The Poor Historians: Medical History Misadventures

If you've ever wondered why your over-the-counter pill bottles have that annoying little foil under the cap, you'll be happy to know it's there for good reason. It all stems from this true-crime meets toxicology story. We'll lay it all out here in this episode.

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We welcome our special guest historian to discuss an overview of issues affecting medical history and it's approaches to women's health during the late 19th century into the early 20th. We'll talk about Anthony Comstock and his silly morality-influenced laws, discuss early forms of contraception, and will examine all of this amidst the cultural milieu of the era. 

We'll go out on a limb and say the doctors of thi...

This is a fascinating and complicated dive into the history behind the first placebos and observations of their effects. We'll do our best not to lose our own minds trying to sort out the complexities of the placebo effect as we understood it simply in the past, and try to contrast that with all of the newer science on the topic. This gets weird.

Sources:

• Wikipedia: Placebo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo
• The ...

This episode was brought to you by our main source, the excellent book on the topic by Matthew C. Ehrlich entitled, The Krebiozan Hoax: How a mysterious Cancer Drug Shook Organized Medicine. Check it out via that link and show the author some love. It's a great addition to your medical history library.

This is the story of how a 22-year elaborate hoax was delivered to the American public of the 1940's-1960's in the fo...

This episode is a blend of true crime and criminal ineptitude. We'll walk through the story of how a gaggle of NYC barflys in the early 20th century U.S. Prohibition Era conspired (very badly) to murder an Irish immigrant who would later be nicknamed "The Irish Rasputin" for his incredible survival of multiple attempts on his life. How did this all transpire, medically speaking? Let's find out.

Sources:...

This is one of those episodes where we're happy to have Alba's perspective. We'll explore the history of breast surgery, it's various early procedures, and a host of things done to change women's chests for a variety of reasons.

References: 

• https://citylights.com/topographies/cleavage-man-made-breasts/ Cleavage book, Nora Jacobson, 2000 (MAIN SOURCE)
• Squeezing saline bag story, https://www.chron.com/local...

History does have a way of repeating itself--at least in broad strokes. In this episode we'll discuss the first opiate crisis the U.S. ever suffered and do a bit of comparison to modern times. From opium, to morphine, to heroin, these substances have been a part of civilization for much longer than most realize.

If you or someone you know may be struggling with opiates or other addictive substances, SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and ...

It's probably popular knowledge that alcohol as a substance of use--and potential misuse--has been with humankind since our earliest days. In this episode, Dr. Mike explores the earliest references to alcohol and takes us through a tour of it's evolution alongside various cultures and eventual recognition as a poison that is capable of great harm. This includes an overview of early addiction treatment and some discussion ...

We've had many requests for this topic over the years and Dr. Aaron finally took charge of it. We'll explore the crossroads of medical history and medical ethics as it applies to the case of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman who's peculiar tumor cells lived on to be the source of numerous medical discoveries--albeit without her permission.

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks 
• https://en...

In the early 19th century, pioneers on the American western frontier were dying of an unusual illness. It even claimed the life of Nancy Lincoln, mother of the accomplished wrestler (and incidental president of the U.S.), Abraham Lincoln. 

The cause of this mysterious illness was known to one Anna Pierce as well as the Native American populations of the affected area. This is the story of Milk Sickness, how it was discover...

In the 1930's (and before), there was a mysterious cause of infant mortality. An astonishing number of newborns were victim to a mismatch between their blood type, and that of their mothers. Doctors at the time were not sure why this was happening. This is the story of the discovery of the cure for that condition and a man who went above and beyond for six decades to help prevent it in his part of the world.

Sources:<...

If you can believe it, watching people walk around was once a spectator sport. It was the Gilded Age and there weren't many options for sport entertainment. We'll investigate how the participants in this early sport-ish activity helped inform the more modern practices of performance enhancing substance use as we know them today. We'll touch on cycling and the physiology and medicine behind some of these ways to enhan...

When a mysterious gastrointestinal illness starts turning into a dangerous neurologic disease accompanied by green tongues in post WWII Japan, researches scramble to find out why people are becoming sick. We'll do a deep dive on this one to figure out the cause.

Sources:

-https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/when-cure-is-cause-180967666/

-https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15152488/

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm...

From the discovery of this well-known medication, to the science behind its function, and spanning all the way to treatments for the underlying condition of erectile dysfunction as well as a complication of said treatments called priapism, this episode covers a lot of ground.

As you might imagine, there will be discussions of male genitalia, the existence of sex, and sexual health in this one,  as written by Dr. Mike and ...

The Patrons have spoken! They suggested we lend our medical expertise in a new and unique manner, by watching, reacting, and reviewing a popular medical show. We chose "The Resident" and boy-oh-boy was it bad. 

Whether you're a fan of that particular show or have yet to see it, this episode will let you experience all it's medically inaccurate glory through the eyes of your favorite amateur medical hist...

We invited Jerry Landry, host of the exceptional Presidencies of the U.S. Podcast onto the show today to help us discuss the clandestine surgery at sea that was done on President Grover Cleveland in the late 1800's. It was kind of a big deal.

Listen to the end to hear a teaser on the upcoming Patron inspired TV show review. We'll talk about it after our bonus content with Jerry at the end of this episode.

Go check...