If you think, as some do today, that many drugs used as medicines are potentially deadly, consider what people living in medieval times were prescribed as curative agents—from ground up corpses to toxic mercury to crocodile dung. The annals of medieval medical history are full of substances that make us cringe. Yet people believed in these cure-alls and willing took them when prescribed by a doctor of the Middle Ages.
While we may laugh or shudder at these strange potions and treatments, we should also keep in mind that many if not most medicines of the time also called for beneficial herbs and spices, which contained essential phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals that no doubt aided a body’s ability to heal. Modern medicine no longer uses …show more content…
Egyptians, for instance, created mummies from the dead and used powdered mummies as medicines. Romans drank the blood and ate the organs from freshly dead gladiators, as it was thought the spirit of the person would be transferred to the patient. Medieval physicians also prescribed body parts of dead people as medicines. One of the medical theories of the time was homeopathy—the idea that like cures like. A skull, dried and powdered, was used to treat headaches, apoplexy and epilepsy, for example. In later times, King Charles II of England created a tonic from powdered skull and alcohol known as the King’s Drops. Hangmen and official executioners usually processed the bodies of executed criminals and slain enemies, drying the bones and skull and rendering the fat. Human fat was used externally, rubbed on arthritic joints or made into salves for gout. Apothecaries carried items such as powdered mummies, ground skull and human fat. Usnea, a moss that grows in graveyards (among other places), was usually added to these medicines. While it’s unlikely that consuming cadavers helped anyone, the usnea at least would have helped boost a patient’s immune system, as modern herbalists recommend it today for that …show more content…
To concoct the syrup, people ventured out to their gardens at daybreak and gathered common garden snails, about a pound of them. They’d remove the shells and slit the snails, then put them in a bag with a half pound of sugar. Under the bag they’d place a basin to collect the syrup from the snails as they gradually dissolved from the sugar and dripped through the bag. This mucilaginous essence of the snail was then used for a variety of maladies: internally for gastrointestinal ulcers, coughs, sore throat and externally for burns and wounds. Medieval ladies collected snail secretions to beautify their skin. Although this sounds disgusting, snail slime stimulates collagen and elastin; in fact, modern cosmetic companies use snail slime in beauty creams.
Mold
Ancient doctors of many cultures had to deal with infected wounds. In Egypt and Greece, physicians of old used moldy bread and honey to treat wounds. This knowledge passed down through the ages to medieval doctors, who also recommended moldy bread for wounds. While none of these doctors knew of bacteria, they were nevertheless well aware of infection and its dangers. Medieval doctors in Poland recommended moldy bread wrapped with spiderwebs for infected wounds.
Dwale: A Medieval
While we may laugh or shudder at these strange potions and treatments, we should also keep in mind that many if not most medicines of the time also called for beneficial herbs and spices, which contained essential phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals that no doubt aided a body’s ability to heal. Modern medicine no longer uses …show more content…
Egyptians, for instance, created mummies from the dead and used powdered mummies as medicines. Romans drank the blood and ate the organs from freshly dead gladiators, as it was thought the spirit of the person would be transferred to the patient. Medieval physicians also prescribed body parts of dead people as medicines. One of the medical theories of the time was homeopathy—the idea that like cures like. A skull, dried and powdered, was used to treat headaches, apoplexy and epilepsy, for example. In later times, King Charles II of England created a tonic from powdered skull and alcohol known as the King’s Drops. Hangmen and official executioners usually processed the bodies of executed criminals and slain enemies, drying the bones and skull and rendering the fat. Human fat was used externally, rubbed on arthritic joints or made into salves for gout. Apothecaries carried items such as powdered mummies, ground skull and human fat. Usnea, a moss that grows in graveyards (among other places), was usually added to these medicines. While it’s unlikely that consuming cadavers helped anyone, the usnea at least would have helped boost a patient’s immune system, as modern herbalists recommend it today for that …show more content…
To concoct the syrup, people ventured out to their gardens at daybreak and gathered common garden snails, about a pound of them. They’d remove the shells and slit the snails, then put them in a bag with a half pound of sugar. Under the bag they’d place a basin to collect the syrup from the snails as they gradually dissolved from the sugar and dripped through the bag. This mucilaginous essence of the snail was then used for a variety of maladies: internally for gastrointestinal ulcers, coughs, sore throat and externally for burns and wounds. Medieval ladies collected snail secretions to beautify their skin. Although this sounds disgusting, snail slime stimulates collagen and elastin; in fact, modern cosmetic companies use snail slime in beauty creams.
Mold
Ancient doctors of many cultures had to deal with infected wounds. In Egypt and Greece, physicians of old used moldy bread and honey to treat wounds. This knowledge passed down through the ages to medieval doctors, who also recommended moldy bread for wounds. While none of these doctors knew of bacteria, they were nevertheless well aware of infection and its dangers. Medieval doctors in Poland recommended moldy bread wrapped with spiderwebs for infected wounds.
Dwale: A Medieval