Skip to content
Skip to main content

About this free course

Become an OU student

Download this course

Share this free course

Health and wellbeing in the ancient world
Health and wellbeing in the ancient world

Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.

3.2 Help or harm?

It should be clear by now that ancient medicine was not simply about recommending a diet to achieve ‘balance’ in the body, or about caring for the sick: it also used some dramatic and invasive forms of intervention in the body.

An older man clutches his head in dismay at the bottles of prescription medication surrounding him.
Figure _unit4.3.3 Figure 10 A man surrounded by bottles of prescription medication

Activity _unit4.3.1 Activity 4

Consider the use of noxious or dangerous remedies in modern medicine. How similar or different is it from the forms of ancient medicine you have studied here?

To use this interactive functionality a free OU account is required. Sign in or register.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).