"in 1623 on the uses of bloodletting to cure a broken heart. He recommended bloodletting to the point of heart failure (literal). Leeches became especially popular in the early nineteenth century. In the 1830s, the French imported about forty million leeches a year for medical purposes, and in the next decade, England imported six million leeches a year from France alone. Through the early decades of the century, hundreds of millions of leeches were used by physicians throughout Europe. Bloodletting was also popular in the young United States of America, where Benjamin Rush (a signatory of the Declaration of Independence)"
"a persistent social parasite or sycophant. The medicinal leech ""Hirudo medicinalis"", and some other species, have been used for clinical bloodletting for at least 2,500 years: Ayurvedic texts describe their use for bloodletting in ancient India. In ancient Greece, bloodletting was practised according to the theory of humours found in the Hippocratic Corpus of the fifth century BC, which maintained that health depended on a balance of the four humours, blood, phlegm, and black and yellow bile. Bloodletting using leeches enabled physicians to restore balance if blood was present in excess. Pliny the Elder reported in his ""Natural History"" that"
"red-and-white-striped pole of the barbershop, still in use today, is derived from this practice: the red symbolizes blood while the white symbolizes the bandages. Bloodletting was used to ""treat"" a wide range of diseases, becoming a standard treatment for almost every ailment, and was practiced prophylactically as well as therapeutically. A number of different methods were employed. The most common was ""phlebotomy"", or ""venesection"" (often called ""breathing a vein""), in which blood was drawn from one or more of the larger external veins, such as those in the forearm or neck. In ""arteriotomy"", an artery was punctured, although generally only"
"Ancient Egyptians, but it appears to have been developed independently in China. This practice was used until at least 1790, when the use of dog blood was mentioned in ""De Secretis Naturae"". Paracelsus recommended the use of lamb's blood, and blood from dead bodies was sometimes used. Snakes were also used, according to Pliny, Aretaeus of Cappadocia, and Theodorus. Gaucher recommended treatment with cobra venom. Boinet, in 1913, tried increasing doses of bee stings (up to 4000). Scorpions and frogs were used occasionally instead of snakes. The excreta of ""Anabas"" (the climbing fish) was also tried. Alternative treatments included scarification"
"epilepsy, gangrene, gout, herpes, indigestion, insanity, jaundice, leprosy, ophthalmia, plague, pneumonia, scurvy, smallpox, stroke, tetanus, tuberculosis, and for some one hundred other diseases. Bloodletting was even used to treat most forms of hemorrhaging such as nosebleed, excessive menstruation, or hemorrhoidal bleeding. Before surgery or at the onset of childbirth, blood was removed to prevent inflammation. Before amputation, it was customary to remove a quantity of blood equal to the amount believed to circulate in the limb that was to be removed. There were also theories that bloodletting would cure ""heartsickness"" and ""heartbreak"". A French physician, Jacques Ferrand wrote a book"
"of the use of thumb lancets in horses for opening the facial vein and for bleeding cats and dogs, the dimensions of the lancets fitted into fleams fit the dimensions of those described by Kirkup for human use. Fleam A fleam, also flem, flew, flue, fleame, or phleam, was a handheld instrument used for bloodletting. This name for handheld venipuncture devices first appears in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts around A.D. 1000. The name is most likely derived from phlebotome: ""phlebos"", Greek for blood vessel and ""tome"", meaning to cut. These instruments are the progression from the early use of fish teeth, sharpened"
"assassin bug, mosquito, tick, louse, mite, midge, and flea. Hematophagous organisms have been used by physicians for beneficial purposes (hirudotherapy). Some doctors now use leeches to prevent the clotting of blood on some wounds following surgery or trauma. The anticoagulants in the laboratory-raised leeches' saliva keeps fresh blood flowing to the site of an injury, actually preventing infection and increasing chances of full recovery. In a recent study a genetically engineered drug called desmoteplase based on the saliva of ""Desmodus rotundus"" (the vampire bat) was shown to improve recovery in stroke patients. Many human societies also drink blood or use"
"an incision was made at the end of the bone, and a branch of fir was inserted into the cavity of the medulla..."" Modern medicine developed a technique similar to this in the 20th century known as medullary fixation. Bloodletting is one of the oldest medical practices, having been practiced among diverse ancient peoples, including the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Mayans, and the Aztecs. In Greece, bloodletting was in use around the time of Hippocrates, who mentions bloodletting but in general relied on dietary techniques. Erasistratus, however, theorized that many diseases were caused by plethoras, or overabundances, in"
