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Nitroglycerin is used to alleviate various heart-related conditions, and it is also the chief component of dynamite (but mixed in a solid clay base to stabilize it).
It is believed that the Incas used anesthesia. Evidence supports the theory that shamans chewed cocoa leaves and drilled holes into the heads of patients (letting evil spirits escape), spitting into the wounds they made. The mixture of cocaine, saliva, and resin numbed the site enough to allow hours of drilling.
Aspirin is the most widely used drug in the world. It has even been recognized as such by the Guinness Book of World Records.
In most cases, kidneys can recover from almost complete loss of function, such as in acute kidney (renal) failure.
More than nineteen million Americans carry the factor V gene that causes blood clots, pulmonary embolism, and heart disease.