From classical Rome to the 20th century, the practice of corpse medicine—also known as medicinal cannibalism—ran rampant across every stratum of European society. The top 10 corpse remedies listed below show how extracts from human brains, flesh, fat, livers, blood, skulls, bone, hair, and even sweat were swallowed or applied by monarchs, popes, scholars, and common folk alike.

top 10 corpse Overview

10 Gladiator Blood and Liver

Slain gladiators turned the arena from a blood sport into blood medicine during classical Rome. Romans believed they could absorb the gladiator’s vitality and valor by drinking their hot blood.

Epileptics would crowd a fallen gladiator and suck the “living blood” from his open wound. Roman physician Scribonius Largus went to great pseudoscientific lengths to suggest that the liver of a stag killed by a weapon used to vanquish a gladiator could be a magical cure for epilepsy.

It was not long before simply eating the liver of a gladiator was deemed to hold similar curative effects. When gladiator matches were banned in A.D. 400 epileptics found a new blood source at executions.

9 Blood of a King and Other Criminals

The idea that epilepsy could be cured by the still-warm blood of the deceased lingered well on into the late 19th century. Crowds of epileptics used cups to catch the blood of freshly decapitated corpses at Scandinavian and German scaffolds. In one account from early 16th century Germany, an impatient member of the crowd snatched a corpse and drank the blood straight from its severed neck.

Consumption was not limited to the blood of common criminals. On January 30, 1649, Charles I of England, was beheaded for treason. Crowds rushed forward and washed their hands in the King’s blood. A monarch’s touch was thought to cure the “king’s evil,” which was the name given to swollen lymph nodes caused by tuberculosis, but it seems his blood was even better. After Charles I lost his head, the enterprising executioner reportedly made money auctioning off blood-soaked sand and bits of Charles’s hair.

8 The King’s Drops

While Charles I became corpse medicine, his grandson, Charles II, made his own. Apparently a skilled chemist, Charles II bought the recipe for a popular tincture called “Goddard’s Drops” and made it in his own laboratory. Jonathan Goddard, the physician who invented it, reportedly earned a handsome fee of £6,000, and for close to two hundred years the tincture became popularized as “the King’s Drops.”

The recipe was suitably vile: two pounds of hartshorn, two pounds of dried viper, two pounds of ivory, and five pounds of a human skull. The ingredients were minced and then distilled into the final liquid form. The human skull was the active ingredient and had an important spiritual purpose. Alchemists reasoned that a sudden, violent death trapped the soul within human remains, including the skull. Thus, consumption gave the recipient the vital life force of the deceased.

The King’s Drops’ success as a so-called miracle cure of nervous complaints, convulsions, and apoplexy is somewhat dubious. Instead, it could be deadly. Documents show that it knocked off a few important people. In the case of the English MP, Sir Edward Walpole, the King’s Drops brought on convulsions rather than cured them. Walpole was described as “the saddest spectacle” as he succumbed to the potency of the King’s Drops.

It seems that its only medical success was as a stimulant. Distilled hartshorn turns to ammonia which was a key ingredient in smelling salts. But most of the time, the King’s Drops just appeared to have little effect. On February 6, 1685, Charles II had it hastily administered to him on his deathbed to no avail.

Despite this, the King’s Drops remained popular with the privileged and lower classes. It even appeared as a medical recipe in the cookery book The Cook’s Oracle (1823), which detailed how to distil your home supply of human skull to treat your child’s convulsions.

7 Skull’s Moss

The dubious curative powers of human skull extended to the mildew or moss that grew on unburied human skulls. Called usnea, it was found in plentiful supply on exposed skulls on the battlefield. Soldiers met the required violent end needed to maintain the “vitality,” or life essence, within the body. Somehow this soul essence was absorbed into the skull moss under the influence of “celestial orbs.”

Usnea was used extensively during the 17th and 18th centuries. As a powder, people stuffed it up their noses to stem nosebleeds or used it internally for wide-ranging concerns from epilepsy to menstrual problems. The “father of medicine,” Sir Francis Bacon, proposed its use as part of a wound salve to be rubbed on a weapon. The idea was that rubbing the blade of the weapon would heal the wound it caused.

6 Distilled Brain Mash

In The Art of Distillation (1651), physician and alchemist John French described a particularly revolting preparation of an equally revolting remedy—brain tincture. In a matter-of-fact way, French lays out the process for aspiring practitioners.

“[T]ake the brains of a young man that hath died a violent death, together with the membranes, arteries, veins, nerves, [and] all the pith of the back,” and “bruise these in a stone mortar till they become a kind of pap.” Once mashed, the brain paste was covered in “spirit of wine,” then left to “digest” in horse poo for six months before finally being distilled into an unassuming liquid. French most probably had a fresh supply of young male heads from his work as an army physician, and plenty of left‑overs from dissections done at the Savoy Hospital, where he prepared his brain mash.

Like other corpse remedies, this was not a fad, and references to its use can be found throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. An even nastier version from the 1730s involved the smashing of human brains, hearts, and bladder stones with breast milk and warm blood.

5 Human Fat Ointment

Human fat became big business for executioners during 17th and 18th century Europe. In Paris, people would bypass the local apothecaries and line up at the scaffold for their personal jar of rendered human fat. Viewing the dismemberment and carving up of the corpse at least would have reassured the public they were receiving the genuine article, and not some animal fat knockoff. The human grease was touted as a great painkiller for aches, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and was even used to treat breast cancer.

It was popular among the elites as well. Queen Elizabeth I smeared the unguent of human fat over her face to treat pits left by smallpox. A recipe from the 18th century for human fat unguent describes a pretty toxic ointment of human fat and beeswax mixed with turpentine. There is a distinct possibility that a similar recipe was used by the queen. This, along with her use of lead‑based makeup, may have accounted for her death in 1603—rumored to be from blood poisoning.

4 Sweat of a Dying Man

English physician George Thomson (c. 1619‑1676), was well‑known for using every conceivable part of the human corpse, including a prescription of urine for plague, and the consumption of human afterbirth to combat excessive menstrual bleeding. But nothing was weirder than his cure for hemorrhoids. The sweat of a dying man (presumably induced from the terror of the scaffold) could be rubbed over your piles. If the executioner did not have sweat on tap, then the touch of the severed hand from the executed could apparently make your hemorrhoids miraculously disappear.

3 Honey Mummy

Mellified Man was basically the art of turning a man into candy. Reported by Chinese physician Li Shih‑Chen in his book, Chinese Materia Medica (1597), mellified man was a by‑product of an Arabian mummification process. The recipe is simple enough: take one aged male volunteer. Bathe him in honey, feed him nothing but honey (apparently, the volunteer would defecate only honey after a while), then when he dies from this diet, encase and seal him in honey for 100 years.

