Honey, Mud, Maggots, and Other Medical Marvels: The Science Behind Folk Remedies and Old Wives' Tales

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Summary: Cool study of nexus 'tween folk remedies and science
Review: Although not being a medical or scientific type, I found this a fascinating book. Some of the behaviors described -- drinking urine or applying it to wounds, placing maggots on festering skin to draw out the dead and dying cells -- possess a horrid fascination for the lay reader, but the authors describe quite dispassionately the possible scientifically valid reasons behind them. Very interesting stuff.

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Summary: Bringing Folk Medicine into the Realm of Organized Medicine
Review: In his book Rethinking AIDS: the Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus, Robert Root-Bernstein entered the fray of organized scientific medicine with the intent of landing a serious blow to the midsection of scientific efforts to identify and treat AIDS. His argument is that scientists are too eager to accept explanations of AIDS based on poorly designed or isolated research studies. Although it was a scientifically and logically dense book, there is little doubt that it played a role in the development of alternative theories of the cause(s) and treatments for AIDS. In his book Honey, Mud, Maggots, and Other Medical Marvels,Root-Bernstein appears to take a less aggressive stance towards medical science, tweaking the noses of those who have too eagerly dismissed the value of traditional folk treatments. On the other hand it is an easily readable and enjoyable book. The authors effectively argue that the treatments discussed were significantly more effective, less painful or invasive, and less costly than current treatments for the same ailments. After two introductory/overview chapters, the remaining chapters each deal with ancient or out-of-style medical remedies including water baths, honey and sugar wound dressings, and bloodletting. Each chapter contains a brief history of where and when the treatments were developed and the multitude of diseases each was purported to cure. This is followed by reviews of scientific studies which have identified all or part of the reason the treatments were effective. No doubt in fear of litigation by those who may undertake the treatments based on the book's content, the scientific explanation of the cures is followed by a discussion of the adverse effects of administering the treatment without proper medical supervision. In many chapters there are even predictions that the folk treatments will be approved by the FDA and become part of physicians' ongoing arsenal against disease. When I was a child I stepped on a hornets' nest and was stung several times on each ankle. A bystander immediately came to my aid, taking off her gold wedding ring and rubbing it on the bites. This folk cure immediately and permanently took away the sting. Although I agree with the authors that more credence should be given to folk cures, I would hate for medical science to explore the rationale for why the gold ring treatment worked and to adopt it as a medical therapy. Can you imagine having to call the doctor for a prescription for a bit of gold to rub on the bite, going to the pharmacy, and haggling with your health insurance provider about coverage for the treatment? Though it may be intellectually satisfying to understand these treatments, we must be cautious that they are not completely taken away from their current practitioners and placed in the bureaucracy of the health care system.

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Summary: Rational, unbiased reports
Review: The author has made an extensive research on the remedies written about in his book. At the end of the book, he has also advised on how we should accept or not accept old remedies or even modern or popular medical habits - he does not rule out modern medicines. I think a very rational view and discussion was presented.

Like all views given, of course there will definitely be some people who would strongly disagree and deny the book's integrity outright. However to benefit more from intelligence of this book is to have an open mind. Even at the end of the book, I can't bring myself to agree on the urine remedy - but I accept the clear explanations given.

I don't normally buy books and initially I borrowed it from the library, but I'm buying it because I think it's a good book to have for reference at home.

Rating:
Summary: Rational, unbiased reports
Review: The author has made an extensive research on the remedies written about in his book. At the end of the book, he has also advised on how we should accept or not accept old remedies or even modern or popular medical habits - he does not rule out modern medicines. I think a very rational view and discussion was presented.

Like all views given, of course there will definitely be some people who would strongly disagree and deny the book's integrity outright. However to benefit more from intelligence of this book is to have an open mind. Even at the end of the book, I can't bring myself to agree on the urine remedy - but I accept the clear explanations given.

I don't normally buy books and initially I borrowed it from the library, but I'm buying it because I think it's a good book to have for reference at home.

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Summary: Poorly researched. A sounding box for personnal beliefs.
Review: This could have been a good book. The topic is great. Unfortunately, the author allows his personal beliefs to color virtually every aspect of the content thereby allowing the inclusion of many factual errors. No where is this more evident than in the chapter on circumcision. Contrary to the claims in this book, routine circumcision has NO medical benefit. Because it has no medical benefit, NO medical organization in the world recommends it. For example, circumcision does not prevent urinary track infection (urinary track infections are lower in Europe where circumcision is virtually unheard of) and many studies have shown circumcision to increase the rate of HIV infection and the rate of transmitting HIV/AIDS to the female partner (UNAIDS calls using circumcision to prevent AIDS playing Russian Roulette).

Circumcision is not a folk remedy or an old wive's tale. Circumcision was started as a "cure" for masturbation. Since then it has been a procedure in search of a disease. To little attention is paid to the life long harm done to the child. For example, circumcision is now believed to be a contributing factor in male sexual dysfunction since the procedure removes highly sensitive sexual tissue and the unprotected glans becomes desensitized through a hardening of the skin in a process called keritinization.

There are many other sections of this book that are also based on errors or misinformation. See some of the other reviews.

Highly unrecommended.

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Summary: Shaky science
Review: Well, I have to give the authors credit for *some* hard work at least--there are an impressive number of studies reviewed in this book, from what I can tell. I've only had it for a few hours, though, and I've already noticed one huge and glaring factual inaccuracy: in the chapter on contraceptives, the Root-Bernsteins write, "The only exception to this is RU 486, the 'morning-after pill,' which seems to work very much like the menstrual regulators of old." How on earth can an error like that slip into a chapter *about contraception* in a so-called scientific book? RU-486 is NOT the morning-after pill, as any mildly educated person--or woman knowledgable about her contraceptive options--could tell you; it is the abortion pill, which, taken orally, causes the abortion of a fetus. The morning-after pill is a different thing entirely; it must be taken within 48 hours of unprotected intercourse, and rather than killing an already-growing fetus, it prevents the implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterine lining. I am not a scientist. I am not a health worker. I am not a science writer authoring a chapter on contraception, and yet I know this and they apparently do not. What gives?

This is really a minor detail, but its inaccuracy leads me to doubt the accuracy or thoroughness of any other "facts" cited in the rest of the book. It doesn't mean that the book is not entertaining and interesting; I would just take the Root-Bernsteins' science with a grain of salt, and read this book more as entertainment than as a learning experience.

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Summary: Historical Medical Evolution
Review: Whether or not you buy the conclusions of the authors in regards to the treatments in this book, their discussion and analysis of these treatments in historical context and why the treatments were effective, is extremely important in understanding the evolution of medicine. And if you are someone who is interested in researching folk medicine or discovery of medical treatments, this book is an excellent resource. It certainly presents a lot of information not ordinarily available to the layperson.