Bizarre Medical Practices From History

Summary

Highlights

• Ancient Egyptians mixed dead mice with compounds to treat toothaches. 🐭
• English used half-mouse pieces to heal warts during the Elizabethan era. 🐀
• Malaria was injected as a cure for syphilis in the 1950s, despite severe risks. 🌡️
• 19th-century doctors used paraffin wax for wrinkle treatments, which caused painful lumps. 💉
• Lobotomies affected 50,000 people in the US despite known risks. 🎭
• The tapeworm diet caused severe malnutrition and other health issues. 🚫
• Radium was once praised for health benefits, used in medicines before its dangers were known. 🌟
• Astrological beliefs heavily influenced medieval medicine, often with bizarre results. 🌌

Key Takeaways

• Dead mice were used in ancient times for dental pain relief. 🐁
• Medieval cures for hemorrhoids involved hot irons or magical rocks. 🔥
• 19th-century wrinkle treatment used paraffin wax, leading to hard lumps. 🕯️
• Lobotomies were once common despite severe side effects. 🧠
• The infamous 'tapeworm diet' of the early 20th century involved ingesting tapeworms for weight loss. 🪱
• The medicinal use of mercury and radium proved fatal. ⚠️
• Historic enema techniques included bizarre ingredients like turpentine. 💧

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Bizarre Medical Practices The chapter "Introduction to Bizarre Medical Practices" reflects on the immense progress medicine has made in the last fifty years compared to the entirety of human history. It highlights the peculiar and seemingly fictional nature of historical medical treatments that are considered unusual by today's standards. The chapter introduces the theme of exploring these strange practices and encourages audience engagement by asking for subscription and commentary on other medical topics of interest.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Ancient Egyptian Dentistry and Use of Mice The chapter explores the unusual dental practices of Ancient Egyptians, particularly their use of dead mice in dental treatments to ease tooth pain. The chapter humorously contrasts these ancient methods with modern dental procedures like root canals.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Medical Use of Mice in Elizabethan England In Elizabethan England, dead mice had oddly remained part of the medicinal practices inherited from ancient times. Notably, to remove warts, practitioners would cut a mouse in half and apply it to the wart, a practice that seems counterintuitive at first glance. Additionally, expired bits of mice were repurposed to address various ailments such as whooping cough, smallpox, measles, and even common childhood issues like bedwetting. This highlights a rather unorthodox approach to medicine that was characteristic of the era.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Malaria Inoculation for Treating Syphilis The chapter "Malaria Inoculation for Treating Syphilis" discusses a historical medical practice where patients with syphilis were deliberately infected with malaria. The idea was that the high fever induced by the malaria infection could kill the syphilis virus. While this method showed some success in treating syphilis, it posed significant risks as it exposed patients to the malaria virus, causing intense fever attacks and potential long-term side effects.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Patron Saint of Hemorrhoids and Medieval Treatments The chapter delves into the intriguing and somewhat amusing history behind the Patron Saint of Hemorrhoids, Saint Fiacre, an Irish monk who was canonized. It explores the belief that those who failed to pray to him would suffer from hemorrhoids. The narrative highlights the curious intersection of faith and health in medieval times, shedding light on how religious beliefs influenced perceptions and treatments of medical conditions like hemorrhoids, which could be a long-lasting affliction. Despite being seen as humorous today, such patron saints played serious roles in the spiritual and practical lives of people in the past.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Paraffin Wax Injections for Wrinkles The chapter discusses the use of religious influence and fear as powerful motivators for people, particularly children, to say their prayers. It specifically highlights the association between Saint Fiacre, the patron saint of hemorrhoids, and the remedies provided by monks for those suffering such ailments. People were encouraged to pray to Saint Fiacre to avoid contracting hemorrhoids. If afflicted, treatment involved either a painful procedure using a red hot iron or a visit to a rock where Saint Fiacre was believed to have been miraculously cured.