After 100 years, he would be rock‑hard candy that would be administered to heal broken or weakened bones. According to one source, this honey mummy confection was available throughout Europe and China. It is difficult to determine for sure, but not a stretch considering Europeans were consuming a mummy of a different kind for over 600 years.

2 Mummy Powder

Egyptian Mummy took Europe by storm as a cure for everything and anything including blood clots, poisoning, epilepsy, stomach ulcers, and broken bones. Various products existed: “treacle of mummy,” “balsam of mummy,” tinctures, and its most popular form, mummy powder.

Labeled in apothecaries across Europe as mumia, the powder became a staple medical aid from the 12th century to the 20th century. Early medical texts abound with its prolific use across Europe. Mummy powder is even referenced as a product in the archives of the pharmaceutical giant, Merck.

It was believed mummies were embalmed in bitumen. Bitumen removed from mummies was believed to have medicinal qualities, but it was not long before the flesh itself was considered to carry the health benefits. When supplies of genuine Egyptian mummy ran low, a fraudulent business replaced it. Recently deceased corpses were baked in the sun to age and emulate mummification.

Physicians swore by it, but there was one noteworthy detractor, French surgeon Ambroise Paré (c. 1510‑1590) who disparaged mummy powder’s usefulness along with another snake oil of the day, unicorn powder.

1 Red Tincture of 24‑Year‑Old Man

“Mummy” as medicine was eventually extended, legally, to include the flesh of recently deceased men prepared in a kind of pseudo‑mummification process. “Red tincture” was a particularly strange version in the recommendation of using a corpse of a specific age and complexion. Developed by German physician Oswald Croll, it soon became a popular remedy used in London during the late 1600s. Translations of Croll’s original work describe how to make it. “Choose the carcass of a red man [ruddish complexion], while, clear without blemish, of the age of twenty‑four years, that hath been hanged, broke upon a wheel, or thrust‑through, having been for one day and night exposed to the open air, in a serene time.”

The flesh would be cut into chunks, powdered with myrrh and aloe, then softened in wine. Then it was hung up for two days to dry in the sun and absorb the effects of the moon, before being smoked, and finally distilled. Apparently, the stench of the liquid was disguised with the sweet aromas of wine and elderflower.

Daniel is a museum anthropologist and bioarchaeologist who moonlights as a freelance writer.

“Medicine” is defined as “the science and art dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease.” Yet history is littered with examples of 10 medicines made with good intentions that turned into outright poison. Let’s take a whirlwind tour through ten notorious cures that made things worse.

10 medicines made: A Glimpse Into Medical Missteps

1 Paraffin Wax: The Early Cosmetic Catastrophe

Modern clinics may dabble with Botox or silicone, but the very first attempts at erasing wrinkles and bulking breasts involved injecting paraffin wax straight into the skin. The idea was simple: pour liquid wax into a sagging area or a flat breast, let it harden, and voilà—instant lift. Unfortunately, the method sparked severe infections and gave rise to hard, painful lumps known as paraffinomas. Instead of a smoother look, patients ended up with misshapen, tender tissue that was far from flattering.

2 LSD: Psychedelic Promise Turned Panic Trip

During the 1950s and 60s, researchers explored lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) as a potential treatment for mental illness, testing over 40,000 patients. While some reported fleeting insights, the drug also provoked terrifying “bad trips,” panic attacks, and even full‑blown psychosis, especially in those predisposed to schizophrenia or severe depression. In rare cases, a single dose triggered chronic psychotic episodes. The looming risk of exacerbating latent mental conditions led to LSD’s prohibition under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.

3 Radium Water: The Glowing Elixir of Misfortune

When radioactivity entered the public imagination, entrepreneurs rushed to market “radium water” as a miracle cure for everything from arthritis to acne. Advertisements urged consumers to prepare their own radioactive drinking water at home. Unsurprisingly, the glowing concoction delivered radiation poisoning: cancers, hair loss, brittle bones, and debilitating fatigue. The once‑celebrated cure quickly became a cautionary tale about the perils of untested scientific hype.

4 Goat Testicles: The Bizarre Virility Implant

In the early 20th century, charlatan John Brinkley claimed he could restore male potency by surgically implanting goat testicles into a man’s scrotum. For $750 per operation—a fortune at the time—patients hoped for renewed virility. Instead, the crude grafts caused infections, hormonal imbalances, and often worsened impotence. Dozens of men died, and the procedure earned a notorious spot in medical quackery history.

5 Arsenic: The Poisonous Patent Medicine

Arsenic, infamous as a lethal toxin, was once hailed as a cure‑all. Known as Pi Shuang in traditional Chinese medicine, it appeared in Fowler’s Solution for malaria and syphilis and in Donovan’s Solution for arthritis and diabetes. Victorian women even used arsenic‑laden cosmetics. Chronic exposure, however, led to cancers, diabetes, and liver disease, turning a supposed remedy into a slow‑acting killer.

6 Mercury: The Silver‑Lined Toxic Elixir

Mercury was once the darling of physicians, touted for everything from syphilis to “old age.” Even Abraham Lincoln reportedly took mercury‑containing pills, possibly contributing to his infamous mood swings. The metal accumulates in the nervous system, causing paralysis, insanity, ulcers, and death. Its supposed anti‑aging benefits were a tragic illusion.

7 Tapeworm Diet: The Parasite Weight‑Loss Scheme

At the turn of the 20th century, dietitians marketed live tapeworm cysts in pill form, promising that the parasite would consume a victim’s food and induce rapid weight loss. The side effects? Diarrhea, vomiting, and, after a “cure,” a nasty anti‑parasitic medication to kill the worm—often leading to abdominal trauma, headaches, meningitis, epilepsy, and even dementia. A truly gut‑wrenching approach to slimming.

8 Virgin Cleansing Myth: The Dangerous STD “Cure”

Since the 16th century, a lurid belief persisted that a virgin’s sexual contact could purge a patient of an STD. The myth spread from Europe to parts of Africa, promising a miraculous cure for syphilis or gonorrhea. In reality, unprotected intercourse only propagated infections, making the practice a fatal public‑health blunder.

9 Mummy Powder: The Ancient Corpse Cure

From medieval Europe to the Middle East, physicians ground Egyptian mummies into powder, believing it could treat headaches, coughs, ulcers, and even poisonings. The gruesome remedy caused stomach pain, foul breath, vomiting, and likely introduced ancient pathogens. By the 17th century, French surgeon Ambrose Pere denounced it as “wretched” and harmful.

10 Powder Of Sympathy: The Sympathetic Magic Remedy

Sir Kenelm Digby concocted a bizarre mixture—earthworms, pig brains, rust, and bits of mummified flesh—called “Powder of Sympathy.” Rather than applying it to a wound, he sprinkled it on the offending weapon, hoping “sympathetic magic” would heal the injury. Unsurprisingly, the potion did nothing but showcase the era’s strange alchemical thinking.

