BREAKDOWN - THE PAST
THE AMERICAN MEDICAL BELIEFS IN THE EARLY 1800S WERE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE THEY WERE TODAY. THERE WAS LITTLE INFORMATION ON WHAT CAUSED ILLNESSES AND WHAT CURED IT. MEDICAL STANDARDS WERE MUCH LESS RESTRICTED THEN THEY ARE TODAY. WHILE MANY OF THE CURES FOR DISEASES USED BACK THEN WERE FAULTY AND DID NOT SUCCEED IN CURING ANYONE, SOME ACTUALLY DID WORK AND LEAD TO GREATER MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS DOWN THE ROAD. MANY OF THE "CURES" WERE CONCOCTED FROM INGREDIENTS AND DRUGS THAT NO DOCTOR WOULD EVER THINK OF USING TODAY. FOR EXAMPLE, MERCURY AND ARSENIC WERE USED TO TREAT SYPHILIS BEFORE PENICILLIN WAS INTRODUCED IN 1940. IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH MERCURY OR ARSENIC, THEY ARE TWO HEAVY METALS WITH HIGH LEVELS OF TOXICITY THAT ARE TODAY INFAMOUS FOR BEING IN SEAFOOD. COCAINE TODAY IS SEEN AS AN ADDICTIVE DRUG THAT ONLY HARMS YOU, BUT BACK IN THE 1800S COCAINE WAS A REVERED PAIN RELIEVER THAT WAS USED TO HELP NUMB THE PAIN OF TOOTH ACHES AND SORE THROATS. HEROIN IS KNOWN TODAY AS ONE OF THE DEADLIEST DRUGS BECAUSE OF HOW EASY IT IS TO GET HOOKED ON, BUT BACK IN THE 1800S IT WAS USED TO TREAT A BREATHING PROBLEM LATER RECOGNIZED AS ASTHMA.
A POSTER FOR STEEDMAN'S SOOTHING POWDERS; A POWDER MEDICINE USED AS A CHILDREN PAIN KILLER. IT WAS POPULARIZED IN THE 1800S FOR HELPING EASE THE PAIN FOR KIDS WHO WERE TEETHING. HOWEVER, STEEDMAN'S CONTAINED HIGH AMOUNTS OF MERCURY, CONTRARY TO THE COMPANY'S PROMISE OF BEING "POISON -FREE" SINCE ITS CREATION. IN THEIR DEFENSE, STEEDMAN'S DID NOT KNOW AT THE TIME THAT MERCURY WAS POISONOUS. |