• 03:30 - 04:30: Mercury as a Medical Treatment In medieval times, medical treatments were quite primitive and painful; patients often had to choose between painful options like a rock or a red-hot poker. Fortunately, more effective and less painful treatments such as hot baths eventually emerged.
• 04:30 - 05:30: Radium in Medicine The chapter discusses the use of radium in medical applications, highlighting both its innovative applications and the associated risks. Specific mentions include the use of radium to make items like candles and crayons, and a humorous note about using it for inflating body parts, which seems to reference cosmetic uses. However, the practice faced significant drawbacks due to the hardening of paraffin into painful lumps called paraffinomas. These issues, along with other health risks like granuloma formations and blood vessel blockages, led to the abandonment of such medical uses, despite their cosmetic appeal.
• 05:30 - 06:30: Lobotomies for Mental Illness The chapter discusses the historical use of mercury as a medical treatment, highlighting its popularity from ancient times up until more recent history. It was admired for its mysterious appearance and was used by Ancient Persians and Greeks as an ointment. The narrative also delves into second-century Chinese alchemists valuing mercury for its supposed properties to enhance lifespan and vitality. Additionally, some healers claimed that consuming a combination of mercury, sulfur, and arsenic could grant eternal life and special abilities.
• 06:30 - 07:30: Tapeworm Diet for Weight Loss The chapter discusses the dangers of consuming toxic substances such as mercury, sulfur, and arsenic, highlighting their potentially deadly effects. Despite historical beliefs in their curative properties, these substances, termed 'turbo-poisonous' by scientists, often resulted in death rather than the intended health benefits. The narrative suggests skepticism towards using such extreme methods for disease treatment, exemplifying this with the historical use of mercury for syphilis treatment, which frequently led to fatal outcomes rather than cures.
• 07:30 - 08:30: Cigarettes as Health Products This chapter explores the misconception and historical context of using cigarettes as health products. It touches upon past beliefs and advertisements that marketed potentially harmful products, like radium-infused items, as beneficial due to their unique properties, such as being radioactive and glowing in the dark. The narrative highlights the irony and danger in equating visibility or peculiar characteristics with health benefits.
• 08:30 - 09:30: Animal Waste in Medicine The chapter discusses historical and controversial medical practices, starting with the dangerous use of radioactive substances in treatments, highlighting Marie Curie's death due to radiation exposure in 1934. It then touches on the lobotomy, a medical procedure that gained popularity in the 1930s for treating mental illness by removing brain parts. Although it was recognized as a radical treatment even back then, it was nonetheless used to try to alleviate depressive symptoms.
• 09:30 - 10:30: Astrology in Medieval Medicine The chapter discusses the use of lobotomy in medical practices in the United States, highlighting its dangerous effects, including causing permanent disability and affecting the patient's ability to function in society, memory, and personality. Despite these risks, lobotomy was performed on approximately 50,000 individuals, often without their consent. Its popularity declined with the advent of electroconvulsive therapy and psychiatric medications. Cultural representations, like Jack Nicholson's performance in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' also contributed to its decline.
• 10:30 - 11:30: Medieval Use of Enemas The chapter 'Medieval Use of Enemas' discusses an unusual weight-loss method from the early 20th century known as the tapeworm diet. This method involved deliberately ingesting a tapeworm to lose weight. Despite appearing as an easy solution for shedding pounds, it is revealed that most tapeworm species can have severe adverse effects on the human body, beyond just consuming the nutrients from the food ingested.
• 11:30 - 12:30: Historical Anesthesia Methods The chapter 'Historical Anesthesia Methods' explores the evolving understanding and methods of anesthesia throughout history. It touches on past dietary treatments that led to issues like malnutrition and the ironic consequences of inadequate approaches to health. Additionally, it reflects on the historical context where smoking was glamorized and even endorsed by doctors, highlighting the shifting perceptions of health practices over time.
