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Modern Versus Ancient with Science Oxford’s ‘Medical Marvels’ at Iris Festival

Friday 27th January 2017

Modern medicine may be over-prescribed and often expensive, but it doesn’t generally involve doses of heroin. Opiate drugs such as heroin were a popular treatment for pain relief back in the 19th century –how times have changed!

But now the remedies of old are enjoying a revival as contemporary society’s obsession with healthy living means we are looking back to treatments and cures of the past as much as we are looking forward. From maggot wound therapy and trepanning to anti-inflammatory turmeric and coconut massages, ancient remedies once thought barbaric or obsolete are in the ascendance once more. So is the leech making a comeback?

This February, Science Oxford gets as gruesome as ‘The Walking Dead’ as we take part in Cheney School’s Iris Festival of Ancient and Modern Science and Medicine.  We’ll be challenging visitors to help treat an ER full of the walking wounded by choosing either ancient or modern medicine. All our volunteers will appear damaged or diseased, thanks to our casualty simulation make-up team, and it will be up to you to cure them!

Practising casualty make-up

Sophie Batin, Science Oxford’s Education Outreach Manager, said ” We can’t wait for our Medical Marvels adventure!  With volunteers from Science Oxford and the Department of Tropical Medicine and Global Health at Oxford University, students from Cheney School and a whole host of other willing victims, we’ll be exploring ancient and modern medicine through fun, hands-on activities. From ancient herbal remedies to modern pulse oximeters, with a few leeches and maggots along the way (!) there’ll be something to intrigue all ages.”

So whether you’re a fan of Horrible Histories or Casualty, pop along to our A&E department with a difference on Tuesday 7th February between 3PM – 5.45PM.

For more information about the festival visit here.

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