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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.
Most childhood vaccines are 90–99% effective in preventing disease. Side effects are rarely serious.
More than 30% of American adults, and about 12% of children utilize health care approaches that were developed outside of conventional medicine.
Approximately 500,000 babies are born each year in the United States to teenage mothers.
In 2006, a generic antinausea drug named ondansetron was approved. It is used to stop nausea and vomiting associated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.