Despite its popularity, the practice of bloodletting eventually waned. The next time you walk past your local barbershop and see the barber’s pole standing outside, take a minute to reflect on how far the medical field has come, and look forward to its continued progression. © New York University.

At its peak, bloodletting was a phenomenon that was well-regarded by the medical community as a viable treatment strategy for almost any disease process. By now, bloodletting is considered more harmful than helpful. Carter, K. C., & Carter, B. There are, in contrast, reliable sources regarding bloodletting in ancient Greek medicine, such as the writings of Galen (130–216 AD).

Disclaimer / Acceptable Use It then spread to Greece, where physicians such as Erasistratus, who lived in the third century B.C., believed that all illnesses stemmed from an overabundance of blood, or plethora. It was not a throwaway treatment given to individuals of reduced means, but rather a pervasive treatment strategy recommended to rich and poor alike. (2005). In the second century A.D., the influential Galen of Pergamum expanded on Hip… As the field of medicine departed from the Hippocratic teachings of the four humors, bloodletting still maintained a grip among physicians. Galen’s line of reasoning was that were there an imbalance among the humors, then in some cases the removal of blood would restore that balance. Brain, P. (2009). However, this evidence-based approach to medical practice did not always exist. Tefferi A. Prognosis and treatment of polycythemia vera. Below is a concise history of bloodletting across societies, both in medical and nonmedical contexts. That means that more than half of all of the blood in Washington’s body was removed in the interest of healing. In a ritual mirroring female birth, men of nobility would lacerate their genitals and induce hallucinations of deities or ancestors, believing this to be a sort of spiritual childbirth. Though the practice has been proven today to be harmful in the vast majority of cases, … A doctor using tools to bloodlet a patients arm. In addition, no currently known ancient Egyptian papyrus documents discuss bloodletting in any context, nor do any ancient Egyptian paintings or artifacts depict such a practice.

However, he did not always provide sources for his claims regarding practices of ancient Egyptian physicians. A plethora of modern texts claim bloodletting can be traced back to ancient Egypt, but the majority of these cite each other, creating a spiderwebbing network of citations with no references to primary sources. Phlebotomy still exists, though it now refers to the safe removal of small quantities of blood for donation or diagnostic purposes. People would even set up routine visits to leech houses, in the interest of keeping stable, good health. In addition, they reportedly removed over 80 ounces (2.365 liters, approximately 40 percent of total blood volume) over the course of 12 hours [6].

Hippocrates, considered by most to be the “founder of modern medicine,” believed that humans were composed of four basic humours: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile [1]. For example, a recent meta-analysis of seven studies encompassing 512 patients suggests that bloodletting may be an effective treatment in individuals with chronic urticaria [12]. The next decade, England imported six million from France alone. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/prognosis-and-treatment-of-polycythemia-vera?search=polycythemia%20vera&source=search_result&selectedTitle=2~101&usage_type=default&display_rank=2. This practice covers a broad stretch of history, notably from ancient Greece into 19th century Western culture. This theory put forth that the body consisted of four humors – blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm – and that disease was the result of an imbalance among them. Galen’s theories were so popular that bloodletting became the preferred method of treatment for almost all forms of illness. However, the author admitted that evidence supporting the claim is scarce, and that higher-quality clinical trials are needed in the future [12]. Eventually, other cultures adopted the practice as well.



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