• 12:30 - 13:30: Urine in Medical Treatment The chapter 'Urine in Medical Treatment' explores historical and unusual medical treatments used in the past. It humorously mentions how the Marlboro Man's influence could lead people to believe in the healing properties of cigarettes, such as curing baldness and improving night vision. It also touches on bizarre suggestions like smoking as a therapy for asthma during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Additionally, it highlights the dual nature of bacteria found in poop, citing its potential medicinal effects while also pointing out the risk of causing diseases like tetanus, suggesting caution against unconventional self-prescriptions from humorous sources like a cat's litter box.
• 13:30 - 14:30: Snake Oil and Its Benefits This chapter explores historical remedies and medicines, focusing on unusual and often surprising ingredients used for curative purposes. It highlights how animal waste was commonly used for treating injuries up until the 19th century. For example, the Ancient Egyptians used animal excrement from donkeys, crocodiles, dogs, gazelles, and even flies for medicinal purposes. Additionally, the text touches on Victorian era remedies, such as using dry dog biscuits to soothe sore throats, and illustrates how medieval medicine was influenced by both medical knowledge and astrological beliefs.
• 14:30 - 15:00: Conclusion and Viewer Engagement This chapter discusses the historical role of medical astrologers, who were regarded with such esteem that they were considered akin to magicians. These practitioners used star charts and zodiac signs to diagnose and treat medical conditions, assigning different celestial bodies to various organs and body parts. Patients would describe symptoms using astrological terms, such as saying their 'Jupiter was inflamed.' By aligning a patient's star chart with the current star positions, diagnoses and treatments were determined.

Bizarre Medical Practices From History Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Modern medicine has seen more development in the past 50 years than throughout all of human history combined. That being the case, many long-practiced treatments now seem pretty strange in retrospect, like the kind of thing that would cost you your medical license. So today, we're going to take a look at bizarre medical practices from history that sound made up but aren't. But before we get started, be sure to subscribe to the Weird History Channel. After that, leave a comment, and let us know what other medical topics you would
• 00:30 - 01:00 like to hear about. OK, time to play doctor. [MUSIC PLAYING] Nothing says "best medical practices" like putting dead mice in your mouth. OK, maybe not, but when it came to dentistry, the Ancient Egyptians sure thought it did. They would blend remains of mice with other compounds to ease tooth pain. And you thought a root canal was unpleasant. Wait, how did they do root canals, with a rat?
• 01:00 - 01:30 The use of dead mice in medicine didn't go out with the pharaohs. In the time of Elizabeth I, the English cured their warts by cutting a mouse in half and applying it to the growths. OK, that actually sounds like how you would get warts. Bits of expired mice were also used to treat whooping cough, smallpox, measles, and even bedwetting. [MUSIC PLAYING] A common 1950s medical practice involved intentionally infecting syphilis patients with malaria.
• 01:30 - 02:00 To modern ears, this might sound like a terrible idea that risked exposing patients to any number of dangerous side effects, because it was. The theory at the time was that the fever produced by the malaria virus would kill off the syphilis and that the malaria virus would then be cleared up through some other treatment. And although the injected malaria virus did have positive results in eliminating the syphilis virus, it also caused, you know, malaria. Patients suffered intense fever attacks for weeks and had longstanding side effects
• 02:00 - 02:30 that could last for decades. So as a treatment, it was, at best, kind of a mixed bag. [MUSIC PLAYING] Virtually everything has a patron saint, including-- and we're being totally serious here-- painful hemorrhoids. The Patron Saint of Hemorrhoids may sound like a guy you'd meet at an airport Chili's, but it was actually the canonized Irish monk Saint Fiacre. It was once believed that if a person didn't pray to Saint Fiacre, they would suffer from hemorrhoids, which
• 02:30 - 03:00 is a powerful incentive to get your kids to say their prayers. And if the threat of hemorrhoids didn't get you praying, then the cure for hemorrhoids certainly would because if a person chose not to pray to Saint Fiacre and came down with hemorrhoids, they were sent off to the monks who would cure the ailments with a red hot iron. Alternatively, the patient could sit on Saint Fiacre's famous rock, the spot where the seventh-century monk was miraculously cured of his own hemorrhoids.
