Health fads are not new, but they are older than people think. The ancient Egyptians practiced strange methods of losing weight and treating illness like people did in the 20th century. Even if the methods were a bit crazy, people tried everything to get perfect.
Science and the benefit of hindsight have proven that people have done crazy things to fix their bodies, and that they are dangerous. Humans have been at this health craze thing for a long time. The craziest things people have done to fix themselves are listed.
10 Mercury To Treat Syphilis
The photo was taken by Taenketanken.
Mercury is a toxic substance and should never be eaten.
It was rubbed on the skin, injected, or taken orally, but it never worked. It helped to kill the patient faster, which probably alleviated some of the pain associated with the illness, but that's like cutting off the head to cure the headaches. It was found that a compound of mercurous chloride (calomel) did help in treating the disease, but this wasn't until 1910, and it was still toxic.
9 Lobotomies To Treat Mental Illness
Mental health problems have only recently been studied and treated as an illness.
Up to 5,000 operations were performed annually on patients as young as four years old after lobotomies became popular in the United States.
8 Arsenic Consumption For Weight Loss
The photo is from Health Skillet.
People used to happily consume arsenic in the form of a diet pill.
The fad spread into pill form and was marketed as a weight loss diet miracle, but it probably killed more people than anything else. It is now known that arsenic causes your cells to die and makes you feel lousy. It increases a person's risk of cancer even in small amounts, so it should be avoided at all times.
7 The Last Chance Diet
There are a lot of ridiculous fad diet, including the Cookie Diet, but few have been as deadly as the last chance diet.
Prolinn was composed of ground-up hooves and hides of animals killed at a slaughter. Dr. Linn turned the drink into a liquid that killed 30 people. Linn's diet was investigated by the FDA, and it is not something that anyone should attempt.
6 Tapeworms For Weight Loss
Everyone should know not to ingest a parasites like a tapeworm.
This diet was popular in Victorian England.
5 LSD To Treat Alcoholism
Millions of people are affected by alcoholism every day. It is no surprise that people use unconventional methods to treat it.
It was found to be effective in 59 percent of participants, so it may not be the most far-fetched treatment option.
4 Tobacco Enema (And Other Crazy Stuff People Have Shoved Up Their Butts)
The Art of Detox is a photo.
Have you ever told someone to smoke? There is a chance they could have taken you seriously.
People have used strange enema treatments over the years.
3 Bloodletting
The photo is from History.com.
It is surprising that we survived as a species, because bloodletting was common for so long.
Some instances, bloodletting may have been beneficial. It makes sense to remove some of the blood in order to treat hypertension. It would weaken and potentially kill a patient if it were used in other ways. It was true in the years before antibiotics were discovered. Infections would arise from the source of the wound.
2 Heroin Cough Syrup
Business Insider has a photo.
There used to be a time when you could get a dose of cough syrup with heroin at the pharmacy.
It was sold in stores until 1914, when it was made available by prescription only. The FDA put a ban on the drug in 1924, but patients could still get it with a doctor's prescription. Coca-Cola used cocaine as an ingredient for a short time in the 19th century.
1 Radium For Everything
The photo is Brakhman.
radium was one of the biggest discoveries in the 19th century.
radium can be used in toys and night-lights.
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