The Ancient Greek Practice of Bloodletting: A Surprising Tale of Medicine

When one thinks of ancient medicine, those really outdated techniques and superstitions are what enter the mind. Well, actually, the ancient Greeks were pretty much advanced when it came to health. One of the really interesting and quite controversial practices they had is called bloodletting.

This is a procedure wherein blood is drawn from a patient. They believe that this may cure or prevent an illness. They developed this theory from the concept of the four humors. This was a theory propagated by Hippocrates. According to this theory, there were four humors in the body, namely, the blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. When these humors become imbalanced, that constitutes the formation of diseases. Bloodletting was one of the ways of creating balance among the humors through the removal of excess blood.

There were several ways of bloodletting. The most common was venesection, where a vein was severed and the blood allowed to flow freely. Other ways included cupping, with hot cups resting on the skin bringing the blood to the surface; the application of leeches was used to suck blood from the body-a practice that is still employed in very limited use today.

One of the more famous adherents to bloodletting was the second-century Greek physician Galen. His works were so influential that his texts, which were modifications of Hippocrates, remained part of the cannon of medicine for a period of over one thousand years. Galen reasoned that since the body manufactured and used blood, disease was frequently due to having too much blood. For that reason, bloodletting became a common remedy for fever and headache.

Although very common practice, it was not favored by everyone. Few physicians like Erasistratus believed that instead of curing the patients, it enfeebled them. However, Galen's view is so imposing that dissimilar views were seldom taken into consideration.

Bloodletting was continuous throughout the 19th century while evidence mounted up against the practice. It wasn't until medicine was furthered along, and we learnt more about the human body that bloodletting actually stopped for the most part.

Today, it is one of the many interesting examples of how the practice of medicine evolves with the ages. Really odd seeming today, it is truly representative of how the ancient Greeks knew and treated the body. Their willingness to experiment helped in paving the way for many of the medical advances that we know and enjoy today.

Ginsburg, M., & Heller, H. (1953). ANTIDIURETIC ACTIVITY IN BLOOD OBTAINED FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM. Journal of Endocrinology. https://doi.org/10.1677/joe.0.0090274