{"id":17593,"date":"2018-07-21T13:23:45","date_gmt":"2018-07-21T18:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thepapergown.zocdoc.com\/?p=17593"},"modified":"2023-03-03T15:17:25","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T20:17:25","slug":"horrifying-and-useless-lady-remedies-of-yesteryear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/blog\/healthcare-trends\/horrifying-and-useless-lady-remedies-of-yesteryear\/","title":{"rendered":"Horrifying and Useless Lady Cures of Yesteryear"},"content":{"rendered":"

America was a pharmaceutical free-for-all until the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed in 1906. Before then, nostrums \u2014 unproven medicines of questionable safety and health value \u2014 were peddled freely, no prescription needed. Consumers could skip into the pharmacy and pick up Cocaine Toothache Drops, <\/span>radium hand cleaners<\/span><\/a> or Bayer\u2019s heroin cough suppressant. Without government regulation or a culture of public skepticism, untested treatments were a hugely lucrative business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nostrums pervaded nearly every facet of medicine, including women\u2019s health. Yet it\u2019s hard to fault 19th-century women for taking reproductive health into their own hands and opting to self-medicate. In those days, doctors examined women by <\/span>feeling under their skirts<\/span><\/a> while looking the other way. These efforts to respect delicate female sensibilities only made accurate diagnoses unlikely. <\/span>Here are some of the most dubious and dangerous lady remedies of the 19th and early 20th centuries.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Opium
\n<\/b>For: vaginal pain relief<\/h3>\n

In 2016, the addition of cannabis oil to a <\/span>coconut butter vaginal suppository<\/span><\/a> was hailed as a revolutionary fix for period pain. At the turn of the last century, the intravaginal pain reliever of choice was opium, the drug from which morphine, heroin and codeine are derived. <\/span>Pond\u2019s Tampons<\/span><\/a> came dipped in the secret-weapon ingredient, used both for its analgesic (pain-relieving) and antispasmodic (spasm-controlling) properties. The tampons also contained belladonna (deadly nightshade), which is <\/span>still used in rectal suppositories<\/span><\/a> to treat pain after <\/span>vaginal surgery<\/span><\/a>. Opium-laced <\/span>Helonia Vaginal Tablets<\/span><\/a> were used for <\/span>abnormal vaginal discharge<\/span><\/a> or, as the issue was known back then, \u201cthe whites.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike many of the products on this list, Pond\u2019s tampons<\/span> likely did what they were supposed to. Still, by the end of the 19th century, about 60 percent of opium addicts <\/span>were women<\/span><\/a>. Many of them got hooked after taking morphine prescribed for conditions including menstrual cramps and hysteria.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Beer Tonics
\n<\/b>For: pregnant and nursing women<\/h3>\n

Anheuser-Busch touted <\/span>Malt Nutrine<\/span><\/a>, with its 1.9-percent alcohol content (about half that of a typical light beer), as invaluable to nursing moms. Sold in what looked like a beer bottle, the \u201c<\/span>liquid food and tonic<\/span><\/a>\u201d was pumped with the \u201cnerve-building power\u201d of malt and hops, supposedly to increase strength, settle nerves, improve sleep and aid digestion. <\/span><\/p>\n

Pabst got in on the curative beer action too. The company <\/span>published pamphlets<\/span><\/a> touting Pabst Malt Extract as the \u201cideal preparation for nursing mothers.\u201d A <\/span>1907 ad<\/span><\/a> described the malt extract as a \u201crich, wholesome food\u201d to lessen the \u201cdread and realism\u201d of new motherhood and provide a little pep for the \u201cweak, worn-out and overworked.\u201d A <\/span>1915 ad<\/span><\/a> even suggested the malt extract would help nourish expectant mothers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Weakness Cures
\n<\/b>For: any and all female troubles<\/h3>\n