• 03:00 - 03:30 We imagine most patients opted for the rock over a red hot poker, but it was medieval times. That rock may have been covered with red-hot pokers. Later treatments like soaking in a hot bath were far more effective and far less painful. [MUSIC PLAYING] Long before the miracle of Botox, 19th-century doctors were using paraffin wax injections to smooth out unsightly wrinkles. The wax was also used in breast-augmentation procedures.
• 03:30 - 04:00 It's also used to make candles and crayons, but nobody cares about coloring in the dark when there's boobs to be inflated. There was, however, a downside. Wax hardens. And in this case, the paraffin would harden into thick, painful lumps known as paraffinomas. These injections were quickly abandoned once it became widely known that they caused granuloma formations and embolization, which is the blocking of blood vessels. Eh, sounds like a small price to pay for a wrinkle-free smile. [MUSIC PLAYING]
• 04:00 - 04:30 Mercury was an extremely popular medical treatment from ancient times until fairly recently, possibly because of how mysterious and cool it looks. The Ancient Persians and Greeks used it as an ointment. And second-century Chinese alchemists prized liquid mercury for its supposed ability to increase lifespan and vitality. Some healers even promised that by consuming mercury, sulfur, and arsenic one could gain eternal life and the ability
• 04:30 - 05:00 to walk on water. In actuality, mercury and arsenic are so toxic that they're often referred to by scientists as turbo-poisonous-- citation needed. Needless to say, consuming mercury, sulfur, and arsenic is much more likely to lead to an extremely painful demise, rather than give you the ability to jog across the ocean. Even in more modern times, mercury was still being used to treat sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis. But again, it was more often killing those it was used on than curing them,
• 05:00 - 05:30 which I guess technically does cure the syphilis. [MUSIC PLAYING] The discovery of radium made Marie and Pierre Curie household names, and led to an expansive industry of radium-infused glowing products. Probable slogan, They glow because they're radioactive. Unfortunately, radium was also used in several questionable medicines because if it glows in the dark, it must be good for you. One advertisement even touted the benefits
• 05:30 - 06:00 of preparing radioactive drinking water at home to cure various ailments. Marie Curie herself died from exposure to radiation in 1934. So it's probably best to keep radium out of the medicine cabinet. [MUSIC PLAYING] One treatment for mental illness that became popular in the 1930s was the lobotomy, which is the removal of parts of the brain in order to curb depressive symptoms. Even at the time, lobotomizing was acknowledged
• 06:00 - 06:30 as a dangerous procedure that often left patients with a permanent disability. It also negatively affected their ability to function in society, their memories, and their personalities. But despite the well-known risks, approximately 50,000 people were lobotomized in the US, often without their consent. The procedure declined in popularity as electroconvulsive therapy and psychiatric medication became more widely practiced. Jack Nicholson's performance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest probably didn't hurt either.
• 06:30 - 07:00 [MUSIC PLAYING] Fad diets are rarely a good idea. But some are worse than others. For example, the tapeworm diet was an early 20th-century weight-loss method that relied on the not-exact science of deliberately ingesting a tapeworm. It sounds like an easy way to shed those excess pounds. But the truth is most tapeworm species actually have horrific effects on the human body, apart from stealing all the food you eat.
• 07:00 - 07:30 Many who participated in this diet wound up suffering from malnutrition, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, anemia, and the wish that they would have just joined Planet Fitness. [MUSIC PLAYING] Before the dangers of smoking were well known, or at least disclosed to the public, there were numerous ads touting the health benefits of cigarettes. Some even included endorsements from doctors, who would promote a particular brand's positive aspects
• 07:30 - 08:00 because when the Marlboro Man hands you a big sack of money, you start telling people, cigarettes will cure baldness and let you see in the dark. During the 19th and early 20th century, smoking was even suggested as a therapy for asthma, of all things. [MUSIC PLAYING] Believe it or not, the bacteria in poop can have a medicinal effect. That being said, it can also cause tetanus. So maybe think twice before writing yourself a prescription to Chairman Meow's litter box.
