Phlebotomy (Bloodletting)
Phlebotomy or bloodletting is the surgical removal of some of a patient's blood for therapeutic purposes and is also used deliberately to shed large quantities of blood to treat or to prevent disease (Bynum 45). The method of bloodletting consisted of opening a vein or sometimes an artery with a lancet application of a leech to suck out the blood. Bloodletting began with the Egyptians of the River Nile one thousand years B.C. and continuously spread to the Greeks and Romans and through-out the Middle Ages. The story of bloodletting originates with religious ceremonies and magic. With the advancements of medical techniques now bloodletting would be seen as an obscure treatment but man during the early ages saw a disease as a curse that was driven by an evil spirit. Bloodletting was used to drive out the demon that possessed the man along with the blood that housed the disease. Therefore because a disease was seen as a curse the physician and the priest were viewed with the same level of authority. The first bloodletting instrument resembled a crossbow, but in the 1400 B.C. leeches were being used for drawing blood from human beings (Seigworth 1980).
Four body humors
As observations and improvements were being made in the medical field physicians discovered that diseases were not caused by evil spirits but caused by an offset of the four body humors. Hippocrates (460 to 377 B.C.) is an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He developed the four body humors being blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Bloodletting, by the use of leeches, was used to regulate the humors. Hippocrates also discovered that leeches could be used to reduce inflammatory and conditions they thought had an excess of blood (Bynum 45).
Bloodletting used during War
The bloodletting technique was very popular during war, especially the Civil War, because it was a cheap and efficient way to cure a disease. Civil War techniques sometimes consisted of cutting a whole vein or artery but a less dramatic way to suck a smaller amount of blood was done using leeches. Leeches were also used in amputation surgeries to regulate blood loss and to stop circulation in the area that need to be amputated. Surprisingly, leeches were also used as a treatment along with wet dressings, cold compresses and massages. Blistering was a very common problem in wars and the only way to reduce the inflammation was by depleting the fluids and this was done by leeches ( Schroeder-Lein, 2008).
As medical techniques improved and more efficient ways of curing diseases developed bloodletting gradually died off in the late 19th century being used only in specific circumstances today.
Four body humors
As observations and improvements were being made in the medical field physicians discovered that diseases were not caused by evil spirits but caused by an offset of the four body humors. Hippocrates (460 to 377 B.C.) is an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He developed the four body humors being blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Bloodletting, by the use of leeches, was used to regulate the humors. Hippocrates also discovered that leeches could be used to reduce inflammatory and conditions they thought had an excess of blood (Bynum 45).
Bloodletting used during War
The bloodletting technique was very popular during war, especially the Civil War, because it was a cheap and efficient way to cure a disease. Civil War techniques sometimes consisted of cutting a whole vein or artery but a less dramatic way to suck a smaller amount of blood was done using leeches. Leeches were also used in amputation surgeries to regulate blood loss and to stop circulation in the area that need to be amputated. Surprisingly, leeches were also used as a treatment along with wet dressings, cold compresses and massages. Blistering was a very common problem in wars and the only way to reduce the inflammation was by depleting the fluids and this was done by leeches ( Schroeder-Lein, 2008).
As medical techniques improved and more efficient ways of curing diseases developed bloodletting gradually died off in the late 19th century being used only in specific circumstances today.