Bloodletting

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[[File:Schroepfschnepper 2.JPG|thumb|right|A scarificator - a 19th century spring-powered bloodletting instrument creating multiple cuts in the skin at once. Ouch!]]  
 
[[File:Schroepfschnepper 2.JPG|thumb|right|A scarificator - a 19th century spring-powered bloodletting instrument creating multiple cuts in the skin at once. Ouch!]]  
'''Bloodletting''' is an alternative medical treatment. Its use declined after [[evidence-based medicine]] showed it was harmful and did no good, but believe it or not, bloodletting is still around in [[alternative medicine]] as part of [[Ayurveda]]<ref>[http://www.e-swastya.com/2010/07/bloodletting.html Bloodletting], E-swastya.</ref> and [[Unani]].<ref>[http://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102332:unani-system-of-medicine-practice&catid=116&Itemid=186  Unani System of Medicine Practice], Globinmed.com.</ref> You can even find [http://thedelhiwalla.blogspot.ca/2009/01/city-secret-blood-letting-in-old-delhi.html testmonials] praising bloodletting's curative powers.<ref>[http://thedelhiwalla.blogspot.ca/2009/01/city-secret-blood-letting-in-old-delhi.html City Secret - Blood Letting in Old Delhi], The Delhi Walla, Wednesday, January 28, 2009.</ref> (If you look at the comments, you'll see a defense of bloodletting, including such gems as [[science was wrong before]], [[Argumentum ad populum|lots of Indians use it]], and others.) Bloodletting is commonly used as a counterexample to the claim, often used by supporters of [[alternative medicine]], that because something [[Appeal to tradition|has been used for thousands of years]] and [[Argumentum ad populum|has many satisfied customers]], it must be good.
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'''Bloodletting''' is an alternative medical treatment. Its use declined after [[evidence-based medicine]] showed it was harmful and did no good, but believe it or not, bloodletting is still around in [[alternative medicine]] as part of [[Ayurveda]]<ref>[http://www.e-swastya.com/2010/07/bloodletting.html Bloodletting], E-swastya.</ref> and [[Unani]].<ref>[http://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102332:unani-system-of-medicine-practice&catid=116&Itemid=186  Unani System of Medicine Practice], Globinmed.com.</ref> You can even find [http://thedelhiwalla.blogspot.ca/2009/01/city-secret-blood-letting-in-old-delhi.html testmonials] (with pictures) praising bloodletting's curative powers.<ref>[http://thedelhiwalla.blogspot.ca/2009/01/city-secret-blood-letting-in-old-delhi.html City Secret - Blood Letting in Old Delhi], The Delhi Walla, Wednesday, January 28, 2009.</ref> (If you look at the comments, you'll see a defense of bloodletting, including such gems as [[science was wrong before]], [[Argumentum ad populum|lots of Indians use it]], and others.) Bloodletting is commonly used as a counterexample to the claim, often used by supporters of [[alternative medicine]], that because something [[Appeal to tradition|has been used for thousands of years]] and [[Argumentum ad populum|has many satisfied customers]], it must be good.
  
 
It is not to be confused with lancing, a proper medical technique in which pus is drained from an abcess, boil, etc.
 
It is not to be confused with lancing, a proper medical technique in which pus is drained from an abcess, boil, etc.

Revision as of 16:28, 30 March 2013

Against allopathy

Alternative medicine

Icon alt med alt.svg
Alternative articles
A scarificator - a 19th century spring-powered bloodletting instrument creating multiple cuts in the skin at once. Ouch!

Bloodletting is an alternative medical treatment. Its use declined after evidence-based medicine showed it was harmful and did no good, but believe it or not, bloodletting is still around in alternative medicine as part of Ayurveda[1] and Unani.[2] You can even find testmonials (with pictures) praising bloodletting's curative powers.[3] (If you look at the comments, you'll see a defense of bloodletting, including such gems as science was wrong before, lots of Indians use it, and others.) Bloodletting is commonly used as a counterexample to the claim, often used by supporters of alternative medicine, that because something has been used for thousands of years and has many satisfied customers, it must be good.

It is not to be confused with lancing, a proper medical technique in which pus is drained from an abcess, boil, etc.

Bloodletting even used to be used as a supposed cure for anaemia! Yes, anaemia!

Bloodletting was also known as "bleeding" - unfortunately this term is ambiguous as it also refers to unintentional blood loss.

Contents

History

Bloodletting has been used for about 3000 years.[4] It was used because it was believed to be effective in expelling demons.[4] Later, its use was based on heroic medicine, which claimed that disease is caused by imbalance of the four humors, so bloodletting was used to correct this imbalance.[4]

It also robbed us of Lord Byron, one of the greatest poets in the English language, so we have even more reason to hate it. Byron was about to fight in Greece, when he fell ill with a fever. Just as he was recovering, some daftie decided to let his blood, using unsterilised equipment. It made a cold he had even worse, and gave him septicaemia. He was only thirty six when he died.

In Europe at least, bloodletting was traditionally practiced by barbers (along with shaving - those dirty blades obviously came in handy for many things). This perhaps why a red and white striped pole is sometimes used to represent a barber's shop. Whether the English expression, "Filthy Bleeders" (scoundrels) came from here is debatable, but it wouldn't surprise us if it did.

Recreational bloodletting

Naturally some sick weirdos alternatively orientated folk like bloodletting for non-medical purposes. Here are three examples:

  • Extreme sado-masochists - that's gotta hurt! Still, no pain, no gain, as they say.
  • "Real" vampires - why be sucked off by someone when you can have someone sucking your blood? (Through a straw.)
  • War mongering - bloodletting on an industrial scale and not much fun for most of the participants.

Some forms of self-harm may involve bloodletting too.

Footnotes

  1. Bloodletting, E-swastya.
  2. Unani System of Medicine Practice, Globinmed.com.
  3. City Secret - Blood Letting in Old Delhi, The Delhi Walla, Wednesday, January 28, 2009.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Bloodletting Over the Centuries, Gilbert R. Seigworth, M.D.
Icon fun.svg For those of you in the mood, RationalWiki has a fun article about Bloodletting.


See also

External links

Alternative medicine articles on RationalWiki
Acupuncture - Aromatherapy - Apitherapy - Autism and pseudoscience - Bloodletting/Leeching - Chelation therapy - Chiropractic - Cleanse - Colloidal silver - Colonic - Color therapy - DMSO - Dynamiclear - Ear candling - Faith healing - Fasting - Folk remedy - Geier family - Hair analysis - Health freedom - Heel (company) - Herbal supplement - Heroic medicine (Humorism) - Homeopathy - Kombucha - Laetrile - Lupron therapy - Macrobiotics - Magnetic therapy - Medical marijuana - National Health Federation - Narconon - Oil pulling - Oxygen therapy - Q-Ray - Reflexology - Reiki - Rolfing - Shark cartilage - Shiitake mushroom - Tetrasil - Therapeutic touch - Trepanation - Unani

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