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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.
This year, an estimated 1.4 million Americans will have a new or recurrent heart attack.
For about 100 years, scientists thought that peptic ulcers were caused by stress, spicy food, and alcohol. Later, researchers added stomach acid to the list of causes and began treating ulcers with antacids. Now it is known that peptic ulcers are predominantly caused by Helicobacter pylori, a spiral-shaped bacterium that normally exist in the stomach.
Human stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve small pieces of metal such as razor blades or staples.
In 2010, opiate painkllers, such as morphine, OxyContin®, and Vicodin®, were tied to almost 60% of drug overdose deaths.