“The Tortured Past of Medical Treatments”
Fortunately, we now depend on evidence-based medical studies (EBM) to justify medical care. It’s described as “the conscientious, explicit, judicious and reasonable use of modern, best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.” The EBM movement began in 1981, which allowed physicians to be able to apply their clinical experience to the latest and greatest medical research to diagnose health problems more quickly and accurately and prescribe the most appropriate treatments for the best outcomes. But, the past history of medicine has frequently led down misguided paths with errors and misconceptions. Bizarre treatments were all the rage but nowadays, they’re hopefully practically nonexistent. Let’s look at a few of these curious and strange practices. Bloodletting. Early surgeons in 13th century England took over the practice of bloodletting from medieval barbers. Blood was collected from gushing veins in basins, the volumes
of which were weighed and measured. The surgeons would staunch the bleeding once they thought enough blood had been let. About 500 mL was taken on average or the volume equivalent of a modern-day transfusion! As late as the 19th century, patients continued to be bled twice a year at hospitals in England to maintain good health.
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