Abstract
Your article in a recent issue of the JRSM 1 was fascinating. It is not a subject that is dealt with in medical journals. I wish you had included a few references for wider reading.
I did not know that only 20% of corpses were buried, most of the rest being cremated. This is the accepted means of disposal of the dead in Hinduism. I wonder if any other religious faiths support cremation. You almost certainly know that the Parsees dispose their dead by exposing them to vultures. A few years ago, there was a significant reduction in the vulture population, much to the distress of the Parsee population. This was attributed to renal failure caused by the birds feeding on the carcasses of cattle treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.