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Throughout history, plants containing cardiac steroids have been used as heart drugs and as poisons (e.g., in arrows used in combat), emetics, and diuretics.
According to the Migraine Research Foundation, migraines are the third most prevalent illness in the world. Women are most affected (18%), followed by children of both sexes (10%), and men (6%).
Cancer has been around as long as humankind, but only in the second half of the twentieth century did the number of cancer cases explode.
More than 2,500 barbiturates have been synthesized. At the height of their popularity, about 50 were marketed for human use.
Since 1988, the CDC has reported a 99% reduction in bacterial meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae, due to the introduction of the vaccine against it.