These ten ill‑fated cures remind us that medicine, while a force for good, has stumbled spectacularly when curiosity outran caution. The next time a miracle‑cure headline pops up, remember the lessons of the past—and perhaps keep the paraffin wax and goat testicles safely in the museum.

Medicine has come a long way, yet the era of 10 rare old treatments still haunts the annals of pharmacology. These once‑celebrated drugs could cure or alleviate serious conditions, but they often did so at a terrifying cost to the human body. Below we dive into each of these forgotten remedies, their intended uses, and the gruesome side‑effects that eventually sent them into obscurity.

10 Rare Old Medicines Overview

In 1926, researcher F. Hildebrandt observed two striking effects when testing a new compound on animals. At high doses it provoked convulsions resembling epileptic seizures, while at more moderate levels it simply boosted heart activity and respiration, particularly useful in cases of depressant poisoning such as excessive chloroform.

One might assume physicians would employ it as an antidote, but that was far from the truth. Instead, in 1934, Ladislas J. Meduna pioneered its human application to deliberately induce convulsions as a therapeutic measure for mental illness.

Meduna’s primary focus was schizophrenia, making Metrazol the first officially recognized treatment for that disorder. The drug’s use soon broadened to other psychiatric conditions, including severe depression. Typically, patients were admitted, given Metrazol, and monitored as the rapid convulsive reaction set in; most were discharged after only a few hours.

At the time, it was deemed effective for psychoses lasting less than three years. Yet the side‑effects, while initially limited, could be catastrophic: spinal fractures, tuberculosis activation, and even brain injury were reported. Fortunately, Metrazol’s popularity waned quickly, replaced by the more controlled electroconvulsive therapy, which reduced physical trauma.

Despite its grim reputation, Metrazol persists in modern laboratories, where it is used to provoke seizures or anxiety in rodents for research into similar human disorders. There is even renewed interest in its potential role for treating Down syndrome, though it would not be curative.

9 Tribromoethanol

As its name suggests, tribromoethanol shares a lineage with the ubiquitous spirit we call alcohol, yet it packs a far more potent punch and brings a wider array of possible complications. Willstatter first synthesized the compound in 1923, and by 1926 Duisberg introduced it as an anesthetic agent.

When administered rectally, the drug works with startling efficiency: half the dose is absorbed within ten minutes, and a full 95 % penetrates the system by twenty‑five minutes, ushering the patient into a deep, predictable sleep that typically endures for about two and a half hours.

The catch? Once the hypnotic state was achieved, there was essentially no known antidote to rouse the patient. This inability to reverse the sedation made tribromoethanol a poor choice for clinical practice, as physicians could not safely control the depth or duration of unconsciousness.

Side‑effects were equally alarming, ranging from damage to the circulatory system to degeneration of liver and kidney tissue, a marked 15 % slowdown in metabolism, depletion of glycogen reserves, elevated blood‑sugar levels, and in the worst cases, death.

Today the drug no longer enjoys any therapeutic role in humans; instead, it serves as a sedative for laboratory mice, where its potent, uncontrollable sleep is useful for experimental protocols.

8 Bulbocapnine

Bulbocapnine earned a notorious reputation when it surfaced in the shadowy MK‑Ultra program. Chemically akin to apomorphine, it is harvested from the plant Corydalis cava. Its pharmacology is a study in contrast: in cold‑blooded creatures it mirrors morphine’s analgesic and sedative properties.

Conversely, in warm‑blooded animals—including humans—it triggers catalepsy, a rigid, immobile state where the subject remains locked in a fixed posture, essentially frozen in place.

The degree of this muscular rigidity scales with the animal’s evolutionary development: apes, dogs, and especially humans exhibit the most pronounced cataleptic response. Higher doses also raise the odds of sudden narcoleptic episodes. In neutered animals, the drug oddly stimulates bowel movements and salivation, a side‑effect not observed elsewhere.

Low doses, roughly 0.1 mg, are tolerable without severe consequences, yet the compound offers little therapeutic benefit. It remains a tool for laboratory investigations and, historically, for clandestine interrogation. Present‑day research, however, is probing its potential against Alzheimer’s disease.

7 Picrotoxin

The name itself warns you: picrotoxin contains the word “toxin.” Extracted from the plant Anamirta cocculus, its toxic profile is well‑documented, though the onset of symptoms is often delayed.

Early signs of poisoning include vomiting, excessive salivation, rapid breathing, and a slowed heart rate accompanied by palpitations. These are quickly followed by loss of consciousness, violent seizures, and brief periods of respiratory paralysis, which may resolve spontaneously—but not always. Some patients have succumbed to asphyxia when breathing failed to restart.

Despite its dangers, picrotoxin found a niche as an antidote for barbiturate overdose, as it can stimulate patients under anesthesia. Its mechanism appears to involve competition with the neurotransmitter pathways that barbiturates target.

Curiously, comatose patients can sometimes tolerate doses many times the lethal threshold without apparent harm. Standard therapeutic dosing ranges from 1 to 3 mg administered at regular intervals, while the lethal dose can be as low as 0.357 mg per kilogram (about 28 mg for an 80‑kg adult).

There are documented cases where comatose individuals received up to 300 mg over a day or two without fatal outcomes, and even a staggering 2.134 g spread across eight days proved non‑lethal.

6 Thymol

Thymol, a fragrant constituent of the culinary herb thyme, may be familiar to many as an ingredient in the antiseptic toothpaste Euthymol. Historically, however, it was employed to battle fungal skin infections such as tinea and ringworm, as well as intestinal hookworm infestations.

When ingested for ringworm treatment, thymol can provoke classic poisoning symptoms: nausea, vomiting, and headaches. More unsettling side‑effects include deep depression, paradoxical bouts of giddiness, eventual collapse, and in extreme cases, death. Dosage is critical—1 to 2 grams taken every few hours, followed by a saline purge and thorough bowel evacuation, was considered the borderline between efficacy and safety.

For external skin conditions, a 1:10 mixture of thymol and typically alcohol is applied directly to the affected area, leveraging its antimicrobial qualities to eradicate the infection. This same property underpins its inclusion in toothpaste formulations.

While thyme offers antimicrobial benefits, it isn’t the most potent of the culinary herbs. Oregano, clove, coriander, and cinnamon outstrip thyme in microbial killing power. So if you’re craving a spice‑boosted remedy for a cold, a carrot‑and‑coriander soup beats a cinnamon latte.

5 Isonipecaine

The quest for an opioid‑like analgesic led to the creation of isonipecaine, introduced by Eisted and Schaumann in 1939. Better known today as pethidine, it remains a staple in modern maternity wards for managing labor pain.

