9 Ancient, Natural Medicines That Actually Work, From Maggots To Myrrh

Think all the medical knowledge of the ancient Greeks and medieval Europeans was total rubbish? Think again. While a good deal of it has now been debunked — we aren't all controlled by the amount of yellow bile in our bodies, for instance — there are some herbal remedies and treatments that have been around for thousands of years for a good reason: they work.

Some are still doing what they were first discovered to do (what's up, willow bark extract?), while others are being discovered to have new uses (leeches with a new lease on life), but one thing's clear: we can't be as snobbish about medieval medicine as we though. Except when it comes to trepanning. That one is definitely a no-go.