"Recommended for high-school students as an introduction to the topic, and to general readers interested in browsing brief but fascinating medical history." - Booklist
Explore historical and contemporary fringe remedies seen as strange, ridiculous, or even gruesome by modern Western medicine but which nevertheless played an important role in the history of medicine.
From placing leeches on the neck to treat a cough to using crocodile dung to prevent pregnancy, a number of medical treatments that now seem unusual were once commonplace. While a few of these remedies may have been effective, most were either useless or actually counterproductive to good health. Even today, there are alternative and fringe treatments considered bizarre by mainstream medicine yet are used by hundreds of thousands of people.
Bizarre Medicine: Unusual Treatments and Practices through the Ages offers a fascinating look into the history of medicine. Entries are organized by disease or medical condition and explore the folk and traditional "cures" used to treat them. Explanations are provided for why some treatments may have worked and why others may have done more harm than good. In addition, entries provide a clear description of the causes, symptoms, and current treatment options for each condition based on current scientific understanding. Each entry also discusses the condition's enduring impact on society and the arts.

- 376 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Entries
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Entries
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
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Yes, you can access Bizarre Medicine by Ruth Clifford Engs in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Medicine & Alternative & Complementary Medicine. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.