Although praised for causing only mild respiratory depression—far less than morphine—and for suppressing the vomiting reflex, isonipecaine is infamous for inducing euphoria in up to 90 % of users, contributing to a notable addiction potential when used chronically.

Overall, its side‑effect profile surpasses that of natural opiates: it exerts minimal impact on respiration, circulation, and metabolic processes, making it appear safer at first glance.

Unfortunately, its short‑acting nature—peaking at roughly 45 minutes and lasting about two hours—limits its analgesic potency compared with a standard morphine dose. Recent findings also debunk earlier claims of reduced addiction risk, confirming that isonipecaine can be just as habit‑forming.

In overdose scenarios, the drug becomes markedly toxic: repeated high doses within a three‑ to four‑hour window can trigger disorientation, tachycardia, and severe respiratory depression.

Its role in labor remains well‑established; because it depresses respiration less than morphine or diamorphine, it poses a comparatively lower risk to both mother and newborn.

Beyond analgesia, isonipecaine relaxes smooth muscle, which can alleviate tension during contractions. However, this muscle‑relaxant effect may also prolong labor and influence the infant’s condition.

4 Intocostrin

Intocostrin entered the medical scene alongside Metrazol as a crucial adjunct in convulsive and electroconvulsive therapies. Its origins trace back to curare, a South American poison historically applied to arrow tips for hunting.

Curare’s primary action is to halt voluntary muscle movement, leading to a cascade where muscles progressively give way until the animal lies helpless, ultimately succumbing to respiratory failure—a fatal form of locked‑in syndrome. Interestingly, oral ingestion of curare is relatively harmless, allowing a victim to survive by sucking the poison out of a wound.

While curare itself offers limited therapeutic value due to the fine line between muscle relaxation and total paralysis, intocostrin proved more controllable. By delivering a dose sufficient to relax muscles without immobilizing breathing, clinicians could safely use it during convulsive treatments.

Intocostrin’s chief advantage lay in tempering the violent convulsions induced by therapies like Metrazol, thereby reducing the incidence of spinal fractures—a significant concern for patients undergoing such intense procedures.

Additionally, it serves as a spasm‑relief agent and an adjunct to anesthesia, further broadening its clinical utility.

3 Dinitrophenol

Dinitrophenol emerged as a promising, albeit controversial, therapeutic agent after its accidental discovery among World War I munitions workers who suffered lethal exposures. Researchers quickly explored its potential medical applications.

Administered at 3–5 mg per kilogram, the compound boosted metabolic rate by 20–30 %, increasing oxygen consumption and offering a tantalizing solution for obesity treatment.

However, as dosages climbed, patients began to experience profuse sweating and a dangerous rise in core temperature—up to three degrees Celsius (5.4 °F). In toxic amounts, this hyperthermia was accompanied by rapid breathing, overwhelming the body’s capacity to supply sufficient oxygen.

The resulting hypoxia, coupled with fevers soaring to 43 °C (109 °F) or higher, precipitated a cascade of severe internal and external ailments, often culminating in death.

Although briefly employed to combat obesity, dinitrophenol’s chronic toxicity and propensity for fatal syndromes led to its swift abandonment. Today it finds use as a pesticide or as a component of the explosive mixture known as shellite.

2 Ergot

Ergot is a notorious fungus that colonizes rye and other cereals, infamous for causing ergotism—historically dubbed “St. Anthony’s Fire”—a gangrenous condition that may have fueled medieval witch hunts due to its psychotic and delirious manifestations.

Despite its dark reputation, ergot has long served therapeutic purposes. It can provoke powerful uterine contractions, making it useful for inducing labor or performing abortions.

Clinical practice dictates that ergot be administered only after the second stage of labor, following placental delivery, to prevent fetal suffocation. When used appropriately, it curtails postpartum hemorrhage by constricting blood vessels.

Historically, ergot was heralded as a universal remedy for internal bleeding, given its ability to contract vascular walls. However, prolonged treatment risks gangrene, a severe complication stemming from excessive vasoconstriction.

Beyond obstetrics, ergot derivatives have found a role in managing parkinsonism, leveraging their dopaminergic activity.

1 Santonin

Santonin, a bitter compound introduced in the early 1800s, became the primary remedy for roundworms and pinworms before safer alternatives emerged. It also saw limited use against whipworm, though it proved ineffective against tapeworms.

Patients reported an odd suite of visual disturbances: initially, everything acquired a blue hue, which then shifted to a luminous yellow aura around bright objects, while blues morphed into greens and deepened into near‑black. The intensity of these color changes correlated with the ingested dose.

Additional symptoms included nausea, vomiting, confusion, and, at higher concentrations, convulsions that could lead to asphyxia. Remarkably, the drug was excreted through multiple routes: the feces (alongside the expelled worms), urine (turning neon‑yellow), and even sweat, which acquired a yellow tint.

The underlying mechanism is straightforward: santonin attacks parasites directly, killing them before it becomes lethal to the host—a grim but effective trade‑off.

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When it comes to medicine, everybody seems to have an opinion. Regardless of background, status, or financial situation, everybody has to worry about their health, so the shared interest makes a lot of sense. With so much information out there, it can be easy to get lost in the chaos, particularly debates around conventional and alternative medicines.

What is alternative medicine, anyway? It depends on who you ask, but when you boil it down, it’s just any sort of treatment you wouldn’t normally expect to undergo in your family doctor’s office. It might be an herbal supplement that’s still being studied or just an option that’s not practiced a whole lot in some parts of the world. While complementary medicine refers to something done in addition to traditional treatment, alternate medicine is done instead of the conventional method. Regardless, people can get pretty emotional when you challenge their medical claims. Always speak to your medical provider before trying any alternative medicine regimen. Without further ado, here are ten alternative medicines people swear by.

10 Aromatherapy

Ah, can you smell the healing? You’d be hard-pressed these days to find somebody who has never heard of essential oils or aromatherapy. According to the National Institute of Health, aromatherapy is a type of alternative medicine that uses plant oils to promote healing, stress relief, and a sense of well-being.

So, does it work? Well, again, it seems to depend on who you ask, but there does seem to be research confirming the effectiveness of essential oils when it comes to treating specific mild ailments like stress or trouble falling asleep.

Aromatherapy can involve a long list of essential oils, from the pleasantly-scented peppermint oil to oregano oil, which can supposedly help with digestion.

9 Ghost Peppers

You might know an elderly member in your family who struggles with arthritis or joint pain. Maybe you personally experience aches and pains in your joints and wonder if there are any dietary changes you might be able to make to help yourself feel better. As it turns out, maybe you can!

