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Representational image of Maya healing by a medicine man. Source: HaiderShah / Adobe Stock

Unlocking the Secrets of Maya Healing

At a time when human beings are suffering from a host of illnesses caused by stress and modern-day living, the need for ancient wisdom has never been more important. In fact, many people have become...
Representational image of ancient healing medicinal practice. Source: dimensdesign / Adobe Stock

Ancient Healing Methods Offer an Alternative Paradigm in Health

As long as life has existed on earth, so have issues associated with maintaining health and the remediation of disease. Today, when many of us get sick, our first course of action is to call the...
The southern wall of the burial chamber and the lid of Džehutiemhat's sarcophagus. Photo: Petr Košárek, © Czech Institute of Egyptology FF UK

Magic Snake Spells and Texts Discovered In Egyptian Tomb

Egyptologists digging in Abusir , between Giza and Saqqara, have discovered the tomb of a previously unknown scribe. Not only was this burial decorated with gods and goddesses and loaded with magical...
Leech Finders, from the print collection Costume of Yorkshire (1814), by artist George Walker and engravers Robert and Daniel Havell.             Source: New York Public Library.

Leech Collectors Used Amputated Legs to Procure Leeches

When it comes to historical jobs that will make your skin crawl, leech collecting certainly tops the list. While today, leeches might be an oddity or a relic of ancient medicine, they were once...
Science is finally catching up with beliefs that ancient peoples have known all along. AI generated image of a copper molecule structure. Source: DmitriRich / Adobe Stock

Copper’s Ancient Healing Powers Are Only Now Being Understood

While certain ancient remedies have received quite a bad rap in the modern era, it appears that some beliefs related to the healing properties of copper may have been spot on. Copper’s use in...
Leech therapy. Source: Natalia Terenteva / Adobe Stock

Ancient Maggot and Leech Therapy Sees Revival to Fight Antibiotic Resistance

A sharp increase in global antibiotic resistance has caused scientists to search for viable alternatives. But while innovative ancient treatments using maggots, leeches and honey are being...
The hands of a person with leprosy. Source: paul salmon/EyeEm / Adobe Stock

Leprosy Was Treated with Ass Fat, Bull Gallbladder and Steamed Flies!

It wasn’t until the 1970s that scientists developed an effective cure for leprosy . Up until then this terrible disease was feared not just for its awful symptoms, but also for the stigma that came...
The Medical Alchemist vt. The Uroscopy by Franz Christoph Janneck (1703–1761), (Science History Institute)

Medieval Physicians Used to Taste Patients’ Urine for Diagnosing Medical Conditions

The examination of urine (‘uroscopy’) as a method of medical diagnosis can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome, but during the Middle Ages the examination of urine samples by physicians became...
Humans were mummified into honey candy. Source: Andrey Popov / Adobe Stock

Humans Were Mummified into Honey Candy in Arabian Medical Practice

While ancient history boasts a host of grisly medical recipes, one of the most intriguing and elaborate was the mellified man, a human being mummified into honey candy, which was then used to mend...
13th century depiction of hemorrhoid surgery. Source: The British Library / Public Domain

Hippocrates Did WHAT to Treat Hemorrhoids?

Did you know that more than half of all people will have to deal with hemorrhoids at least once in their life? Although hemorrhoids are an issue no one looks forward to dealing with, if you ever find...
Medieval executioner. Source: Nomad_Soul / Adobe Stock

16th Century Executioners Sold Human Fat for Medicinal Ointments

In 16th century Europe, anyone suffering from arthritis, bone pain, toothache or gout could trot down to their local pharmacy and pick themselves up a bottle of Axungia hominis ( human fat ). Known...
The bloodletting of a patient by a surgeon with three dismayed onlookers; represented by five faun-like demons. Source: Wellcome Images / CC BY 4.0

Bleeding Your Way to Health: The Horrible History of Bloodletting

Bloodletting, or phlebotomy, is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “the surgical removal of some of a patient’s blood for therapeutic purposes.” Throughout the majority of history, this gruesome,...
Medieval knight with beer

The Water of Life: Alcohol as Medicine Through the Ages

While no one knows exactly when alcohol was first produced, it was presumably the result of a fortuitous accident that occurred at least tens of thousands of years ago. However, the discovery of late...
There have been many theories and many treatments for depression over the millennia of human history. Source: Love the wind / Adobe Stock.

