Some of the things we do every day are so ordinary that it is difficult to imagine them being prescribed by a doctor. Taking a bath, enjoying a cup of coffee, spending time in the sun, and even smoking are all activities that have been part of daily life for generations.
Surprisingly, some of these habits were once promoted not merely for enjoyment, but as genuine medical treatments. We highlight some of them here.
1. Smoking Was Recommended for Asthma
Smoking is now strongly associated with lung disease, but there was a time when doctors actually recommended smoking as a remedy for respiratory problems.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, special cigarettes containing plants such as stramonium were marketed for asthma. The idea was that inhaling the smoke could relax the airways and make breathing easier. Medicated cigarettes remained part of asthma treatment well into the 20th century.
Some products were even advertised specifically as asthma cigarettes. Unfortunately, as medical understanding of smoking and lung damage improved, these treatments disappeared.
2. Sunbathing Was Considered Medicine
Today, people often associate sunbathing with vacations and getting a tan. However, doctors once deliberately exposed patients to sunlight as part of treatment.
The practice was known as heliotherapy, or light therapy, and became particularly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Physicians believed that sunlight could help with various illnesses, and sanatoriums were designed to give patients extensive exposure to fresh air and sunlight.
The discovery of the relationship between ultraviolet light and vitamin D strengthened the popularity of the practice. Eventually, however, researchers also established the dangers associated with excessive ultraviolet exposure, including skin cancer.
3. Drinking Tobacco Preparations Was Once Normal
Smoking wasn’t the only way tobacco was used medicinally.
When tobacco was introduced to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, it developed an extraordinary reputation as a medicinal plant. Doctors and herbalists recommended it for a wide variety of conditions, including colds, fevers, digestive problems, and even as a way of suppressing hunger and thirst.
Tobacco was so highly regarded by some physicians that it was described as a “holy herb” and even considered a potential cure-all.
Eventually, scientists discovered nicotine and accumulated evidence showing that tobacco caused serious harm rather than providing the universal health benefits once claimed.
4. Taking a Bath Was Sometimes Prescribed as Treatment
Today, bathing is mostly associated with cleanliness and relaxation. Historically, however, water itself was considered an important part of medical treatment.
Physicians prescribed various kinds of baths for different conditions. The temperature, duration, and type of water could all be part of the treatment.
People visited famous spas and mineral springs believing that bathing in particular waters could cure illnesses. Some patients were instructed to spend unusually long periods in water.
Although many of the historical claims were exaggerated, modern medicine still recognizes therapeutic uses for water in certain circumstances, making this one of the more reasonable treatments on the list.
5. Coffee Was Used as Medicine
While coffee is now one of the world’s most popular everyday drinks, early European consumers and physicians sometimes viewed it as more than a morning pick-me-up.
As coffee spread through Europe, people praised it for supposedly improving alertness, digestion, and general well-being. Medical practitioners incorporated coffee into discussions about health, while coffeehouses became popular places where people gathered and exchanged ideas.
The drink’s stimulant properties were eventually better understood. Caffeine is now a well-studied substance, although coffee is certainly no longer regarded as a cure-all.
6. Opium Was Taken Like an Ordinary Medicine
Few historical medicines demonstrate the changing meaning of an everyday habit better than opium.
For centuries, opium preparations were used to relieve pain, encourage sleep, and suppress coughing. Laudanum, a mixture containing opium and alcohol, became particularly popular and could be found in many households.
Because it was used to treat ordinary complaints, taking an opioid medicine could become part of everyday life.
The dangers of dependence gradually became impossible to ignore. Modern understanding of addiction and overdose transformed the way such drugs are regulated.
7. People Deliberately Exposed Themselves to Cold
Cold-water treatments have an unexpectedly long medical history.
Physicians and health enthusiasts in different periods believed that exposing the body to cold water could strengthen it, improve circulation, or treat certain diseases. Cold baths, showers, and plunges were used in various medical settings.
Some of these practices were based on theories about balancing the body’s temperature and stimulating its functions.
Today, cold-water exposure remains popular as a wellness habit, although many of the sweeping medical claims made in the past have not stood up to modern scientific scrutiny.
8. People Took Arsenic as a Tonic
Perhaps one of the strangest examples is arsenic.
For centuries, arsenic compounds were used medicinally despite their toxicity. In the 18th century, physician Thomas Fowler developed what became known as Fowler’s solution, a preparation containing potassium arsenite. It was subsequently used for conditions including malaria, skin diseases, asthma, syphilis, and blood disorders.
Fowler’s solution eventually became an officially recognized medicine and was widely used. The obvious problem was that arsenic is poisonous. Long-term treatment could cause symptoms of chronic arsenic poisoning, which eventually contributed to its decline as a general medicine.
9. Heroin Was Once a Household Cough Remedy
Modern society knows heroin as a highly addictive opioid, but its early history sounds almost unbelievable.
In 1898, Bayer began marketing diacetylmorphine under the name “Heroin.” It was promoted as a cough suppressant and was initially presented as a potential alternative to morphine.
The drug became particularly popular for treating severe coughing associated with illnesses such as pneumonia and tuberculosis.
Doctors eventually recognized that patients were developing dependence and that heroin was substantially more addictive than initially believed. Bayer eventually discontinued its sale as a medicine.