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Ancient civilization that contributed to modern medicine
Chapter 1 introduction to phlebotomy
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The Aztecs, Mayans, Egyptians, and Mesopotamians were ancient civilizations that used bloodletting (phlebotomy) as a cure for many sicknesses. The Greeks were the first who distinguished the association between the human body and phlebotomy. 1Hippocrates believed the world existed on four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water. In humans, it was: blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm. By removing unnecessary body fluids it was used to help treat sicknesses. 2“Phlebotomy is the act or practice of opening a vein for letting or drawing blood as a therapeutic or diagnostic measure; venesection; bleeding.”
A Greek physician named Galen of Pergamon, discovered that veins contained blood and arteries. 3Galen believe that blood did not circulate
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It was thought that zodiac signs stood for certain parts of the body. For a procedure to take place, the plants had to be correctly aligned with one another. 3The Talmud thought that certain bloodletting procedures should be done on a specific day or month. Islam was one of many religions that used phlebotomy to reduce fevers.
Pilgrims were known to use bloodletting in the United States. George Washington was a victim of a phlebotomy procedure. 4On December 13th, 1799, Washington felt as if he had a sore throat. It was difficult for Washington to swallow that lead him close to suffocation; a physician withdrew nine pints of his blood. George Washington death was caused from the amount of blood that was drawn from his body. Drawing blood began to decrease in the United States; leeches became a replacement factor in drawing blood.
Leeches were used to extract blood in the 1800s from the human body. 1About forty million, Hirudo medicinals (leech specie) were received in France for these procedures. 1A leech can drain up to ten times its weight that is proportional to five to ten milliliters of blood. Francois-Joseph-Victor Broussais was a French physician whose methods was used throughout Europe. He was known to use up to fifty leeches at a time during his procedures. Francois-Joseph-Victor Broussais believed that fevers resulted from an aroused organ in the body and leeches were the key to removing the blood from the body that
In a world of constant evolution, a new generation of students deserves a contemporary education that will prepare them both academically and emotionally for the rest of their life. Vincent Lam’s novel, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, exhibits many traits that are beneficial to a 4U English class. Firstly, one of the main characters has a tragic flaw that negatively changes his way of life, similar to Hamlet and Amir studied earlier in the course. The author also explores the duality of human nature through different characters, tying the novel to one of the central themes in the course. This collection of short stories also illustrates many events and emotions that can be applicable to a 4U student and their journey into post-secondary life. In conclusion, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures is an ideal new addition to the 4U English curriculum.
In modern medicine when an ailment arises it can be quickly diagnosed, attributed to a precise bacteria, virus, or body system, and treated with medication, surgery or therapy. During the time before rational medical thought, this streamlined system of treatment was unheard of, and all complaints were attributed to the will of the multitude of commonly worshiped Greek gods (Greek Medicine 1). It was during the period of Greek rationalism that a perceptible change in thought was manifested in the attitudes towards treating disease. Ancient Greece is often associated with its many brilliant philosophers, and these great thinkers were some of the first innovators to make major developments in astrology, physics, math and even medicine. Among these academics was Hippocrates, one of the first e...
Grumbine also explores other biological treatments like leech therapy, and the effects that medical leeches have on their patients. Usually, medications were used to control chronic pain, such as sleep medications and antidepressants. Now it has been observed that leeching prevents blood clotting and severe burning pain. The ingredients of leech saliva help stabilize cellular membranes and the overall well-being of the skin and body functions improve. As blood flow increases and improves circulation, the arteries, veins and capillaries dilate, and there is a reduction of oedema, shunting and congestion.
Doctors believed the human body was part of the universe, so they used elements for each humour, “Yellow bile was the equivalent of fire. Phlegm was the equivalent of water. Black bile was the equivalent of earth and blood was the equivalent of air”(“Shakespearean and Elizabethan Medicine”). Also, because of their beliefs and lack of knowledge on serious medical conditions, most severe cases were not treated accurately. Some doctors believed if a person broke a bone, then it was never supposed to be used again because the accident was based from many sins of the soul (“Shakespearean and Elizabethan Medicine”).
Many of the subject’s were twins, mostly identical. Twins when through the worst of the surgeries, including blood transfusions. Doctors drained one twin of his blood and inject it into the other twin to see what would happen. Blood would be drawn from each twin in large quantities about ten cubic centimeters were drawn daily. The twins who were very young suffered the worst of the blood drawing. They would be forced to have blood drawn from their necks a very painful method. Other methods included from their fingers for smaller amounts, and arms sometimes from both simultaneously. The doctors would sometimes see how much they could withdraw until the patient passed out or died.
Cohen, Jennie. "A Brief History of Bloodletting." History.com. 30 May 2012. Web. 14 Dec. 2013. .
