpful; they were deadly. They say if we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. These past failings have advanced the medical industry but at the cost of many innocent victims.

Bloodletting

While it may seem archaic in today’s culture, bloodletting was once one of the most common medical treatments and is believed to have originated from the ancient Egyptians. The theory was the body is composed of four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile, and illness was an indication these humors were out of balance. A small amount of blood was removed from the body by applying leeches or by nicking the artery or vein, similar to today’s practice of phlebotomy. It was used to treat a wide array of maladies, ranging from pneumonia to smallpox. From the twelfth through the sixteenth century, this procedure was even routinely performed by barbers, which at the time performed minor surgeries and treatments, along with their hair cutting duties.

Bloodletting may have been a contributing factor to George Washington’s death. He became violently ill with a sore throat just two days before his demise. He was a big believer in this practice, and five to seven pints of blood were removed from his body in less than sixteen hours right before his death. The treatment was of no use. However, there are still some illnesses today that are successfully treated with this. Diseases that produce an excess of blood cells, such as hemochromatosis and polycythemia, are still treated by a more modern form, called phlebotomy.

Continue reading to learn about another outdated medical treatment.

Children's Soothing Syrups

It would be deemed child abuse today for a parent to give their baby morphine, but this is exactly what millions of unassuming mothers everywhere did at the end of the 1800s when they purchased children's soothing syrups. In 1845, Jeremiah Curtis and Benjamin A. Perkins manufactured a medicine to help calm fussy babies, particularly those who were teething. The formula was from Curtis’ mother-in-law, Charlotte N. Winslow, who used this special concoction while caring for infants as a nurse.

Children’s soothing syrups contained sixty-five milligrams of morphine per fluid ounce and also included alcohol. The recommended dosage for infants six months and older was one teaspoon three to four times daily. In the case of dysentery, the dosage was suggested to be given every two hours until stools were no longer runny. The medication appeared to be working because constipation is a frequent side effect of opioids. However, at that high of a dosage, it is no wonder the medicine quickly received the name 'baby killer.' Due to legislation passed in 1911, morphine was required to be removed from the ingredient list. However, children's soothing syrups continued to be sold until 1930.

Keep reading to uncover yet another outdated medical treatment.