ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Medical cannibalism

Medical cannibalism, also known as medicinal cannibalism, is a term used to describe a practice that happened long ago in history. Back in the old days, people believed that consuming certain parts of the human body could help treat diseases or improve their health. But don't worry, this practice is not used anymore because it is considered unethical, gross, and also illegal.

So, let's imagine a time when people didn't have advanced medicine like we do today. They didn't have the medicines we have in the modern world, so they looked for alternative ways to heal themselves. Some people believed that by eating parts of human bodies, they could get special powers or cure their illnesses.

For example, imagine a person had a headache. In those times, they might have thought that by eating someone else's brain, their headache would go away. It might sound strange to us, but they didn't have the same scientific knowledge we have now.

Nowadays, we have doctors and medical professionals who study and research extensively to find the best and safest ways to treat illnesses. They have developed medicines that help us get better without needing to do things that may not be good for us, like eating human body parts.

Eating human body parts can be very dangerous because our body is not meant to digest human tissue like it does other types of food. It could make us sick or even cause serious diseases. Additionally, it is morally wrong to consume other humans, as it is against our values and ethics.

Thankfully, as our understanding of medicine and science grew, we discovered much safer and more effective ways to treat diseases. We now have medicines, vaccines, surgeries, and other techniques that can directly target the problem without resorting to something as strange as medical cannibalism.

So, in summary, medical cannibalism was an old practice where people believed that eating human body parts could help them stay healthy or cure diseases. But thanks to advancements in medicine, we no longer need to do this because we have found safer and more effective ways to treat and heal our bodies.