Honey, Mud, Maggots, and Other Medical Marvels

The Science Behind Folk Remedies and Old Wives' Tales

By: Robert Root-Bernstein, Michéle Root-Bernstein

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

Eating clay, drinking urine, applying honey to deep wounds and mere plaster to crushed these are all folk remedies for ailments, passed on through the generations and thoroughly discounted by modern science. It is too bad, write scientist-historian couple Robert and Michèle Root-Bernstein, who deplore the loss of proven methods developed without the blessing of the academy, noting that "formal academic systems are only one of many ways in which knowledge is discovered, accumulated, and transmitted." Many scientists are now coming to agree with this view, they write in this fascinating collection of case studies. Researchers have showed that black tea, for instance, has powerful antibiotic properties and that maggots do an extraordinary job of cleaning wounds—as traditional healers have known all along.

©1997 Robert S. Root-Bernstein and Michéle R. Root-Bernstein (P)1998 Recorded Books

Brilliant wealth of information

Not in the medical fiend? It doesn't matter this book is truly for everyone written so that anyone can understand its marvels

How valid is their "research"

The book is interesting on its own. However some statistics quoted may be misleading. I would take most of their "latest" research with a grain of salt.

Total Tripe - Pseudoscience and silliness.

Yes, some of the ideas presented do work - but I don't live in the a 3rd world country. However, it isn't real science. It's pseudoscience and untested ideas.