Wild Health: How Animals Keep Themselves Will and What We Can Learn from Them

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.

Author: Cindy Engel
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Published: 03/19/2003
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.80h x 5.72w x 0.76d
ISBN13: 9780618340682
ISBN10: 0618340688
BISAC Categories:
- Science | Life Sciences | Biology
- Science | Life Sciences | Zoology | General