The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the types of narcotic deaths and drugs encountered by Dr. Milton Helpern in his post as Chief Medical Examiner for New York City, and to describe internal and external body changes resulting from narcotism. This objective is achieved with the use of photographs of overdose victims and the equipment found and used by addicts. The importance of noting the circumstances under which the body is found and the condition of the body to aid in establishing the diagnosis of death from narcotism is stressed.

The life of the typical teen in the late 1960s is presented, with rebellion and experimentation in clothes, hair, and extracurricular activities discussed, along with peer pressure and the effect it can have on teens. The dangers of drugs, and LSD in particular, are described, with doctors, scientists, and geneticists discussing the possible effects of LSD on the body, including chromosomal damage that can affect future generations. The impact on fetal development in animals given LSD is shown.

This program on alcoholism begins by examining motivations for drinking alcohol in moderation in social, family, religious, and business settings, which are then contrasted with excessive drinking and alcoholism. Examples are given of how this affects work performance and exacerbates social problems in general, plus how many Alcoholics deny having a problem. Ways to combat the problem are shown, including treatment, rehabilitation, and therapy, as well as preventive measures such as education. The film opens with people drinking in several different situations.

Narcotics addiction, as seen by Dr. Daniel H. Casriel, is basically withdrawal behind a chemical as a response to stress, a condition requiring intensive psychotherapy. This method of treatment is used at Daytop Village, New York, where patients live in a therapeutic community for approximately one and a half years. Dr. Jerome H. Jaffe, Director, Drug Abuse Program, State of Illinois, Department of Mental Health, questions the psychiatric approach and discusses methadone treatment of addicts in Chicago.

Celebrity Sonny Bono narrates this exploration of marijuana use, presenting the reasons often given to justify the drug as a better, safer choice than alcohol, cigarettes, or other substances. He points out the deficits in such reasoning, as well as the importance of respecting laws on marijuana. The program includes dramatized clashes between police and young people, and depictions of hallucinations experienced by pot smokers. The program offers scientific and legal facts as well as anecdotes to counter what it says are uninformed opinions common among users of marijuana.

This silent footage shows not only tuberculosis patients but also healthy children being institutionalized to prevent them from contracting tuberculosis and other diseases. The film opens with aerial shots in 1926 of the South Mountain Restoration Center in South Mountain, Pennsylvania, including the tuberculosis hospital, children's hospital, patient huts, open air pavilions for patient sunbathing, staff golf course, and patient burial ground. It also shows close up exterior shots of huts, hospital, chapel, patient store (interior as well), nurses' home, and the burning of the auditorium.

This program is the narrated version of the 1926 film, T.B. Sanitorium and Preventorium. The narrator, Walter L. Zeigler, was a patient at the South Mountain Restoration Center in South Mountain, Pennsylvania, as a child in 1939 through 1940 and later worked there as an adult. He provides insight and stories of therapies, patients, and the nurses who worked there. His narration covers the entire film that shows, not only tuberculosis patients, but shows healthy children being institutionalized to prevent them from contracting tuberculosis or other diseases.

This film describes and demonstrates four types of schizophrenia. Filmed at various New York institutions, it shows patients singly and grouped in large, outside recreational areas. Some patients are blindfolded. Symptoms shown include: social apathy, delusions, hallucinations, hebephrenic reactions, cerea flexibilitas, rigidity, motor stereotypes, posturing, and echopraxia. Produced by Pennsylvania State College.

Shows the principal sources of air pollution--factories belching smoke, industrial waste dumped in rivers, and auto emissions. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101640831 Learn more about the National Library of Medicine's historical audiovisuals program at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/films

This is the film Challenge: Science Against Cancer accompanied by a French soundtrack. It illustrates the importance of continued research in laboratories around the world in order to solve the problem of cancer, and aims to explain the current difficulties in identifying causes and cures. It begins with an overview of the birth of man from one cell and explores the complexity of the human body. It shows the isolation and testing of cancer cells and explains the effects of heredity and environment on normal cells.

This film is excerpted from the full-length Challenge: Science Against Cancer. Portions are presented in French and portions in English. A patient, Mr. Davis, enters the medical office. He is shown to have a treatable cancerous lesion on his face. Several doctors discuss the case and the recommended treatment. The film shows cells and cell division, laboratories, the use of microscopes, and experiments with mice. The treatment for Mr. Davis begins immediately and uses radium.

NLM's History of Medicine Division collects, preserves, makes available, and interprets for diverse audiences one of the world's richest collections of historical material related to human health and disease. Take time to view HMD's fascinating playlists on the NLM YouTube channel. Please note that some digitized films made available by the NLM may contain material that some viewers may find to be challenging, disturbing or offensive. Viewer discretion is advised.

A Rediscovered Cancer Film of the Silent Era In 1921 the American Society for the Control of Cancer released The Reward of Courage. The film, a silent melodrama, was designed to persuade viewers to visit a physician for regular checkups and at the first sign of the disease.

This film opens with a cartoon segment. The main character, a coughing, sputtering man named Mr. Hack, is enraged by the amount of air pollution in his town. He decides to find the cause of the problem, first making his way to a nearby factory to complain to the owner. The factory owner denies responsibility for the problem and feigns concern about protecting the environment. The owner tells Mr. Hack that the electric power company is the one responsible for the problem, so Mr. Hack goes there next.

Released in the closing months of the Second World War, this film explores the work of the army nurse in part from the perspective of a wounded soldier. Intended to be shown to a variety of audiences including servicemen, nurses, and potential recruits to nursing, it has a reassuring message about the skill and effectiveness of the army nursing service. It also comforts its audiences with a story about the therapeutic uses of femininity. The film opens with a soldier wounded in action. Coming out of delirium, the first person he sees is a female army nurse, who smiles and winks at him.