Bloodletting History
Although the person who invented the idea of bloodletting is unknown, various studies show that the practice started about 3,000 years ago, first by the ancient Engyofians, then the Greeks and Romans, through the Middle Ages, and on to the Renaissance.
It is impossible to understand the idea behind bloodletting without considering the limited understanding of diseases during those periods. Around the 5th century B.C, Hippocrates discovered that humans existed in the realm of the four basic elements, earth, air, fire, and water, and that these elements were represented in the four “humors” in the body:
- Blood
- Phlegm
- Black bile
- Yellow bile
Hippocrates also discovered that these humors were each connected to a certain organ and personality type. He believed that the sickness came from an imbalance in these tumors. Bloodletting became a very popular practice in the 3rd century A.D. Then, a scholar named Galen of Pergamum concluded that blood is the most significant humor. Bloodletting then developed to become a standard practice for many centuries.
In the 1600s, more physicians were starting to question the science behind bloodletting, but habit and public opinions ensured the pracockbtinued for hundred more years. In the late 1800s, physicians conducted studies that concluded that bloodletting wasn’t effective.