Because asthma and hay fever do not immediately threaten life, many suffers have the idea that it is not necessary to go to the doctor; this may explain why there were such an enormous amount of "remedies" on the market . Contemporary analysis by laboratories showed that nine out of every ten "patent medicines" sold to cure asthma or hay fever contained either iodides, arsenic, or both. (Cramp, Arthur J., Nostrums and Quackery and Pseudo-Medicine, Volume III, 1936)