Weird Cures is a catalog of very strange, sometimes hilarious, often horrifying cures that were actually used by physicians, and then discredited. Some of these so-called cures are beyond belief! For instance: Mercury, now known to be highly toxic, was once thought to draw poison from the body. It was even administered for routine ills like constipation and toothaches! Strappado, a technique in which patients are strapped to ladders and dropped from significant heights, was used to correct spinal misalignments. It is now considered torture. Weird Cures is a compendium of these bizarre and sometimes fatal treatments. This fun look at medical history will fascinate and astonish, and make you laugh and gasp at the same time.

It wasn’t too long ago that people tried all sorts of things to help sick people feel better. They tried wild things like drinking a glass full of millipedes or putting some mustard on one's head. Some of the cures worked, and some of them…well, let’s just say that millipedes, living or dead, are not meant to be ingested. Carlyn Beccia takes readers on a colorful and funny medical mystery tour to discover that while times may have changed, many of today’s most reliable cure-alls have their roots in some very peculiar practices, and so relevant connections can be drawn from what they did then to what we do now.

Memoir by Rob Zabrecky

Have you ever wondered what that 1 outlier would say when you see commercials and products boasting that 9 out of 10 doctors recommend something? Well here’s your answer.... Three doctors explore and explain the least recommended techniques and cures lurking in the darkest corners of medicine through the ages. Entertaining and informative, (and sometimes just plain gross), 1 Out of 10 Doctors Recommends examines the strangest and most unusual medical practices, including drinking your own urine to fight infection, using live eels to relieve constipation, and licking a patient’s head to diagnose cystic fibrosis. As licensed medical physicians who believe that humor is the best medicine, the authors decode the methods behind the seemingly mad science. Fascinating examples include: * the use of bee venom to treat herpes * infecting yourself with intestinal parasites to relieve allergies * “natural” ways to make your genitalia larger * how the insertion of a potato reportedly stops post-delivery bleeding * the effects of salt pork on a sore throat * the supposed benefits of “vampire facials”

Would you believe bee's venom could help you feel better? How about a candle in your ear, or a string running through your nostrils? People have used all sorts of kooky remedies to fight pain and illness. Some work. Others, not so much. Find out more about odd medical cures of past and present!

What won’t we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth? Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine—yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison—was dosed like Viagra. Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices. Ranging from the merely weird to the outright dangerous, here are dozens of outlandish, morbidly hilarious “treatments”—conceived by doctors and scientists, by spiritualists and snake oil salesmen (yes, they literally tried to sell snake oil)—that were predicated on a range of cluelessness, trial and error, and straight-up scams. With vintage illustrations, photographs, and advertisements throughout, Quackery seamlessly combines macabre humor with science and storytelling to reveal an important and disturbing side of the ever-evolving field of medicine.

It's easy to take a pill when we aren't feeling well. But did you know that the art of making medicines goes back thousands of years? Early remedies weren't always so easy—or effective. Some seemed downright disgusting. Wine infused with a venomous snake was used to cure fatigue and hair loss. Snail slime soothed burns, and a mixture of ear wax and mud treated headaches. Discover more about how medicine was practiced centuries ago and how, eventually, scientists discovered some truly amazing remedies, from the magic bullet that treated syphilis to the insulin used for diabetes.

A look inside the world of forensics examines the use of human cadavers in a wide range of endeavors, including research into new surgical procedures, space exploration, and a Tennessee human decay research facility.

Why did medieval physicians fill a patient’s nostrils with hog’s dung? Can eating camel poop really help cure dysentery? And why are 21st-century doctors carrying out fecal transplants on patients with serious digestive problems? We often think of poop as yucky and dirty, but since ancient times, doctors have explored how it can be used as a treatment for illnesses and injuries. This new Science Slam! title will engross readers—and gross them out! Filled with information perfectly suited to the abilities and interests of an early elementary audience, this colorful, fact-filled book gives readers a chance not only to learn, but also to develop their powers of observation and critical thinking. With fascinating photographs and surprising, high-interest facts about a material that we don’t usually read about, the book makes learning about excrement poop-sitively amazing!

The next book in the strange and fascinating series that began with the national bestseller Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers & Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body. The national bestseller Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers & Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body uncovered everything one might want to know (and a few things one might not) about the human body. The follow-up bestseller Why Fish Fart & Other Useless or Gross Information About the World contained an artful selection of odd and/or unsavory facts about the world. Why Dogs Eat Poop scoured the animal kingdom for gross and or off-color facts about animals. In this delightfully disgusting new book in the series, David Haviland plumbs the world of medicine to uncover the answers to such vitally important questions as: *What exactly is urine therapy? *Is it safe to fly with breast implants? *How did a nine-and-a-half-inch spatula find its way into a surgery patient's body? *Why do some boxers drink their own pee? *What is cyclic vomiting syndrome and how can one avoid it? Any fan of the absurd and/or obscure is sure to delight in this strange (and slightly stomach-turning) book.