Old-timey doctors regarded the female reproductive system as a mysterious force. More often than not, they just assumed women\u2019s health problems were womb-related. Dr. <\/span>Kilmer\u2019s Female Remedy<\/span><\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0\u201cspecially adapted to female constitutions,\u201d claimed to help alleviate period pain, rid the body of tumors and cancer and, perhaps most importantly, restore \u201cyouthful bloom and beauty.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While these products were promoted at traveling medicine shows, some companies took additional measures to drive sales.<\/span> The Vivai company, eviscerated as frauds in <\/span>a 1915 paper<\/span><\/a> by the American Medical Association, would lure \u201cimpressionable women\u201d to legitimate-sounding lectures in order to hawk tablets, laxatives and suppositories. Vivai used scare tactics and lies in their marketing materials, warning women about painful sex (\u201cmarital obligation could become distressing\u201d) and claiming that abnormal discharge could result in weak offspring, a sallow complexion and depression. The company also blamed cancerous tumors on stagnation in the blood. Vivai curatives, of course, were always the answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chemistry professors concluded that the only thing Wine of Cardui had the power to do was get someone drunk.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In reality, Vivai products contained mainly cocoa butter and goldenseal, which is sometimes used to relieve congestion, stomach pains and constipation, but not to treat cancer or depression.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Government analysis deemed similar products medically useless, as noted in a 1911 <\/span>JAMA report<\/span><\/a> that spurred a crackdown on nostrum-makers. The curatives mainly contained alcohol and negligible amounts of herbal ingredients: <\/span>St. Andrew\u2019s Wine of <\/span>Life Female Regulator<\/span><\/a> was a mix of alcohol, sugar and tannins. The company was fined $50 in 1917 for making false health claims. Gerstle\u2019s Female Panacea contained 20 percent alcohol, 1.6 percent vegetable extract and water. The product was found to be an ineffective treatment for irregular periods, \u201cthe whites\u201d and \u201cfailing of the womb\u201d (uterine prolapse). <\/span><\/p>\n

Wine of Cardui, touted as \u201cnature\u2019s great emmenagogue\u201d (meaning it promoted menstrual flow), contained 20 percent alcohol and blessed thistle. In the 1910s, chemistry professors concluded that the only thing Wine of Cardui had the power to do was get someone drunk. <\/span><\/p>\n

Not only were these alcoholic tonics, or \u201cbracers,\u201d medically ineffective, but according to some doctors, they also gave way to substance abuse. <\/span>Peruna<\/span><\/a>, a 28-percent-alcohol iron tonic, led to \u201calcoholic multiple neuritis [paralysis] in a most estimable lady,\u201d as one doctor wrote <\/span>in a 1908 report<\/span><\/a> for the federal Committee on Social Betterment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Female Pills
\n<\/b>For: inducing miscarriage<\/h3>\n

From the Colonial period through the mid-19th century, it was acceptable for women to choose whether or not to \u201crestore menses,\u201d i.e., intentionally miscarry before the fetus starts kicking around the fourth month of pregnancy, an event called the \u201c<\/span>quickening<\/span><\/a>.\u201d Between the 1860s and the 1880s<\/a>, state laws criminalized all abortion. But in the preceding decades, <\/span>abortifacients<\/span><\/a> (substances that end pregnancy) were easy to come by. Newspapers of the era were filled with ads for products that promised to correct menstrual \u201cobstructions and suppression\u201d \u2014 euphemisms for pregnancy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Mott\u2019s Pennyroyal Pills claimed to \u201crestore menstrual function when suppressed by ANY CAUSE,\u201d and assured women their products would be mailed in a plain wrapper. Ad copy for Mr. P. Blanchard’s medicine said it “should not be taken by those expecting to become Mothers, as it is sure to produce a miscarriage\u201d; historians say that signaled to women they could use the product to terminate pregnancies.<\/span><\/p>\n

By 1940 and until 1960, the commercial douche was the <\/span>leading contraceptive method<\/span><\/a> for women.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hooper\u2019s Female Pills<\/span><\/a>, patented in 1743, were intended for women between age 10 and \u201cthe turn of life.\u201d If taken regularly, the company claimed, the pills could treat not only heart palpitations and stomach pains, but also \u201cgiddiness,\u201d \u201cloathing of food\u201d and \u201cDislike to Exercise and Conversation.\u201d What\u2019s more, the pills could rid the body of \u201cgross humors\u201d after childbirth, as well as clear out any \u201cblockages\u201d (i.e., fetuses). An eventual analysis revealed that Hooper\u2019s pills did contain iron in therapeutic amounts, but the drug appeared to often pass through the intestinal tract unabsorbed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of these formulations did contain ingredients that could induce abortion, such as <\/span>pennyroyal<\/span><\/a>, parsley and <\/span>fennel<\/span><\/a>. But many of them were useless, containing aloes and iron, which was incorrectly thought to be an abortifacient. Those were the two main ingredients in the infamous <\/span>Madame Restell<\/span><\/a>\u2019s \u201cfemale pills.\u201d If the pills didn\u2019t work, Restell offered to terminate clients\u2019 pregnancies surgically.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Bleach Douches
\n<\/b>For: contraception and vaginal youthfulness<\/h3>\n