"system. The desired effect was to make the patient sweat violently and thus purge all corruption from the blood which was caused by the disease. Another practice was the use of pigeons when treating swellings. Swellings which were white in appearance and deep were unlikely to break and were anointed with ""Oil of Lillies"" or ""Camomil"". Once the swelling rose to a head and was red in appearance and not deep in the flesh, it was broken with the use of a feather from a young pigeon's tail. The feather's fundament was held to the swelling and would draw out"
"was the first to empirically discover and clearly describe deficiency diseases. Animal blood was used to treat a variety of illness, from gout to blood loss. Recorded in the Yuan Shih, are many incident where the blood of a freshly killed animal, usually a cow or an ox, was used to treat illness. Gout, which was a common affliction of the Mongol people, was treated by immersing the afflicted body part into the belly of a freshly killed cow. Placing a person in the stomach of an animal was also used as a method of blood transfusion. On the battlefield,"
"a unit of blood in specific cases like hemochromatosis, polycythemia vera, porphyria cutanea tarda, etc., to reduce the number of red blood cells. The traditional medical practice of bloodletting is today considered to be a pseudoscience. Passages from the Ebers Papyrus may indicate that bloodletting by scarification was an accepted practice in Ancient Egypt. Egyptian burials have been reported to contain bloodletting instruments. According to some accounts, the Egyptians based the idea on their observations of the Hippopotamus, confusing its red sweat with blood, and believing that it scratched itself to relieve distress. In Greece, bloodletting was in use in"
"the horse leech could drive elephants mad by climbing up inside their trunks to drink blood. Pliny also noted the medicinal use of leeches in ancient Rome, stating that they were often used for gout, and that patients became addicted to the treatment. In Old English, ""lǣce"" was the name for a physician as well as for the animal, and ""lǣcecraft"", leechcraft, was the art of healing. William Wordsworth's 1802 poem ""Resolution and Independence"" describes one of the last of the leech-gatherers, people who travelled Britain catching leeches from the wild, and causing a sharp decline in their abundance, though"
"Pliny to be effective as a cough remedy. Pliny also found white horehound to be effective at treating coughs. Tarragon was used by Romans to enhance their stamina in daily tasks, particularly soldiers who walked extensively. Gladiators, and perhaps even soldiers, consumed parsley in the hopes that it would give them an edge above their opponent. they were used to tame wild animals and for the gladiators to get the edge on their fights Yarrow is an healing agent, and is shown to exist in Imperial times through stories such as Homer's Illiad, where it is used by Achilles to"
"wen"" recommends cauterization as a treatment for various ailments, including dog bites. Indigenous peoples of the Americas, ancient Arabs, and Persians also used the technique. Tools used in the ancient cauterization process ranged from heated lances to cauterizing knives. The piece of metal was heated over fire and applied to the wound. This caused tissues and blood to heat rapidly to extreme temperatures, causing coagulation of the blood and thus controlling the bleeding, at the cost of extensive tissue damage. In rarer cases, cauterization was instead accomplished via the application of cauterizing chemicals like lye. Cauterization continued to be used"
"scalp. Three different types of procedures used to perform the act of bloodletting are cupping, leeching and phlebotomy. Bloodletting is considered to have originated in Ancient Egypt and Greece. During the 3rd century B.C., physicians such as Erasistratus believed that all illnesses stemmed from a plethora of blood. In the 2nd century A.D., Galen promoted Hippocrates' theory on the necessary balance between the 4 ""humours"" - blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile - to maintain good health. It is suggested that the practice of bloodletting has persisted through time because it is a readily available measure to people of"
"Animal bath An animal bath or balneum animale is a medical treatment in which the skin or carcass of a freshly slaughtered animal is wrapped around the patient. The treatment's goal is transference of the animal's vitality to the patient, with the warmth of the treatment perhaps having a therapeutic effect. The treatment has been used since antiquity and was thought to be effective for lameness. The young Kaiser Wilhelm II had a left arm palsied from birth and was given this treatment. Animal baths were used since antiquity as medical treatments. The skin or carcass of a freshly slaughtered"
"others. Maggots were used for wound healing by the Maya and by indigenous Australians. More recently, they were used in Renaissance Europe, in the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War, and in the First and Second World Wars. It continues to be used in military medicine. Apitherapy is the medical use of honeybee products such as honey, pollen, bee bread, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom. One of the major peptides in bee venom, called Melittin, has the potential to treat inflammation in sufferers of Rheumatoid arthritis and Multiple sclerosis. Melittin blocks the expression of inflammatory genes, thus reducing swelling"