The key is a substance called capsaicin. It is found not only in ghost peppers but in all chili peppers, so if you need a milder solution, you could just pour yourself a nice big bowl of jalapenos or perhaps add a little hot sauce to your morning oatmeal (Okay, please don’t do that last one). Capsaicin seems to have the benefit of relieving joint pain due to the body’s reaction to the substance when used as a topical solution, so just eating a bunch of these peppers might not actually be effective, but the research is in the works. It seems to work by a unique interaction with pain receptors, or maybe if you eat enough of them, your mouth will be so on fire that you just won’t notice the joint pain anymore.

In any case, some people swear by the health benefits of chili peppers, often crediting it with pain relief. I suppose if you like spicy food, it won’t hurt much to give this alternate medicine a go, even if it lands you spending a little extra time in the bathroom.

8 Green Tea Extract

The weight-loss industry is a multi-billion dollar market. There could be a variety of reasons for this, from the fact that people decide to prioritize their health but then want to take shortcuts to the fact that a lot of supplements and routines on the market don’t necessarily do what they say they’re going to do.

In any case, while there are plenty of ridiculous diet fads out there, there does seem to be some promising information and research on the effect of green tea extract on the body, at least in combination with a good diet and moderate exercise. Which does sort of put it in the “complementary” category, but enough people swear by it that it made the list. Does it burn fat? Maybe. Even if you’re not looking to burn fat, many claim green tea extract also helps with gut inflammation, which could potentially give the appearance of burning fat.

The claims about green tea go beyond mere fat burning, with some people making some pretty miraculous claims about its ability to help with an upset stomach, sore throat, and quicker healing. Some people have questioned the amount of green tea extract you ought to have before it’s dangerous. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend taking the whole bottle, and it does have caffeine, so be careful if you decide to test this one yourself.

7 Chelation Therapy

Chelation therapy used to be considered a traditional medicinal treatment process. However, there is also a sort of “alternative” approach with a different view of toxins. The idea behind chelation therapy is that the body deals with pollutants that need to be removed. Traditionally, chelation therapy was used to “pull out” (as chelation means) toxins in the body, such as to treat a child who has swallowed lead. The idea that people might use this preventatively is what’s controversial.

6 Acupuncture

Though acupuncture is a perfectly acceptable, traditional medicine in Eastern cultures and has been around for a long time, it is still not a well-known “mainstream” treatment in the West. Chinese practitioners say the human body has more than 2,000 acupuncture points connected throughout the body via the bloodstream. The practice of acupuncture in Chinese medicine aims to allow something called the Qi to flow more efficiently throughout the body.

The idea behind why and how acupuncture works seems a bit more philosophical than logical to our Western-trained ear. Still, it has certainly become more prevalent in places like the United States, as there are plenty of specialized centers you can go to for that type of treatment.

It seems to have gained popularity in recent years, particularly for athletes who need to recover after a hard day at the gym. According to a Fox News report, it has been popular among celebrities for quite a while but was reportedly growing in popularity among everyday Americans in recent years, increasing by approximately 6 million users between 2002 and 2007. One reason for the increase in popularity and availability today might be that, even if there continues to be debate over its efficacy, it is a relatively safe treatment, having very few side effects.

5 Ashwagandha

If you’ve never heard of Ashwagandha or knew how to spell it, here you are: a brand new medicine people swear by. Okay, so it’s not exactly new, but its use is trending.

Ashwagandha, also called the winter cherry, is a fruit from an evergreen shrub growing in India, the Middle East, and Africa. The claims about this plant are no small feat for a little shrub, ranging from better sleep to a regulated heart rate. The idea is that it works by reducing inflammation, so it might even be a promising solution for healing from infection.

You can pick it up in capsule form, gummy form, or even mixed in a mushroom-based tea in the western world, all likely available at your local supermarket. Watch the video to learn how to take it properly and in the most cost-effective dose.

4 CBD Oil

Thought you could make it through an article on alternate medicine without encountering CBD oil? You thought wrong. The fact is, CBD products have gained popularity in recent years, with the rise of attention to medical marijuana. To be clear, this is not the same thing; CBD oil does not have the same components as medical marijuana. It can be taken as a pill or as a topical medicine.

As for the actual benefits of CBD, it is hard to say. It is still under scrutiny by medical researchers at institutions like Harvard to determine how it compares to traditional medicine. Still, the benefits do seem to include pain relief, better sleep, decreased anxiety, and possibly even better results with addiction treatment from other substances. Listen to a podcast or two for long enough, and you’ll realize how popular this particular remedy is. As medical marijuana and CBD products gain more popularity across the country, perhaps their use will become more widespread as we learn more.

3 “Natural” Male-Enhancement Drugs/Herbal Viagra

The category of alternate male enhancement treatments, including herbal supplements, can be a little embarrassing to talk about. Maybe that’s why so many guys search for natural remedies rather than talking to their doctor about these personal problems. However, erectile dysfunction, or ED, is an incredibly common problem and nothing to be ashamed of. According to this Verywell health article, the condition affects approximately 30 million men in the U.S.

As with any other medical usage, you should ask your doctor before simply deciding to treat yourself “naturally.” Why? While many consider natural treatments and herbal products safer, that is not necessarily the case. Be aware of the scams out there just looking to take advantage of you, but hey, if you can treat the problem naturally and get back to a more fulfilling bedroom experience while saving some money on medication in the process, why not? In addition to these natural supplements, there is plenty of evidence that basic self-care can also help to decrease instances of ED.

2 Hydrotherapy

You might have noticed a theme in this list: Almost every treatment solves problems related to stress, whether directly or indirectly. Hydrotherapy is yet another example, which appears to decrease cortisol.

Hydrotherapy can involve hot or cold water to promote healing. Water takes your body weight off your skeleton, so water exercises can be a great way to work out without putting excess pressure on your bones and joints. Although hydrotherapy has been around for centuries, it has evolved with the healthcare industry introducing new hydrotherapy-promoting products all the time, like the Jacuzzi solution.

The good thing is, you can do some hydrotherapy on your own without going to any special clinic. For example, an ice bath after a workout is one form of hydrotherapy.

1 Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment

Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBOT) involves the treatment of tissue damage by helping the body take in a greater amount of oxygen. The air that we normally inhale is about 20% oxygen. Inside something called a hyperbaric chamber, a patient takes in 100% pure oxygen.

This treatment is currently limited to about ten to fifteen conditions, depending on who is speaking. This treatment has been studied and verified to show statistically superior results over those patients who did not receive hyperbaric treatment.

The treatment seems to work well for athletes recovering from a lot of strain on the body or those with physically demanding jobs who need faster healing.

If you’re like us and enjoy wasting time on the internet, you’re probably well aware of patent medicines. According to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, patent medicines were first produced as special remedies in England in the late 17th century, with “letters patent” granted by the royal crown to give monopolies to the manufacturers. In time, people started using the phrase “patent medicines” to refer to any old over-the-counter drug. American colonists, inspired by British druggists, began peddling their own patent medicines, and the cure-all, instant-fix craze reached its peak from about 1850 to 1900.

Many patent medicines are easy targets for humor thanks to dangerous ingredients like heroin and morphine. Things changed a bit after the U.S. government cracked down with the Food and Drugs Act in 1906, and you started seeing products like this baby medicine with a label touting the fact that it “contains no opiates.” Suddenly, relative safety became a selling point. And, in fact, the use of harmful ingredients early on had created a whole new market for more patent medicines that purported to cure people of the addictions they’d developed.

For the most part, however, this list is not about those kinds of patent medicines. It’s about the ones with the most bizarre names and backstories we could find – the ones you don’t hear much about.

10. Uncle Ben Jo’s Bell Tongue Syrup

Let’s dive right in with a concoction that sounds and looks kind of like it was dreamed up by a crazy man deep in the sticks of South America. It sounds and looks like that because it was. Uncle Ben Jo, whoever he was, hit the market in the 1870s with a wondrous potion called Bell Tongue Syrup, which he reportedly derived from the Andean bell-tongue plant, whatever that was.

Bell Tongue Syrup, as prepared by our fearless bald and bearded hero, could cure most anything affecting a human in the 19th century. From the bottle’s label we learn that flatulency, brain diseases, tumors, and even epilepsy could all be positively reversed with no more than a half teaspoon taken thrice daily. Just for good measure, the label threw in “general debility” to make sure every ailment under the sun was covered.

For several years, issues of the American Agriculturist featured the rants of editors who’d been bombarded with reader letters about quack medicines and were sick of it. The September section of Volume 32 (1873) sarcastically describes “dear old Uncle Ben Jo” and states that “no botanist ever saw anything like” his so-called bell-tongue plant. A year later, and probably a good deal more frustrated, the editors called the subject “shallow nonsense.” And then, in the 1876 issue, they celebrated the fact that for months nobody had come forward with the next great medicinal remedy that would heal everyone from everything.

Hopefully they enjoyed their brief respite, because there were still a lot of years’ worth of dubious patent medicines ahead of them.

9. Zoa-Phora

Now we turn to Zoa-Phora, formerly called Dr. Pengelly’s Woman’s Friend. This helpful product was brewed up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, “for all forms of female weakness” and was a hit for a few decades starting around 1870. According to the October 2010 Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club News, it contained enough alcohol to qualify as liquor. But the interesting part here isn’t the alcohol; it’s the fact that Dr. Pengelly’s wife, Mary, was a key player in Kalamazoo’s Christian temperance movement. Perhaps she was not such a fan of her husband’s Woman’s Friend?

A treasure hunter dug up a lead printing plate for a 19th-century Zoa-Phora advertisement, and was later able to locate an ad it had been used to print in an 1882 issue of The Marshall Statesman. Turns out it offered three glowing reviews of the remedy/booze, one of which claimed total relief from 16 years of spasmodic headaches and nervous exhaustion in less than two hours. “What Zoa Phora won’t do for womankind no medicine will,” boasts an ad from The Ann Arbor Argus in 1895. Sure thing, doc.

8. Dr. Shoop’s Green Salve

Clarendon I. Shoop had a good thing going in Racine, Wisconsin, with a little business he called Dr. Shoop’s Family Medicine Company (later Dr. Shoop Laboratories). Green Salve, an ointment for the lips and skin, was one of many remedies and cures Shoop sold with great success at his medicine shop.

Imagine for a moment smearing yourself with green stuff made by some dude named Shoop. Who in the world would not want to do that? It “makes lips and skin like velvet,” after all. “To have beautiful, pink, velvet-like lips, apply at bedtime a coating of Dr. Shoop’s Green Salve,” commands an ad in a 1906 issue of The Tazewell Republican, although honestly we would expect our lips to turn green instead of pink.

As did many makers of patent medicines, Shoop relied on aggressive advertising to promote his products, at one point partnering with copywriting legend Claude C. Hopkins for a nationwide direct-mail campaign. But the thing that set Shoop apart from many of the patent medicine pushers of his day (read: quacks) was the fact that he was an actual physician. Even though some of his products did contain alcohol and marijuana and the occasional poisonous plant, for the most part he legitimately wanted to help people feel better, and tried to avoid addictive ingredients. “Dr. Shoop all along has bitterly opposed the use of all opiates or narcotics,” reads another ad for his Cough Cure in that Republican issue.

7. Moses Dame’s Wine of the Woods

In case just hearing the words “Moses Dame’s Wine of the Woods” didn’t strike fear into the hearts of men, the Moses Dame Company of Danbury, Connecticut, made sure to include an illustration on its bottles confirming that yes, this here beverage was brewed in a haunted fen and it will likely make you crazy. No meat in this medicine; it’s “a purely vegetable remedy for all diseases arising from derangement of stomach, liver, or blood.” One dollar a bottle; six for $5. Drink first and ask questions later, assuming you’re still alive.

The Moses Dame Company was, beginning in the early 1870s, presided over by a certain Isaac “Ike” Ives, a member of the highly influential Ives clan that owned and operated a smattering of successful businesses in Danbury over the years. Ike was a bit eccentric; he once gave a speech before the entire town pretending to be the traveler and lecturer George Francis “Express” Train when the latter failed to show at the appointed time. (Ike apparently fooled the whole crowd.)

“Where did you buy your lumber?” someone once asked, as reported by the local newspaper in 1874. The response indicated Ike: “From that crazy fellow at White Street bridge.” Maybe he’d been drinking too much of his own medicine.

6. Clark Stanley’s Snake Oil Liniment

The original snake oil salesmen were exactly what the name says – people with bad intentions hawking various healing oils and remedies supposedly made with actual snake oil. This particular practice was just another instance of Americans taking something legit from another culture and ruining it. In this case, they ruined the snake oil remedies brought from Asia by Chinese laborers working on the Transcontinental Railroad.

The Chinese had actual snake oil medicine that truly helped fight inflammation. It was made of oil from the Chinese water snake, but since the Chinese water snake did not exist in the U.S. and therefore could not be easily exploited by injudicious Americans, injudicious Americans simply went after something else – the rattlesnake.

Cure-all companies and entrepreneurs began harvesting these innocent serpents for medicine during the 19th century. One man in particular stood out for his particularly daft antics – Clark Stanley, who called himself the Rattlesnake King. Stanley made a name for himself at the 1893 World’s Columbian Expo in Chicago by murdering a bunch of snakes before a crowd, boiling them, and using the fat to mix up a liniment right on the spot. “A wonderful pain destroying compound,” this liniment.

Except, as by now you’ve certainly guessed, it was all just showmanship. Aside from maybe those few batches made in Chicago, Clark Stanley’s Snake Oil Liniment had exactly zero percent snake oil. It also didn’t destroy pain. A decade after the Food and Drugs Act, the feds finally got around to investigating this Stanley character, and they fined him $20 for falsely and fraudulently representing his product. Thanks in part to the efforts of Stanley and the other original snake-oil salesmen, we now have a fine metaphor for referring to men and women of dishonest caliber.

5. Fettle

If you’ve been interested of late in feeling like a good old-fashioned fighting cock, well, have we got the patent medicine for you. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Fettle, a superior tonic for the stomach, an ethical and efficable preparation! THE FOE OF INDIGESTION AND THE ALLY OF GOOD HEALTH. And yes, it “makes you feel like a fighting cock,” too. Basically everything a decent American would need to dash through the Roaring Twenties and then pass out on the steps of the Great Depression. (More on drunkenness in a bit.)

The Gettysburg Times from Dec. 21, 1920, has an excellent piece of medical advertising titled “When ‘Off Your Feed’: It’s The World’s Stomach, Not Its Heart That Is Suffering” that proposes Fettle as the final fix for the evils of indigestion. “When You’re fagged out, ‘off your feed’, and your digestive apparatus fails to function properly, you can trace the trouble to indigestion.” This is a bad situation, the ad said, but definitely not your fault. And also, did you know that in such condition “poisonous substances are being forced into your blood” and “your whole system is susceptible to attack by disease germs”? Fortunately there is Fettle for you, which you are going to need if you plan on surviving 12 days of Christmas with the in-laws, not to mention life in general.

“Fettle is not a beverage,” the label is careful to clarify. “Not a substitute for Alcoholic Stimulant.” Four lines later we find the warning: alcoholic content 52% by volume. Yep, that’ll do it.

4. Kendall’s Spavin Cure for Human Flesh

Now, with this one, you may be thinking something along the lines of “What is wrong with human flesh and why do I need to be cured from it? And what is spavin?” Well, Merriam-Webster defines spavin as a “swelling; especially a bony enlargement of the hock of a horse associated with strain.” Considering Kendall’s Spavin Cure by itself, then, we have a medication for a horse’s swollen hind-leg joint.

The “human flesh” part comes later. In the case of Dr. B.J. Kendall and his namesake Enosburg Falls, Vermont, company, this patent medicine was marketed as a cure for various ailments in racehorses and in humans. “Human flesh” simply indicates that the bottle was intended for people. One ad specifies that the cure has been “Refined, expressly for Human Flesh, in red wrappers … In light wrappers, for Animals … That in light wrappers can be used with perfect safety on human flesh, if desired.” Then there are these stupendously racist trade cards for Kendall’s Spavin Cure. Straight from the horse’s mouth: “In all my ‘sperience in the hoss line I nebber seed sich ‘provement in a animile afore. Facts am stranger dan fiction.”

Kendall himself did not do so well financially in the long run, but his company thrived in small-town Enosburg, and was influential enough for the local semipro baseball team to borrow its name – the Enosburg Falls Spavin Curers.

3. Marshmallow Health Pearls

James May of Naugatuck, Connecticut, established the Diamond Laboratory Company sometime in the late 19th century and started bottling ginger ale as well as manufacturing a variety of delightful marshmallow-themed preparations. May is the man you can thank for Marshmallow Health Pearls – and, later, May’s Health Pearls.

May’s sweet little balls were marketed as “the best remedy known for Biliousness, Sick Headache, Constipation and all Liver, Stomach and Bowel Troubles.” And these “little Cathartic Pearls” were reliable (or at least deliciously charming) enough to last more than 20 years on the patent medicine market, “and no medicine could survive that period without real merit,” according to Diamond Laboratory Co.

Diamond Labs’ cash cow, however, was apparently a different sugary bliss beverage called Marshmallow Cream. Don’t Starve Yourself, man.

2. 666 Salve

Monticello Drug Company spent more than a century manufacturing and marketing its line of “666” products for colds, coughs, aches, and pains to customers across the country – even the ones who made fun of it for literally branding itself with the Mark of the Beast. Deuce of Clubs had a jolly time of things in 1994, pestering a customer service rep with questions and then writing a funny piece about it.

This action resulted in a complaint from certain humorless persons at Monticello, and then later an apologetic and positive follow-up from the president himself. In the process we learned how the company decided to adopt its end-of-days name. As told by Monticello, the story goes back to 1908 and the company’s beginnings. At that time in Jacksonville, Florida, Monticello was just getting started and managed to produce a successful quinine medicine for fever and malaria. The medicine worked out, and as fate would have it the number on the very first order written was 666. People started asking for “that 666 product” and Monticello, recognizing an opportunity to sell its soul to the devil for a hundred years of business success, decided to just slap 666 on other products, too.

“For minor burns, cuts and sores we know of no finer dressing than 666 Salve.”

– Monticello Drug Company, from hell

1. Dr. Fuller’s Electro Spiral Magnetic Vegetable Vapor Cure

The directions on Chicago’s Fuller & Fuller’s mouthful of a patent medicine read as follows:

“Uncork bottle and inhale vapor until the head is clear. The effect is magical, giving instant relief. Price one dollar.”

Then, all you had to do was put the cork back in the bottle and slap yourself in the face a few times, because if inhaling the vapors of a “perfectly magnetized” vegetable compound really kicked this much diseased ass, then your mind has conjured a false reality and you need to get out, fast. The National Museum of American History notes that this product was made from 1888 to 1906. Boy, we wonder what else happened in 1906?

But no matter. Go wander a few aisles of vitamins and over-the-counter drugs at your favorite big box or convenience store. We’re all still crazy.

Pharmaceutical companies run exhaustive trials before they can release a drug onto the market. This is a matter of common sense. No one wants a repeat of the thalidomide scandal of the 1950s and ’60s when some women took thalidomide for morning sickness. The result of the “biggest man-made medical scandal ever” was 10,000 children born with severe deformities.

Authorities closely monitor the research and development of new drugs to ensure they are as safe as possible and that doctors, pharmacists, and patients are aware of any possible side effects. But knowing that a drug is effective is not the same as knowing exactly how it works. The body is a complex mechanism that we still don’t fully understand. Here are 10 medicines that work, but we don’t know why.

10 Abatacept

In 2015, Science magazine reported that some years before, a team of doctors in Cincinnati treated a sick 12-year-old boy. He had a rare genetic disease that wrongly triggered his immune system, causing considerable damage to his lungs and intestinal system. He had been sick for years, and doctors desperately sought a cure.

On this visit to the hospital, the staff assessed him to see if he might benefit from a bone marrow transplant. They decided that their patient was too sick for the procedure. Doctors gave him Abatacept, knowing that it would do him no harm and might ease his pain.

People who take Abatacept will probably know this drug under its brand name Orencia. Doctors usually prescribe it for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Doctors fully expected the boy in Cincinnati to die, but he returned six months later in better health. The success of this drug, in this case, was a mystery.

9 Tylenol

Also known as acetaminophen, Tylenol is a favorite in American bathroom cabinets. It’s an effective painkiller that is perfectly safe as long as you stick to the suggested dose. Everybody knows Tylenol, but nobody is certain how it works.

There are three possibilities:

1. It might block an enzyme that makes our bodies feel pain.
2. It could be working on the endocannabinoid system. If this is true, then Tylenol functions like THC in marijuana which is also effective for pain treatment.
3. It might be affecting signals from the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical that brain cells produce and contributes to many cognitive functions.

It’s perfectly possible that Tylenol is doing all three things at once, or even none of these.

8 Lithium

Bipolar disorder, once known as manic depression, is a lifelong condition that causes mood swings from severe depression to euphoria. Doctors prescribe lithium, under brand names such as Eskalith or Lithobid, as a widely-recognized and effective treatment for the condition.

Lithium can reduce the severity and frequency of mania and cut the risk of suicide when the sufferer is in a depressive state. Sufferers from bipolar disorder can take lithium over a long period as maintenance therapy. A doctor will ensure that their patient keeps a constant lithium level in the body.

We know that lithium acts on the central nervous system, but we are unclear about what it does exactly. It might reinforce those connections in the brain that regulate mood and behavior, smooth out fluctuations, and ensure that the system works more constantly.

Lithium, the same metal that we use in new batteries, is present in trace amounts in biological systems. Nobody knows what it does.

7 Ulipristal

Ulipristal, marketed as Esmya, prevents pregnancy when someone has had unprotected intercourse or their contraceptive has failed. Ulipristal will prevent or delay the release of an egg. However, it may also change the lining of the uterus. It works, but we are not sure how.

A person should take this medicine within five days of having unprotected sex. It is a particular drug that the user should only take because of this specific circumstance. It is important to note that ulipristal has no effect whatsoever on sexually transmitted diseases.

6 Paxlovid

There’s a lot of information floating around on the internet and social media about medications and which ones work or don’t work. People often seek a solution to the condition and are willing to try anything they think might help—including antibiotics that can’t possibly treat a virus. Pharmaceutical companies were rushing to find a medicine that might work on the coronavirus and, at the same time, be cheap and easy to administer. In November 2021, Pfizer announced that their drug, Paxlovid, could cut the hospitalization rate by almost 90%.

Clinical trials showed that Paxlovid was safe, but questions remained. Paxlovid affects an enzyme in the body that helps proteins in the virus develop into their final, dangerous state. Stop the enzyme from working, and you stop the virus from developing. But how it stops this replication is still not understood.

Paxlovid looks very promising, but it includes a drug called ritonavir that can affect how the body metabolizes other drugs. Anyone who takes Paxlovid must inform their doctor if they take medicines for other conditions. The exact effects that Paxlovid might cause are not fully known.

5 Valdecoxib

Under its brand name Bextra, this was a popular treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and related conditions. In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided that its risks outweighed its benefits and stopped its sale. Bextra was effective but could cause heart, skin, and stomach problems.

Valdecoxib is a good example of a drug that researchers designed to address a particular problem. In a class of NSAIDs called COX-2 inhibitors, it works by somehow stopping the body’s production of a substance that causes pain and inflammation. However, it had broader effects than expected, even though other COX-2 inhibitors didn’t—at least to the same degree. Pharmaceutical companies routinely run trial after trial until they think that they are certain that they know what they are dealing with. This is why it takes so long to get FDA approval. But it can take years for the full range of side effects to emerge.

4 Febuxostat

Gout is an incredibly painful condition. Traditionally, people thought of it as a condition that only affected the rich, but no physical ailment is ever restricted to a specific class of people. Gout results from having too much uric acid in the body, causing crystals to form around the joints.

Febuxostat (under the brand name Uloric, among others) is a long-term treatment that cuts the production of uric acid. Doctors will usually only prescribe febuxostat for sufferers who can’t tolerate allopurinol. They know that the drug is very effective against gout, but what is less well-understood is why some people suffer debilitating side effects. These can include liver problems, pain in the joints, nausea, and skin rash. In some cases, patients suffer from anaphylactic shock, which can be fatal.

3 Tofacitinib

Sold under the most common brand name, Xeljanz, this is another medicine that doesn’t work as its developers had hoped. A doctor might prescribe this medicine to patients with rheumatoid arthritis who can’t tolerate the more widely-used Methotrexate.

Initial clinical trials revealed that a few subjects contracted upper respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, and headaches. After years of trials, the FDA approved the drug in 2012. Then, in 2014, a study showed that tofacitinib also converted white fat tissues into brown. Brown fat tissues are more active and break down more easily than white. This unexpected result suggested that the drug might be an effective obesity treatment. If this were true, it would suggest that the already expensive drug had an enormous potential market.

It also suggests that researchers didn’t really know how the drug worked. Some patients ended up with cancer or pulmonary embolisms. It’s worth pointing out that these side effects are very rare, but they do occur.

2 Paroxetine

You might know this medicine under its common brand names, Seroxat or Paxil. It is an antidepressant, but doctors may prescribe it for various disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic attacks, posttraumatic stress, and social anxiety. It is also a useful treatment for premature ejaculation and menopausal hot flashes.

Paroxetine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. This mouthful might suggest that scientists know what it does. Well, yes and no. They know that paroxetine is effective, but they are not sure why. The best guess is that it increases the level of serotonin in the brain. The body produces serotonin from an essential amino acid called tryptophan.

Such foods as cheese, nuts, and red meat contain tryptophan. Your general well-being depends on having an optimal level of serotonin in your system. This chemical affects your physiological functions, behavior, cognition, learning, memory, and mood. Researchers don’t really know how paroxetine works because they don’t fully understand the complex functions of serotonin.

1 Aspirin

Aspirin’s popularity dipped in the sixties as other painkillers came onto the market. But then scientists realized that “aspirin” wasn’t just a painkiller. It was also very effective as a blood thinner and could reduce the likelihood of heart attacks or strokes. Some doctors suggest that regular use of low-strength aspirin may be beneficial, though others are cautious.

Recent research in Sweden suggests that aspirin has another beneficial effect. With access to a database that contained details of 80,000 cancer patients, a Swedish team discovered that if a patient with colon or lung cancer had regularly taken low-strength aspirin before diagnosis, his tumor tended to be less advanced. Doctors can deal with less-advanced tumors more effectively.

This correlation was sufficiently marked that the team was sure that the link was not due to a statistical anomaly. The puzzle now was to work out why aspirin might have this effect. The jury is still out, but it could be that aspirin’s anti-inflammatory properties slow the damage to DNA that can lead to cancer.