In Renaissance Italy women from all walks of life played a central role in health care and the early development of medical science. Observing that the frontlines of care are often found in the household and other spaces thought of as female, Sharon Strocchia encourages us to rethink women's place in the history of medicine.

In Women as Healers, thirteen contributors explore the intersection of feminist anthropology and medical anthropology in eleven case studies of women in traditional and emergent healing roles in diverse parts of the world. In a spectrum of healing roles ranging from family healers to shamans, diviner-mediums, and midwives, women throughout the world pursue strategic ends through healing, manipulate cultural images to effect cures and explain misfortune, and shape and are shaped by the social and political contexts in which they work. In an introductory chapter, Carol Shepherd McClain traces the evolution of ideas in medical anthropology and in the anthropology of women that have both constrained and expanded our understanding of the significance of gender to healing-one of the most fundamental and universal of human activities. The contributors include Carol Shepherd McClain, Ruthbeth Finerman, Carolyn Nordstrom, Carole H. Browner, William Wedenoja, Marjery Foz, Barbara Kerewsky-Halpern, Laurel Kendall, Merrill Signer, Roberto Garcia, Edward C. Green, Carolyn Sargent, and Margaret Reid.

The Healing Herbs provides the information you need to use the earth's wonderful bounty of medicinal plants confidently, effectively, and above all, safely. It examines 100 of the most widely used, most easily available, most familiar, and most fascinating medicinal plants, tracing their history, folklore, and healing properties, and summarizing the latest scientific research on their many benefits. The Healing Herbs also explains where to find the herbs, how to take them, store and prepare them, even how to grow them. The Healing Herbs also includes an easy-to-use A-to-Z herb encyclopedia, plus a section titled Prevention and Treatment: A Fast-action Guide to Using the Healing Herbs, including: Conditions--from ear infection to stress, A-to-Z conditions and the herbs you can use to treat and prevent specific symptoms and diseases; Healing Actions--from antibiotic to sedative, an A-to-Z list of medicinal uses with herbs as a natural alternative to certain medicines; Other Uses--some unusual uses for the healing herbs, for example as insect repellent or memory improvement. Both Conditions and Healing Actions include special precautions about certain herbs, whether in preparation, long-term use, or short-term effects.

Discover how to get the most from nature’s oldest remedies In this revised edition, The New Healing Herbs provides up-to-date profiles of 100 of the most widely used medicinal plants, detailing the therapeutic benefits and healing properties of each of these amazing natural cures. Inside you’ll find: • Valuable advice for buying, storing, and preparing herbal remedies • Clear, concise dosage instructions and safe-usage guidelines • A comprehensive cure-finder chart with treatments for more than 100 common conditions--Ginkgo to improve and even reverse symptoms of macular degeneration...Cinnamon to treat cuts and scrapes...Marshmallow to boost immunity...St. John’s wort to speed healing...Coffee for weight loss...Ginger for colds...Apples as a source of first aid...And much more!

This book presents the first in-depth analysis of Mesopotamian healing goddesses and their relationship to asûs, “healers”. Through this, Sibbing-Plantholt provides unprecedented insight into the diverse Mesopotamian medical marketplace and how professional healers operating within it legitimized themselves.

This collection offers readers a guide to analyzing historical texts and objects using a diverse selection of sources in early modern medicine. It provides an array of interpretive strategies while also highlighting new trends in the field. Each chapter serves as a study of a different type of source, including the benefits and limitations of that source and what it can reveal about the history of medicine. Contributors provide practical strategies for locating and interpreting sources, putting texts and objects into conversation, and explaining potential contradictions. A wide variety of sources, including account books, legal records, and personal letters, provide new opportunities for understanding early modern medicine and developing skills in historical analysis. Together, the chapters highlight emerging methodologies and debates, while covering a range of themes in the field, from reproductive health to hospital care to household medicine. With wide geographical breadth, this book is a valuable resource for students and researchers looking to understand how to better engage with primary sources, as well as readers interested in early modern history and the history of medicine.

In Healers in the Making, Kira Robison investigates medical instruction at the University of Bologna using the lens of practical medicine, examining both the formation of medical authority and innovations in practical medical pedagogy during the late medieval period.