Murder, Magic And Medicine

Did you know that over 800 British hospitals use maggots to clean wounds? If you're in the unfortunate position of needing hospital treatment and you're willing (well, who wouldn't be?), you can have a bunch of squirming, writhing larvae stuffed into your wound, where they will remain for three days, merrily chomping away on dead tissue and bacteria.

Leeches are also occasionally used in modern hospitals - they are even commercially farmed in Swansea (where else?). Apparently they produce anticoagulants that keep blood flowing, and the anaesthetic they secrete can alleviate pain, making them ideal for application following microsurgery.

Just don't think about the fact that they have three separate jaws, each containing 100 pointy little teeth.

In this wonderfully gruesome new series, Dr Michael O'Donnell discovers that, far from being dead and buried, some of the more icky traditional medical remedies are alive and wriggling.

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