1. insulin coma therapy
   bloodletting
2. lobotomy

Bloodletting is thought to have begun among the ancient Egyptians. It was used by Greek physicians, was popular throughout the Roman empire and was the standard treatment for many health problems, from plague to pox, in medieval Europe. By the end of the 19th century, bloodletting's popularity waned not because it could (and often did) result in accidental death, but because of new treatments and discoveries.

1. true
2. false

Before training became available at the College of Physicians, many doctors didn't have much education. Some followed the philosophies of Hippocrates, but others relied on astrology.

1. Vioxx (rofecoxib)
   Liptruzet (atorvastatin and ezetimibe)
2. Temodar (temozolomide)

Pharmaceutical company Merck withdrew its drug Vioxx after it was discovered the drug raised the risk of heart attack during the first two years of use.

1. yes
2. no

Yes, but they aren't the same as they used to be. Because of the negative environmental effects (marine creatures ingest the beads) when they end up in lakes and oceans, beads are now biodegradable

1. oral cancer
   canker sores
2. stuttering

Removing part of the tongue was how a stutter was corrected among Europeans in the 18th and 19th centuries.

1. ice water baths
   physical restraints
2. isolation
   all of these

These were all common physical treatments for mental health concerns.

1. alcohol
   menthol
2. cannabis

Remedies to relieve teething babies often contained alcohol. The label for vintage Atkinson Infants Preservative, for instance, shows it has no narcotic content, although it does contain 50 percent alcohol.

1. true
2. false

The Radiendocrinator, which was a 2-by-3 inch (5-by-8 centimeter) case containing radium-infused paper (250 microcuries or 9.25 million becquerel), was intended to be worn against the skin "like an athletic strap."

1. 6 years old
   16 years old
2. 18 years old

In the late 19th century, if you were 6 years old you could buy "asthma cigarettes" to relieve such things bad breath, ulcers and, of course, asthma.

1. as far back as 3,400 B.C.E.
   the 7th century
2. 1729

The earliest evidence of opium use traces back to 3,400 B.C.E.

1. cannabis
   cocaine
2. clove oil

If you or your child had a toothache, you could relieve the pain with cocaine. Seriously.

1. scabies
   roundworms
2. schizophrenia

Absinthe was once considered a cure for roundworms.

1. chlamydia
   gonorrhea
2. syphilis

In the 1500s, it was believed mercury could cure syphilis. Today it's believed the physician who made the discovery didn't understand or know about the disease's remission periods.

1. Camels
   Old Gold
2. Marlboro

That advertising campaign claimed that according to a national survey, more doctors smoked Camels, manufactured by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, than any other cigarette.

1. chloroform
   methamphetamine
2. turpentine

Wizard Oil, aka snake oil, claimed to cure pretty much everything. Bleeding gums? Check. Cholera? Yup. Sprains and cramps, too. Its boldest claim, though, was that it could erase your pain away — and from any beast, for that matter. While Wizard Oil probably didn't cure anything, its ingredients, including alcohol, chloroform and turpentine, could have been fatal. While we can't be 100 percent certain, we feel pretty confident that it didn't contain methamphetamine.

1. gin
   whiskey
2. wine

Consuming gin was thought to be a way to avoid getting the plague.

1. cannabis
   morphine
2. nicotine

Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup used morphine to ease the pain of teething and to calm babies who couldn't sleep.

1. the prostate
   the urethra
2. the rectum

Radioactive wax rods, "bougies," prescribed to treat impotence were inserted into the urethra.

1. arsenic poisoning
   lead poisoning
2. mercury poisoning

Mercurial disease, caused by chronic mercury poisoning, was common among hatmakers, and the phrase "mad as a hatter" was in use three decades before "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was published. Due to an occupational hazard caused by a process called "carroting," part of felt hatmaking, hatters often developed symptoms such as tremors, excessive saliva, forgetfulness and unprovoked anger.

1. true
2. false

For several years, at the turn of the 20th century, Bayer made heroin cough suppressant. (Heroin production was banned in the U.S. in 1924.)

1. cancer
   psoriasis
2. rheumatoid arthritis

In the 1950s, surgeon John Prudden began researching whether or not animal cartilage could be used as a medical treatment. His results? That he was to shrink cancer tumors with it. After his book "Sharks Don't Get Cancer" was published in 1992, shark cartilage use skyrocketed.

1. a brew of arsenic, mercury and sulfur
   a brew of arsenic, mercury and "corpse powder"
2. a brew of arsenic, mercury and the herb fang feng

Want to walk on water and live forever? Some believed this toxic brew of arsenic, mercury and sulfur could do just that.

1. true
2. false

Trepanation is drilling holes in the skull, perhaps to relieve headaches, treat mental illness or, as some speculate, cure a person presumed to be possessed.

1. lobotomy
   electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
2. deep brain stimulation (DBS)

Neurologist Egas Moniz won a Nobel Prize in 1949 for introducing the lobotomy, an operation that was supposed to alleviate the symptoms of mental health disorders (and used particularly to treat schizophrenia) by separating the prefrontal region's connection with other parts of the brain.

1. true
2. false

Although some cultures may conduct ceremonies (like exorcisms), modern medicine knows that mental illness is caused by several influencing factors, including genes, but not by demonic possession.

1. true
2. false

This, along with other remedies such as ground-up mummies (known as mummy powder) and a brew made from alcohol and powdered human skull, was once used as a supposed cure.

1. Chesterfield
   Lucky Strike
2. Pall Mall

Lucky Strikes were just what the doctor ordered. They were the first in the industry to use physicians in their advertising. The ad read, “20,679 physicians say 'Luckies are less irritating.'"

1. alcohol
   cannabis
2. wormwood

Bacon wrote that moderate alcohol consumption was good for digestion and would "defend the body from corruption."

1. Uranium
   Radium
2. Beryllium

The headline read, "The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off." During the early part of the 20th century, radioactive products such as radon water — for "vigor" — were the rage.

1. toothpaste
   pain relief
2. enemas

Eighteenth-century European doctors used tobacco smoke enemas — with bellows, yes, for blowing the smoke up you-know-where — to treat everything from headaches to death. The enemas fell out of fashion when it was discovered nicotine was damaging to the heart.