Leeching was only used for royalty. The leech was placed on the most infected part of the body. Venesection is the act of directly opening the vein using a fleam, a long half inch blade, and catching the blood in a bowl to measure the amount of blood drained. Other common ones include burning a candle near your tooth for a toothache. If you have evil spirits in your head, then you would have a procedure called trepanning done, which involves cutting a hole in your skull to release
The theories of Hippocrates and Galen are of vital importance to the development of medicine, as they shaped medicine for many centuries to come. Hippocrates was the first to dismiss the notion that magic, spirits, or the Gods could cause or cure disease, reforming the course medicine took. Galen followed in the footsteps of Hippocrates, working relentlessly on human anatomy, endeavoring to fathom how the body functions and what happens when something goes wrong. Without Hippocrates’ belief in diseases being a product of nature revolutionizing medicine, and Galen’s extensive work on the anatomy of the human body, medicine may not have progressed to what it is today.
The carnivorous worm Hirudo medicinalis, commonly known as a leech, has recently been approved by the FDA as a medicinal device. In June, 2004 the FDA gave the French company Ricarimpex SAS a license to market leeches for medical use in the United States. Leeches are commonly used post-operatively in reconstructive surgery. It is difficult for ruptured veins to rejoin after surgery without any vessels to drain blood away. This can cause cells to die from oxygen deprivation. Leeches can eliminate this by sucking the pooled blood, which allows the body to re-establish the network of blood vessels (Pilcher 2004). There are also recent studies being done on the use of leeches in the treatment of osteoarthritis. This condition occurs when cartilage in the knee joint breaks down. This causes a great ...
Wrong theories of the anatomy have been assumed to be correct for thousands of years. Theories of using a scientific base were not used by the Europeans until the Renaissance period (“Medicine”). These theories, made by a Greek Physician named Galen, were supported by the Catholic Church. The Middle Ages were a difficult time to achieve medical advances because Galen’s theories were not to be questioned or tested(“The Impact of the Renaissance on Medicine”).Even after these theories appeared to be inaccurate, the support from such a high authority made it extremely difficult to change the medical practices and training(“Rennaissance medicine”).
Bloodletting was a very important and necessary act that had to happen in Mesoamerica to try and keep a balance between society and the universe. The act of bloodletting was to do a puncture on one's body or self-cut in order to release blood that would serve as an offering to the deities or as punishment or even a form of debt payment. “This practice was usually performed by nobles through the perforation of body parts, mainly, but not only, tongue, lips, and genitals. Both men and women practiced these types of sacrifices” (Nicoletta Maestri). The practice of bloodletting began in the time of the Olmec and dispersed through all of Mesoamerica. In this process only the nobles were able to perform bloodletting procedures because they were high in the hierarchy and they would communicate
The Blood of Olympus Book Review: Imagine being in a race against time to save the world. Imagine feeling all alone like no one's there for you and you’re feeling rejected by everyone. This is how Nico felt in the book, “The Blood of Olympus” by Rick Riordan, where the crew of the Argo II need to get to Athens Greece and stop the giants from raising the patron goddess Gaea or else the whole world will be destroyed. Nico, Reyna, and Hedge have to get the 40 foot tall Athenea Perosis statue back to Camp Half Blood to heal the bond between the Roman and Greek demigods before they have an all out war against each other.
Although it is not apparent whether or not Ancient Egyptian physicians had formal training or not, their methods for diagnosing and handling illnesses were very efficient at times. As a matter of fact, we still use some of their remedies today when we make medicines. Examples of the diagnosis and remedies for diseases in Ancient Egypt can be found in the Ebers Papyrus. This is one of the oldest known documentations of ancient medical practices, dating as far back as fifteen hundred BC. Steven Gilbert, the author of A Small Dose of Toxicology: The Health Effects of Common Chemicals, defines the text as “approximately one hundred and ten pages on anatomy and physiology, toxicology, spells, and treatment recorded on papyrus. The papyrus also has many prescriptions showing the treatment of many disorders by animal, plant, and mineral toxins that still occur today.” Modern-day examples of medical ailments mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus include Asthma, Cancer, and Belly Aches. Oddly enough, the heart, rather than the brain, was regarded as the headquarters of human knowledge in the body because this was where the abundance of emotion was said to be drawn forth from. The heart was also thought to be a means of communication between the people and the gods because people were given insight and instruction pertaining to the gods will through this organ of the body. The Egyptians did not understand how important the heart was in terms of blood circulation, as we understand it today. Their belief was that the heart was connected to all the other parts of the body, via canals, which were used to transport bodily fluids and waste to their appropriate locations. The brain’s only purpose was to transport mucus to the nose, and therefore it wa...
Early Greek medicine was more of a divine matter. It was believed that the God Asclepius was the god of medicine. Priests would live at his temples and claimed they knew the ways of healing people. It was not until around 500 B.C., a Greek physician named Alcmaeon began to dissect animals to observe their skeleton, muscles, and brain. This was most probably the first ever to describe a phenomenon through objective observations. Through his observations, he believed that illness was due to an imbalance in the body. This idea prevailed for many centuries in the history of medicine.
As previously mentioned, Hippocrates II (460 – 370 B.C.) was known as the father of medicine and although human dissection was forbidden because of religious beliefs, he dissected animals and studied the anatomy of bones. Hippocrates had some accuracy in osteology; however, he was not as accurate in his theories regarding the arteries, which he thought were filled with air because they appear empty in dead animals. In addition, he established the Doctrine of Humors which stated that the body is composed of four major fluids. Future researchers would follow the Doctrine of Humors until it was later proved false.