Diseases
Making Mercury Thermometers
The COVID pandemic has certainly made thermometers part of everyday discourse. Once upon a time, the mercury-filled instrument was the only home-friendly device available. I was not even sure you could buy one these days, but Amazon sells several "liquid-filled" devices. Here is some info from the vendor at the Amazon link.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 15, 2020 -
Comments (9)
Category: Body, Diseases, Health, Technology, Twentieth Century
Coated tongue means self-poisoning
From back in the day when advertisers just tried to scare consumers silly:"Coated tongue means self-poisoning. Correct it by all means."
Click to enlarge
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jun 28, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Advertising, 1930s, Diseases
Alois Swoboda
His Wikipedia page tells us:
His course did not use apparatus or exercise equipment. Claims in Swoboda's courses included the ability to regrow lost limbs and heal a heart damaged by a heart attack.
Article in POPULAR MECHANICS to be found here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 03, 2018 -
Comments (7)
Category: Body, Bodybuilding, Diseases, Cult Figures and Artifacts, Exercise and Fitness, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Twentieth Century
Dentologia: A Poem on the Diseases of the Teeth
Full text here.
Thanks to Richard Bleiler.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 13, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Hygiene, Poetry, Nineteenth Century, Diseases, Teeth
Chicago’s War on Syphilis
Imagine the uproar if this were attempted today.
Full article here.
Chicago's War on Syphilis: 1937-1940
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jun 10, 2017 -
Comments (5)
Category: Education, Civic Duties, Teenagers, 1930s, Diseases
Your Feet Are Killing You
In his 1953 book Your Feet Are Killing You, Dr. Simon J. Wikler expounded his theory that just about every medical problem one could imagine (cancer, allergies, tooth decay, etc.) was caused by shoes. His solution was to go barefoot. Ideally all the time.His theory was summarized in The Quarterly Review of Biology (Dec 1954):
The chain of events leading to the development of these diseases is described as follows. The modern shoe deforms the human foot, causes the muscles to shrivel, and leads to foot imbalance. Even the feet of infants are distorted because they are firmly tucked in under blankets or covered by tight stockings. Upon bearing weight, the deformity of the feet leads to a rolling out of the legs that carries the femora into external rotation. This deprives the pelvis of its anterior support, and allows it to dip downward in front. The spine is therefore forced into exaggerated curves, so that the abdominal space is reduced and the chest cavity is compressed. The vital organs and the blood vessels and nerves are displaced or abnormally stretched. The abnormal stresses lead to cancer of the breast, stomach, prostate, and uterus. To substantiate his thesis the author offers case histories and statistics. In addition to the development of this concept, the writer uses the latter part of the book to enumerate some foot ailments and to describe briefly the symptoms and treatment.
Washington Afro-American - June 30, 1953
A 1979 book by T.O. "Tip" Berg echoed Wikler's title, but added the word "literally" to give it even more dramatic emphasis:
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 27, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Books, Shoes, Diseases, Feet
Treating Tuberculosis with Sunlight
In a medical reference book from the 1940s, The New People's Physician (1941), I came across these pictures of kids in classrooms and playing sports dressed only in their tighty-whities. They weren't students at a clothing-optional school. They were actually being treated for tuberculosis. In the days before antibiotics, sunlight therapy (or heliotherapy) was a popular cure for that disease.
"At Leysin, in the Alpes Vaudoises, Dr. A. Rollier instituted the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis and other tuberculous diseases by means of direct sunlight. The patients spend as much time as possible in the open air, exposed to the rays of the sun."
"Early cases of tuberculosis in young and vigorous people benefit considerably from treatment at high altitudes. Exercise and sport of a not too strenuous nature is advocated."
"At Perrysburg, N.Y., tubercular children study in an open-air schoolroom, stripped to the waist."
"Minimum clothing and maximum exposure to the sun contribute to improving the health of these tuberculous children at Perrysburg, New York. Outdoor classes and fresh air improve general health as well."
"Outdoor air and sunlight, even in the New England winter, are part of the treatment for child tuberculosis patients of the Meriden State Tuberculosis Sanitarium, Meriden, Conn."
An LA Times article (May 28, 2007) gives some background on the popularity of sunlight therapy for TB:
Rollier devised a detailed protocol for how, exactly, to sunbathe for health. He was convinced that early-morning sun was best and that sun exposure was most beneficial when the air was cool. When patients, most of whom had tuberculosis, arrived at his solaria, they first had to adjust to the altitude (his clinics were in the mountains) and then to the cool air. Once acclimated, Rollier slowly exposed them to the sun.
The patients were rolled onto sun-drenched, open-air balconies, wearing loincloths and covered from head to toe with white sheets. On the first day of treatment, just their feet peeked out from under the sheets, and only for five minutes. On day two, the sheets were pulled a little higher, and the patients were left in the sun a few minutes more. By day five, only the patients' heads were covered, their bodies left to soak up sun for more than an hour. After a few weeks, the patients were very tan -- and hopefully very healthy. (The therapy worked for many, but not all.)
And according to a fairly recent article in the Journal of Cell Biology, "Curing TB with Sunlight" (Mar 27, 2006), sunlight actually is a fairly effective treatment for tuberculosis:
The finding may explain why Hermann Brehmer's 19th century trip to the Himalayas cured him of his TB, and why the fresh air at his sanatoria helped cure others. “Our forefathers knew a lot more about this than we give them credit for,” says Modlin. Eventually, however, sanitoria coddled their patients behind glass, which would have blocked the beneficial UV light.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 15, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Medicine, Diseases
Coco-Bay and Chiego-Foot
Original ad here.
Holloway's Pills and Ointment were apparently miraculous as seen by the number of ailments they could cure. But I was curious about two of the more obscure ills, and managed to track them down.
Definition here.
Yes, the treatment could cure leprosy! The second disorder is much less severe.
Definition here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 27, 2016 -
Comments (8)
Category: Scams, Cons, Rip-offs, and General Larceny, Nineteenth Century, Diseases
Coffee vs Alcohol
Coffee consumption protects the liver from alcoholic cirrhosis. The more coffee the better the effect according to a 22 year study involving 125,000 subjects. Tea does not have the same effect, ruling out caffeine as the cause. So, hit the coffee if you drink much but not for any other form of the disease as alcoholic cirrhosis is the only form it benefits.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 20, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Health, Coffee and other Legal Stimulants, Diseases, Alcohol
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |