Hospital technology has come a long way since the beginning of the 20th century. Which is a good thing, as it means that doctors and nurses wear face masks and surgical gloves.

MEDICINE
The early years of the 20th century were a crucial time in the history of medicine, as breakthroughs in surgical techniques, sanitation, and scientific rigor helped doctors become far more effective at saving and improving lives. Not every theory these pi
In 1900, cocaine wasn’t just a drug – it was the drug that could cure anything that ailed a patient. Here’s how it came to be Americans’ medicine of choice in the first decade of the 20th century.
Even as medicine was rapidly improving, these downright scary or dangerous treatments were still lingering.
From the conjoined livers from a pair of Siamese twins to slides of Albert Einstein’s brain, Philadelphia's Mütter Museum houses dozens of strange artifacts from medical history.
From herb and fat concoctions to various forms of animal poop potions, here are some historical hair loss remedies you probably don't want to slather on your head.
It's an exciting time: Nobel Prizes are being announced this week for achievements in medicine, literature, and more. Here are a few surprising facts about this annual honor.
Since the late nineteenth century, analgesic drugs have been available to the masses to alleviate general pain, including that caused by headaches. While that might not always do the trick, it sounds a lot better than these alternative treatments from his
Nope. Fortunately, your lungs are too large to fit through your trachea, so they’re not going to come flying out of your mouth. However, they don’t necessarily stay where they belong.
The story of one Civil War-era doctor’s quest to honor the memory of his patients. Flowers are overrated, anyway.
There's usually a doctor around in the movies, and they save the day. But what about in real life?
First reported in the 1700s, the mental disorder where people suffer the nihilistic delusion that they are dead or no longer exist, that's also called "Walking Corpse Syndrome" is still a mystery.
We know you’re just itching to know all about some of history’s nastiest viruses and the horrifying diseases they cause in humans.
Childbirth has never been a walk in the park. But thanks to modern medical improvements and societal standards, it's much better than it used to be.
We may think of the inability to get or maintain an erection as a problem reserved for the ruggedly handsome 50-year-old millionaires joyously piloting their yachts in the background of Viagra commercials. But there has never been a time or place where me
Throughout the ages, people have hung some pretty weird names on what’s ailed them. Here are the monikers of a few of the more strangely-named illnesses, and how we know them today.
In 1896, chemist Arthur Eichengrün brought forth a miracle—a pure acetylsalicylic acid with medical applications. This was a few years before Lizzie Magie invented the board game Monopoly, and if only the two knew each other, they might have had a lot to
Modern plastic surgery encompasses both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, and has a history that goes much further back than our modern movie stars and beauty obsessions.
The Bubonic Plauge, also known as the Black Death, killed at least 75 million people on three continents. Described as the most lethal epidemic in history, the plague began in China in the 1330s and made its way through Europe from 1346 to 1353. In those
Breathe a sigh of relief that these gadgets are no longer in your M.D.'s arsenal.
Quack, in the sense of a medical impostor, is a shortening of the old Dutch quacksalver (spelled kwakzalver in the modern Dutch), which originally meant a person who cures with home remedies, and then came to mean one using false cures or knowledge.
Alcohol is a vasodilator. When you have a drink, the volume of blood brought to the skin’s surface increases, making you feel warm.
Fictional characters, and even real-life folks, often talk about animals and people—particularly snarling dogs and knife-wielding lunatics—being able to “smell fear” on people. No one ever seems to be able to describe just what fear smells like, though.