• 08:00 - 08:30 Animal waste was a common curative for various injuries, even as late as the 19th century. One Victorian remedy to ease a sore throat included dry dog biscuits, not the kind you find in a box. And the Ancient Egyptians used the poo from a donkey, crocodile, dog, gazelle, or fly for numerous medicinal purposes. [MUSIC PLAYING] Medicine back in the Medieval era was guided just as much by astrological superstitions as it was by medical knowledge.
• 08:30 - 09:00 Medical astrologers were so revered that many thought they were real-life magicians. Doctors would refer to special calendars containing star charts with different labeling to aid with diagnoses. For example, body parts were assigned signs of the zodiac. And organs were assigned planets. So, Doc, I think my Jupiter is inflamed would be a common complaint. After the patient's star chart was examined and compared to the current positions of the stars, their ailment could be diagnosed and treated.
• 09:00 - 09:30 These days, if the doctor has you fill out a star chart before your appointment, you should turn around and see if your Uber driver has left yet. [MUSIC PLAYING] Since the middle ages, enemas have been a popular treatment for intestinal issues. Back then, they were performed using a device called a clyster, which was a long metal tube with a cup on the end, like the world's worst beer bong. The tube would be pushed into the body through the anus.
• 09:30 - 10:00 And a medicinal fluid would be poured into the cup and then pumped into the colon. One of the most common fluids used in the clyster was a concoction of boar's bile, thought to have beneficial effects. Other fluids included herbs, opium, oxygen, tobacco, and turpentine. Nuthin' cures what ails you like but-chugging turpentine. King Louis XIV of France is said to have had over 2,000 enemas during his reign. So we're guessing he liked them. Some were even administered as he sat on his throne.
• 10:00 - 10:30 So if you ever tour the Palace of Versailles, maybe don't sit on that chair. [MUSIC PLAYING] The modern science of anesthesia is fairly new, having only become common practice over the last 150 years. Before that, doctors would use a range of other medical treatments to induce sleep before an operation, you know, like a hammer. One popular method was something called dwale, an herbal anesthetic made from seven ingredients-- bile, lettuce, vinegar, briny root,
• 10:30 - 11:00 hemlock, opium, and henbane. Some of these ingredients are harmless, but others are incredibly lethal. Mixing them incorrectly could put a patient to sleep permanently, which made the act of anesthetizing almost as dangerous as the surgery itself. Nevertheless, dwale was a popular anesthetic from the 12th to 15th century and even made an appearance in Hamlet. [MUSIC PLAYING]
• 11:00 - 11:30 There's no more homemade medicine than the water from your own canteen, so to speak. Human urine has been used for a variety of medical purposes, including curative treatments and as an antiseptic. Romans are said to have used it to whiten their teeth, which-- hard pass. King Henry VIII's surgeon recommended that all battle wounds should be washed in urine. And later, it was used to treat sores caused by the bubonic plague. And we saw how well that worked. Urine is popularly believed to be sterile, even today.
• 11:30 - 12:00 But scientific evidence shows that is not the case. You're better off just buying some antiseptic at a local pharmacy. [MUSIC PLAYING] You ever wonder why con artists and liars are often referred to as snake-oil salesmen? Well, the term refers to the oil derived from the Chinese water snake, which was used in traditional Chinese medicine to relieve joint pain from arthritis and bursitis. It was brought to America by Chinese laborers working
• 12:00 - 12:30 on the transcontinental railroad. This was backbreaking work. And the laborers would rub the oil on their aching joints for relief. Interestingly, despite its negative connotation as a slang term for "con men," there is some science behind the medicinal properties of snake oil. Snakes are a rich source of EPA and omega-3 fatty acid, with anti-inflammatory properties. So the next time your arthritis starts acting up, reach for the nearest bottle of King Cobra. That's snake oil, right?
• 12:30 - 13:00 So what do you think? Which of these old-timey medical practices was the hardest to believe? Let us know in the Comments below. And while you're at it, check out some of these other videos from our Weird History.