First warnings of the dangers involved in tobacco use. Medical-scientific knowledge and recommendations for prevention in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century

References to historical aspects of tobacco research and the ensuing recommendations for the prevention of tobacco-associated diseases can only be found rudimentarily in newer studies. This article systematically reviews the historical literature on the subject, with special attention given to selected journals published between 1850 and 1950. The analysis offers a chronological summary of the knowledge about tobacco ingredients and their effects, about tobacco-attributed diseases as well as of the usually non-institutionalized recommendations for their prevention. The report clearly shows the early knowledge about the toxic effects of tobacco and its products, the causation of ophthalmologic diseases and the effects on the cardiovascular system, the respiratory and nervous systems as well as the reproduction system. The knowledge of the pathogenesis of tobacco-attributable mental disorders, addiction and cancer is also reported. From today's view, some former strategies of prevention are regarded as obsolete; some seem to be very topical. In summary, research concentrating on the characteristics of tobacco and tobacco-associated diseases is witness to a continuity spanning different epochs and political systems.