"belief was that it was better to give any treatment than nothing at all. The psychological benefit of bloodletting to the patient (a placebo effect) may sometimes have outweighed the physiological problems it caused. Bloodletting slowly lost favour during the 19th century, after French physician Dr. Pierre Louis conducted an experiment in which he studied the effect of bloodletting on pneumonia patients. A number of other ineffective or harmful treatments were available as placebos—mesmerism, various processes involving the new technology of electricity, many potions, tonics, and elixirs. Yet, bloodletting persisted during the 19th century partly because it was readily available"
"the blood, and advised that these plethoras be treated, initially, by exercise, sweating, reduced food intake, and vomiting. Herophilus advocated bloodletting. Archagathus, one of the first Greek physicians to practice in Rome, practiced bloodletting extensively. The art of bloodletting became very popular in the West, and during the Renaissance one could find bloodletting calendars that recommended appropriate times to bloodlet during the year and books that claimed bloodletting would cure inflammation, infections, strokes, manic psychosis and more. The Sumerians saw sickness as a divine punishment imposed by different demons when an individual broke a rule. For this reason, to be"
"fish, such as lampreys and candirus, and mammals, especially the vampire bats, and birds, such as the vampire finches, hood mockingbirds, the Tristan thrush, and oxpeckers also practise hematophagy. These hematophagous animals have mouth parts and chemical agents for penetrating vascular structures in the skin of hosts, mostly of mammals, birds, and fish. This type of feeding is known as phlebotomy (from the Greek words, ""phleps"" ""vein"" and ""tomos"" ""cutting""). Once phlebotomy is performed (in most insects by a specialized fine hollow ""needle,"" the proboscis, which perforates skin and capillaries; in bats by sharp incisor teeth that act as a"
"was a gift from the Christian God to the Native American people. She healed many people using a medical kit of both botanical and non-botanical medicines, such as sneezeweed to treat heart palpitations, low blood pressure and congestion, mescal bean for ear problems, rye grass for the treatment of cataracts, red cedar to ward off ghosts, prickly ash to treat fever; iris for colds, broomweed for dermatological ailments etc. Her most important medicine was peyote. She was only prevailent in using the body parts of dead animals such as beef fat for mouth burns, white otter fur and porcupine quills"
"2004 after being an indispensable tool in the 19th century. This unique use of creatures is utilized in many surgeries today. Leeches have the ability to assist with compromised tissue with the components of their saliva. Their saliva contains a local anesthetic, thrombin inhibitor, antibiotic properties and a histamine-like vasodilator. These capabilities help in surgeries such as transplants, skin grafts, and even reconstructive surgeries. The leeches help localize the wound and help produce blood flow. This is helpful in operations where blood clots occur and they help dilate the blood vessels. Medical maggots were first utilized by military medical aids"
"their prey. These insects have been used by practitioners of Eastern Medicine for hundreds of years to prevent blood clot formation or thrombosis. However, modern medical research has only recently begun to investigate the drug development potential of blood-feeding insect saliva. These compounds in the saliva of blood feeding insects are capable of increasing the ease of blood feeding by preventing coagulation of platelets around the wound and provide protection against the host’s immune response. Currently, over 1280 different protein families have been associated with the saliva of blood feeding organisms. This diverse range of compounds may include: Currently, some"
"a testimony from Dr. Clement Harrisse Arnold about how far blood could spurt from the neck: vertically and laterally. Chhinnamasta, a self-decapitated Hindu goddess, is depicted holding her head with three jets of blood spurting out of her bleeding neck, which are drunk by her severed head and two attendants. Saint Miliau, a Christian martyr killed c. 6th century AD, is sometimes represented holding his severed head, as in the retable of the Passion of the Christ at Lampaul-Guimiliau, where blood gushes from his neck. Some animals deliberately autohaemorrhage or squirt blood as a defense mechanism. Armored crickets, which are"
"not prominent in Insular Celtic tradition (as housecats were not introduced to the British Isles until the Mediaeval period). Fables of the Cat Sìth, a fairy creature described as resembling a large white-chested black cat, are thought to have been inspired by the Kellas cat, itself thought to be a free ranging wildcat-housecat crossbreed. Doctor William Salmon, writing in 1693, mentioned how portions of the wildcat were used for medicinal purposes; its flesh was used to treat gout, its fat used for dissolving tumours and easing pain, its blood used for curing ""falling sickness"", and its excrement used for treating"
