Things Change

20 Historical Medical Myths

Medical Myths

1. Sick people should not go outside at night due to “bad airs” or miasmata.

2. Turkey makes you drowsy.

3. Dim light ruins your eyesight.

4. You must drink 8 glasses of water a day to be hydrated.

5. We use only 10 percent of our brains.

6. Drinking a glass of milk every day is good for you.

7. Shaving hair causes it to grow faster, darker, and coarser.

8. Babies don’t feel pain.

9. In the early 1900’s it was thought that radioactivity was good for you.

10. Shark cartilage is effective treatment for cancer.

11. Heroin laced cough syrup as a cough suppressant.

12. The human heart could never be touched.

13. Mercury used to treat Syphilis.

14. Tobacco was known as the “holy herb” and “God’s remedy”.

15. LSD could cure alcoholism, criminal behavior, and schizophrenia.

16. In the 1950’s people infected themselves with tapeworms to lose weight.

17. Cocaine was used to promote digestion and fight depression.

18. Cigarettes were once physician approved!

19. Stress and spicy foods cause ulcers.

20. Germs, bacteria, and viruses don’t exist.

Modern medicine is remarkable and the leaps that we have made show great promise for our future. Sadly, what we don’t know now can hurt us in the future.