Tapeworms
We all know that tapeworms can become fatal if not treated. But Victorian women believed that these flat, parasitic worms got their nutrients from their host, so the hope was that they’d slim them down by taking over the things they’d consume.
In this period, women were thought to take little pills containing tapeworms to grow one of their very own. Fortunately, the good news is that there’s a big chance these were actually scams and that most of the pills were placebos. But this doesn’t change the terrifying fact that Victorians were willing to give tapeworms a try.
