Can't sleep? Pop a 'lude

What is "medicine" changes with time. Take live leeches, which commonly appear in books set in Europe's Middle Ages.

They were applied to draw out the body's "bad humours" which were believed to make people sick, but how well could one recover after blood loss? Seems ridiculous to us now, but so is the way of many medicinal applications as time goes by. I wonder what products commonly used now will shock our great-grandchildren.

From drug ads of days past:

Cocaine Toothache Drops - Sold over the counter until the early 1900s. Cocaine was also used in tonics, dandruff shampoo, and to make "the purest medicinal wine" for sleeplessness and "despondency."

Heroin hydrochloride, or heroin and glycerin - Marketed by Bayer with aspirin ads and prescribed for coughs until around 1910.

Injectable opium - Again commonly found in novels, opium and poppy juice for medicinal purposes were long used and abused for pain relief.

Morphine syrup - Also called, "Cherry pectoral." "Cures coughs, colds, and all diseases of throat and lungs," according to Ayer's marketing posters. In the late 1800s, morphine syrup was recommended for teething babies.

Quaaludes - Methaqualone was still used in the mid-20th century as a sleep aid. Ads claimed side effects were insignificant and that users would wake up "easily" and "without hangover." Sure.

Cigarettes - Marketed to provide "temporary relief of symptoms" of asthma and hay fever. Even more surprising were claims that cigarettes could treat bad breath. Oh, and they weren't recommended for children under 6.

Alcohol - Pabst and Anheuser Busch marketed "malt-nutrine" beer, a.k.a. tonic (with lower alcohol content than today's beer) for nursing mothers' relief. "Paves the way for happy motherhood." Also claimed to promote appetite and aid digestion. This one lingered long; two decades ago a lactation nurse recommended I drink a stout beer before nursing, in response to colic and other problems of new motherhood.

Chloroform - Used in cough syrup, toothpaste, and other pharmaceuticals as late as the 1970s.

Marijuana - Yes, it's making a comeback. Once listed with white bark, codeine, chloroform, and other ingredients in - take a guess: cough syrup.

And finally, Coca Cola. Coke made its debut as a wine-cocaine blend in the 1800s. "You will be surprised how quickly it will stimulate the tired brain." Later marketed as "the intellectual beverage."

I could use one now. Or maybe just a plain Dr. Pepper.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at sholehjo@hotmail.com.