Curious Medicine. Facts and Stories That Shock Even Doctors

To treat gout, medieval medics recommended boiling an anthill with its inhabitants in water for several hours, and then bathing in this concoction. Some, hearing this, will shudder at the vivid image of such a bath, while others will ask: where did this come from and what other wild treatment methods existed in the past? This book is for the latter. German doctor Jürgen Brater has compiled the most astonishing cases related to life and death, health and sickness in humans. He presents interesting and gruesome examples from the history of medicine, discusses strange symptoms and rare diseases, and shares records of human endurance and other measurable values related to our bodies. If you don’t know how a person can have several kilograms of hair in their stomach, which great doctors of the past particularly enjoyed joking with their patients and students, and how many strange syndromes and symptoms doctors have to study — you definitely need to take a look at this book.