Page 58 - Grasp English C1 (Workbook)

6 Medical Scıences

Ancient

Medical

Techniques

History is rife with shocking and disgusting medical techniques. Some of them are nothing but
superstition, but surprisingly, among the weird and wonderful techniques, there are some that
actually do have health benefits.
One of the substances that ancient medical practitioners used to advocate was mercury. The
ancient Persians and Greeks used it as an ointment, while second-century Chinese practitioners
believed it increased lifespan and led to general good health and vigour. Some healers even
promised it would give their patients eternal life and the ability to walk on water. Mercury, is however,
incredibly toxic, and it often brought about death, one of the most famous casualties being the
Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who supposedly died after ingesting mercury pills designed to
make him immortal. Mercury was used as late as the early 20 century to treat some infections.
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However, although it did sometimes kill infections, it often also killed the patients due to liver and
kidney damage.

Meanwhile, if you had been ill during the Roman era, you might well have been prescribed a
medicine containing flesh, blood or bone from human corpses. These cannibalistic medicines
were thought to have magical properties. By consuming the remains of a dead person, it was
thought that the patient would ingest part of their spirit, leading to increased health and well-
being. For that reason, the remains of a strong, fit person, such as a gladiator, were particularly
sought after. The type of cure prescribed would correspond to the ailment. Ground-up pieces of
skull were used to treat headaches, human fat was used to treat muscular aches and pains. Even
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as recently as the 17 century, King Charles II of England regularly took “King’s Drops”, a medicine
made from crumbled human skull and alcohol. There is no evidence to suggest this type of cure
worked.

The ancient Egyptians, however, used other restorative medicines, though theirs were equally
revolting. Lizard blood, dead mice, mud and mouldy bread, were all used as ointments, and
human and animal faeces was used as remedies by driving off evil spirits. Interestingly, while these
remedies seem repulsive and probably led to tetanus and other infections, they may have been
effective, as some animal dung contains antibiotic substances.

Equally repulsive was the treatment of digestive problems by faecal transplant. This is the insertion
of faeces from another person into the digestive system via the anus and was used to treat both
humans and animals suffering from diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems. Strangely, faecal
transplants work, as they restore the levels of beneficial bacteria in the intestines and kill off those
that cause illness. The ancient Chinese had a similar system of treatment, but theirs involved
administrating foreign faeces in the form of yellow soup.

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