"animal is wrapped around the patient or a limb was inserted into blood or stomach of a living animal. The treatment was intended to transfer the animal's vitality to the patient, with the warmth of the treatment perhaps having a therapeutic effect. Animal baths were thought to be effective for lameness. The young Kaiser Wilhelm II—whose left arm was palsied from birth—was given this treatment; his arm was placed in the body of a freshly slaughtered hare for 30 minutes twice a week to encourage it to grow normally. Animal bath An animal bath or balneum animale is a medical"
"dislocations of bones were treated by immobilising and covering the limbs with pastes and ointments made of medicinal herbs. As in Europe, the practice of the bloodletting was also commonplace and used as a treatment for many conditions. In Mapuche culture, it was done by making small cuts with a very sharp stone called a ""guincubue"" to draw blood, then covering the cut with an astringent or herbal mix. Bloodletting was also used by parents on children to make them lighter, more agile and more capable of working and fighting, as it was thought that their blood was salty and"
"tooth offers protection from wolf attacks. The tongue, when cooked with flour and honey, was traditionally used as a remedy for epilepsy and as a guarantee of good luck. The eyes of a wolf were traditionally thought to give courage to children and render the user partially invisible. The liver was particularly prized for medicinal and ritualistic purposes. When cooked or desiccated into a powder and mixed with certain ingredients (flour, wine, water, blood, urine etc.), wolf liver was said to cure epilepsy, edema, tachycardia, syphilis, gangrene, vertigo, migraines, verucas and dysentery. Wolf penis supposedly cured impotence. Wolf blood was"
"in the temples. In ""scarification"" (not to be confused with scarification, a method of body modification), the ""superficial"" vessels were attacked, often using a syringe, a spring-loaded lancet, or a glass cup that contained heated air, producing a vacuum within (see fire cupping). There was also a specific bloodletting tool called a ""scarificator"", used primarily in 19th century medicine. It has a spring-loaded mechanism with gears that snaps the blades out through slits in the front cover and back in, in a circular motion. The case is cast brass, and the mechanism and blades steel. One knife bar gear has"
"to treat patients. These two techniques were commonly practiced because of the wide variety of illnesses they treated. Cauterization, a procedure used to burn the skin or flesh of a wound, was performed to prevent infection and stop profuse bleeding. To perform this procedure, physicians heated a metal rod and used it to burn the flesh or skin of a wound. This would cause the blood from the wound to clot and eventually heal the wound. Bloodletting, the surgical removal of blood, was used to cure a patient of bad ""humours"" considered deleterious to one's health. A phlebotomist performing bloodletting"
"the termites of Africa, ants were sometimes used as medicinal devices by the indigenous peoples of Central America. The soldier cast of the Army ant would be collected and used as living sutures by Mayans. This involved agitating an ant and holding its mandibles up to the wound edges; when it bit down, the thorax and abdomen were removed, leaving the head holding the wound together. The ant's salivary gland secretions were reputed to have antibiotic properties. The venom of the Red harvester ant was used to treat rheumatism, arthritis, and polimyelitis via the immunological reaction produced by its sting."
"for the practice of bloodletting or medical therapy. Leeching is popularly practiced worldwide for a variety of medical conditions, including skin diseases, nervous disorders, pains, fissures and certain infections. Some of the health consequences of bloodletting include severe bleeding, anemia, infections, the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases and, in extreme cases, death. In women, it could also lead to irregular menstruation. Leech therapy could lead to infections with certain bacterial species such as Aeromonas hydrophilia, Aeromonas veronii and Mycobacterium marinum, excessive bleeding, and in some cases, thrombotic microangiopathy, leading to renal failure. In 2010, the California Department of Consumer Affairs"
"medicines, such as nettle, dandelion and chickweed. Humans were not alone in using herbs as medicines: some animals such as non-human primates, monarch butterflies and sheep ingest medicinal plants when they are ill. Plant samples from prehistoric burial sites are among the lines of evidence that Paleolithic peoples had knowledge of herbal medicine. For instance, a 60 000-year-old Neanderthal burial site, ""Shanidar IV"", in northern Iraq has yielded large amounts of pollen from 8 plant species, 7 of which are used now as herbal remedies. A mushroom was found in the personal effects of ""Ötzi the Iceman"", whose body was"