Melancholia: How Ancient Societies Grappled to Understand and Treat Depression

Depression is a serious mental disorder and a state of being that troubles many people all over the world. It is not a condition to be taken lightly – it can weigh down on a person immensely and can...
The diagnostic methods and treatments in the Trotula are based on the theories of Claudius Galen and Hippocrates, shown in this 12th century mural from Anagni in Italy.

Medieval Attitudes to Women’s Medical Conditions Found in The Trotula

The Trotula is a very well-known 12 th century text, originally written for male medical practitioners treating gynecological or obstetrical issues, which reveals a great deal about how people...
Study finds that medieval remedy found in 1000-year-old medical text could hold key to treating antibiotic-resistant infections. Source: shaiith / Adobe Stock

Medieval Remedy Could Treat Antibiotic-Resistant Infections

A possible medical breakthrough has been made by experts, all thanks to a 1000-year-old medieval English medical text. A treatment, that dates to the Dark Ages , is helping researchers to treat a...
Wood from an ancient bald cypress forest buried off the coast of Alabama was uncovered by storms. Newly exposed wood offers a unique habitat for marine organisms and creates a novel ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. Source: Francis Choi

60,000-Year-Old Underwater Forest May Hold Next Medical Breakthrough!

About 60,000 years ago, pre-historic humans began emerging out of Africa and shared hunting places and cave residences with Neanderthal populations in what is today Europe. Meanwhile, on the other...
Magic mushrooms contain the chemical psilocybin which cause hallucinogens. Source: Martina / Adobe Stock.

Scientific Shamans Make E-coli Brew “Magic Mushroom” Hallucinogen

Scientists have successfully modified E. coli to create the powerful psychoactive chemical found in magic mushrooms that were consumed by most prehistoric tribes. In the new study published online...
A doctor performing eye surgery. The Ebers Papyrus discusses medical techniques and remedies. Source: Articles sur l’Egypte et son historie

The Ebers Papyrus: Medico-Magical Beliefs and Treatments Revealed in Ancient Egyptian Medical Text

The Ebers Papyrus is an ancient medical document that contains over 842 remedies for illnesses and injuries. It specifically focused on the heart, the respiratory system, and diabetes. The Papyrus...
‘Alexander of Macedon trusts the doctor Philip’ (1870s) by Henryk Siemiradzki. Alexander is drinking a draught prepared by his trusted physician Philip after suffering from a severe fever. Humoral theory was used to cure illnesses, from fever to cancer, in ancient Greece.

Bile, Cauterization, and Exercise: Cancer Treatment Was a Very Different Story in Ancient Greece

Cancer has existed since before the dawn of civilization. By the time of the ancient Greeks, cancer as a disease was already diagnosed by physicians, along with recommendations for its treatment. But...
Jean Baptiste Marc Bourgery and Nicholas Henri Jacob, ‘Iconografia d'anatomia chirurgica e di medicina operatoria,’ Florence, 1841.

The Ugly History of Cosmetic Surgery

Reality television shows based on surgical transformations, such as The Swan and Extreme Makeover , were not the first public spectacles to offer women the ability to compete for the chance to be...
Medieval science

The Grave That Heals: Irish Folktale Proven True as Soil from Priest’s Grave Shows Key to Fighting Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Traditionally ancient folk remedies are not treated seriously by medical researchers and professionals. However, some scientists are taking a new look at these remedies because some are believed to...
Amazonian Shaman Smoking

Kill or Cure: The Evolution of Addiction Treatment Through the Ages

As far back as history has been recorded, mankind has been using hallucinogens , opioids and stimulants for many varied purposes. Medical treatments, nutritional supplements, religious rituals, and...
One of the pages from The Book of Magical Charms. Credit: The Newberry Library

Do You Have the Magic Touch? Chicago Library Appeals to Public for Help Transcribing Magical Manuscripts

Do you have a talent in solving magical puzzles and manuscripts? Do you have a penchant for casting spells? Well, if that’s the case, Chicago's Newberry Library is offering the right job for you as...

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