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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.
As many as 20% of Americans have been infected by the fungus known as Histoplasmosis. While most people are asymptomatic or only have slight symptoms, infection can progress to a rapid and potentially fatal superinfection.
Aspirin is the most widely used drug in the world. It has even been recognized as such by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Most childhood vaccines are 90–99% effective in preventing disease. Side effects are rarely serious.
The first documented use of surgical anesthesia in the United States was in Connecticut in 1844.

