Wild Health
How Animals Keep Themselves Will and What We Can Learn from Them
Published on 19. March 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-618-34068-2 (ISBN)
Description
As Dr. Engel emphasizes in this "enticing, well-referenced, [and] entertaining book" (Science), we can learn a lot about human health by studying animal behavior in the wild. Indeed, some of the natural, holistic, and alternative human medicine being practiced today arose through the observation of wild animals. In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Engel points out fascinating parallels between animal and human medicine. She offers intriguing examples of how animals prevent and cure sickness and poisonings, heal open wounds, balance their diets, and regulate fertility. For instance,
*chimpanzees carefully eat bitter-tasting plant "medicines" that counter intestinal parasites *elephants roam miles to find the clay they ingest to counter dietary toxins *broken-legged chicks have been known to eat analgesic foods that alleviate pain.
By observing wild health we may discover (or rediscover) ways to benefit our own health. As Craig Stotlz of the Washington Post noted, this "highly readable assessment . . . triggers more outside-the-double-helix thoughts about human health than anything I've read recently."
*chimpanzees carefully eat bitter-tasting plant "medicines" that counter intestinal parasites *elephants roam miles to find the clay they ingest to counter dietary toxins *broken-legged chicks have been known to eat analgesic foods that alleviate pain.
By observing wild health we may discover (or rediscover) ways to benefit our own health. As Craig Stotlz of the Washington Post noted, this "highly readable assessment . . . triggers more outside-the-double-helix thoughts about human health than anything I've read recently."
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Boston
United States
Publishing group
Cengage Learning, Inc
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
474 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-618-34068-2 (9780618340682)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dr Cindy Engel is a rare combination of research biologist, author, and bodywork therapist - on a mission to understand the interplay of mind and body. As well as writing in peer-reviewed academic journals, she is the author of the definitive book on animal self-medication, 'Wild Health: how animals keep themselves well and what we might learn from them'. This book topped the prestigious Berkeley popular science list and is still popular and influential after 20 years in print. Her insights and expertise have led to interviews and articles being published in The New Scientist, The Financial Times Weekend, The Mail on Sunday, and The Ecologist. She was also the science consultant and a contributor for BBC Radio 4's series 'Murder, Magic & Medicine'. Cindy has been an Associate Lecturer at The Open University for over 30 years, and she lives and works in rural Suffolk, England.