Sure, a modern Jazz Age wife might go motoring and golfing with her husband, but what really made her \u201cstill the girl he married,\u201d according to <\/span>a 1928 magazine ad<\/span><\/a>, was douching with Lysol vagina disinfectant \u2014 to protect her \u201czest for living.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

References to safeguarding youthful zest were code for avoiding pregnancy, according to historians. Producers of chemical cleaning agents began\u00a0aggressively marketing\u00a0bleach-based douches<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to women at the start of the 20th century, often\u00a0invoking cryptic language to push the contraception angle. \u201cMany a home is peaceful and happy\u2026when fear and doubt no longer cloud a young wife\u2019s outlook,\u201d read one ad for Zonite douche,\u00a0insinuating that a baby could demolish marital harmony. It was probably no coincidence that contraceptives had been ruled obscene by the Comstock Act of 1873. (They\u00a0wouldn\u2019t be legal again<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for almost another 100 years.)<\/p>\n

By 1940 and until 1960, the commercial douche was the <\/span>leading contraceptive method<\/span><\/a> for women, albeit not a particularly reliable one. A 1933 study revealed that half of women who\u2019d used Lysol as a douche, believing antiseptics killed sperm, became pregnant. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was also common for douching ads to suggest that an antiseptic vagina was a youthful vagina, and the key to keeping one\u2019s dear husband hot and bothered. <\/span>By 1911, these products <\/span>had caused<\/span><\/a> several deaths and nearly 200 Lysol poisonings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Uterine Tonics and Ladies\u2019 Tonics
\n<\/b>For: safe labor and other lady problems<\/h3>\n

Aletris Cordial<\/span><\/a>, often called Mother\u2019s Cordial, was a \u201cuterine tonic\u201d containing the herb unicorn root. Sold\u00a0between 1901 and 1920, the product supposedly improved a woman\u2019s chances of having a <\/span>safe labor and birth<\/span><\/a>. Native American populations east of the Mississippi River have also used the plant to stimulate menstruation or strengthen the uterus, but the <\/span>American Botanical Council<\/span><\/a> says there’s not enough research to ascertain unicorn root\u2019s effectiveness. And it’s impossible to know if Aletris Cordial contained enough of the root to have a therapeutic impact. Regardless, it\u2019s <\/span>still sold today<\/span><\/a> to ease PMS symptoms and regulate periods.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Pinkham\u2019s Vegetable Compound didn\u2019t contain enough drugs to be sold as a medicine, it did contain enough alcohol to be taxed as a libation.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unicorn root was also an ingredient in the best-selling remedy <\/span>Lydia E. Pinkham\u2019s Vegetable Compound<\/span><\/a>. A former midwife and nurse from Lynn, Massachusetts, Pinkham started selling her <\/span>ladies\u2019 tonic<\/span><\/a> in 1875, when she was in her 50s. Advertisements claimed it could help women get pregnant as well as relieve a host of lady problems, from menstrual cramps to a prolapsed uterus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Product analysis in 1912 revealed that, while Pinkham\u2019s Vegetable Compound didn\u2019t contain enough drugs to be sold as a medicine, it did contain enough alcohol to be taxed as a libation. The compound is <\/span>still around today<\/span><\/a>, but now has additional herbs and a lower alcohol content.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pinkham\u2019s more significant contribution to womanhood, however, might have been her activism. She <\/span>was horrified<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>by the lack of information available to women about their health, so she wrote no-nonsense pamphlets about female biology and established an all-female \u201cDepartment of Advice\u201d at her company to answer women\u2019s health questions via mail. <\/span><\/p>\n

After Pinkham’s death in 1887, the family members who ran her company continued to produce women’s health guides. But the messaging shifted,<\/a> advising women to stay healthy for the sake of fulfilling their wifely duties.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Sex Dust<\/b><\/a>
\nFor: a listless libido<\/h3>\n

Whoops, <\/span>that\u2019s a current trend<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Ready to book a doctor’s appointment? Visit Zocdoc.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At best, these medicines did little for women\u2019s health. At worst, they\u2019d kill you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":17600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[229],"tags":[136,80,38,75],"class_list":["post-17593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare-trends","tag-culture","tag-history","tag-lists","tag-womens-health","reviewer-dr-nassim-assefi","specialist_by_city-ob-gyn"],"yoast_head":"\nHorrifying and Useless Lady Cures of Yesteryear - Healthcare Trends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At best, these medicines did little for women\u2019s health. 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