Past Medicines and Medical Practices- Bloodletting - Essay Sample

Introduction

Improvement and change are two things that are common in any field. While change is inevitable, improvement is invaluable. Change and improvement occur everywhere, and the health sector is one of the common areas where the two are rapidly experienced. Health experts and scientists have admitted that the pace of change in medical practice and health policy has been rapidly occurring. Over the past decade, health reports and researches have disclosed that the pace of change in medical practices has rapidly accelerated (DePalma, Ralph, Virginia, and Leo, 134). This is in line with the fact that there are many past medicines and medical practices that were once of great value but have today been overshadowed by other medical improvements and changes. Take, for example, activities such as soothing syrup for babies, lobotomy on physically and mentally challenged, deep sleep therapy and bloodletting that were once regarded as invaluable. Today, these practices have been overshadowed by modern medical practices that have proved invaluable in whatever capacity. Based on their efficiency and related risk factors, it is viable to argue that some of these practices are better left in the past. This review discusses bloodletting as one of the past medical practices that are better left in the past and should not be returned to.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Well, over the past thousands of years, it was a belief to the medical practitioners that some diseases were caused by what they termed as 'bad blood.' According to these elites for a person to be healthy, they had to maintain a good balance of blood and its components. They argued that the human body was made up of four fundamental components that dictated the health of a person (DePalma, Ralph, Virginia, and Leo, 134). These components included yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood and had to be kept in balance to ensure that that proper health is maintained. As a result, a person with an imbalance in these components was diagnosed with overbalance in either of the four. The doctor in charge of a patient would, therefore, cut open a vein and drain the fluids into a receptacle in a bid to restore the harmony of the body. While this procedure could work to an extent, it often resulted in accidental deaths that were caused by excessive blood loss and other ill-health consequences.

For the past thousands of years that the practice was used, it worked well for some cases whereas in some cases it had devastating results. Some of the doctors even described the practice as a treatment for everything ranging from sore throat to plague. With time the results of the procedure could not be sustained as it led to more harm than good. The devastating loss of blood, accompanied by accidental deaths forced the medieval doctors to fell out with the practice. The new researches that were carried out by then compromised the efficiency of the practice and even disclosed other life-threatening effects that were associated with the practice.

The loss of blood and consequent death cases points out why there is a need to leave the practice of bloodletting in the past. During the process of draining the blood from the body of a patient, there are chances that the operation may be carried out manually or what may be called traditional approach (DePalma, Ralph, Virginia, and Leo, 134). In this way, there is the possibility that the patient may lose a lot of blood. In some cases, when a lot of blood is lost, the patient may experience shock or may result in low blood pressure.

Loss of blood may not only result in other health complications that have been discussed above but may also result in death. With the belief that the procedure could help overcome some health complications such as bacterial infections, bloodletting was often carried out in the past years to improve the condition of the patients suffering from these infections. However, the process did not go well in some cases and even resulted in deaths (Parapia, 490). As earlier on discussed, the process did not go well supported by the fact that bloodletting could at times be aggressive, resulting in severely low blood pressure and shock to the patient.

In most cases, excessive loss of blood results in death. For example, history has it that George Washington, considered as the father of the nation, died of bloodletting. Health experts, along with with with with with historical findings, show that George died of excessive and aggressive bloodletting; a practice that is believed to have resulted in severely low blood pressure and shock to him(Parapia, 490). This is just a case where bloodletting has been accused of contributing to the death of a person. In a study carried out by physician-physiologist John Hughes Bennett, it was reported that the death scandals that surrounded bloodletting in 19 century proved costly to the practice as there was a gradual decline in its popularity thus becoming an uncommon practice (DePalma, Ralph, Virginia, and Leo, 134). Regardless of the sentiments that were made by the supporters of bloodletting such as Austin Flint I, Hiram Corson, and William Osler about the benefits if bloodletting, researches backed with historical statistics prove that bloodletting is a medical practice that should be left in the past.

Bloodletting may also have other minor but dangerous and life-threatening consequences. The practice may cause adverse effects to the patient such as pain, bruising at the point of puncture, fainting, and nerve damage, among other minor complications associated. It is also likely that when the procedure is carried out uncontrollably, it may result in hematoma and injury to anatomical structures (Parapia, 490). Bloodletting should also be left behind for its inaccuracy and misleading nature whereby when the results are poorly collected, clinicians find it challenging to gather accurate results. It thus forces the patient to undergo another test that may pose them to undergo another repeat test that in most cases, is inconveniencing.

Bloodletting should also be left in the past for its nature and tendencies of imposing the patients to bacterial infection. The practice, in most cases, is associated with bacterial infections that are caused by poor infection-control practices. For example, where the needle is inserted, the patient may be exposed to blood-borne pathogens that may include, but not limited to, a virus such as HIV, bacteria such as syphilis, and parasites such as malaria. Research has given out the breakouts of hepatitis B linked with the use of glucometers as an example of the blood-borne pathogens that have been caused by bloodletting practices such as phlebotomy (Parapia, 490). More so, the workers are often exposed to these health complications through acute injuries that often occur between the use and the disposal of the devices used to carry out the process.

Regardless of the harmful and life-threatening effects and consequences that are associated with bloodletting, it is still relevant and is being practiced till date. It is therefore never wrong to argue that the practice should be carried till date. Scientists and health experts say that bloodletting is only dangerous when practiced out of control (Parapia, 490). Leeching and controlled bloodletting remain invaluable procedures that cannot be forfeited. Furthermore, some rare illnesses can be effectively treated through leeching and controlled bloodletting.

Further, it is viable to argue that people should return to bloodletting for the benefits that are associated with the practice. Health experts say that in as much as our bodies need iron, too much of the mineral may be harmful to the body (Parapia, 490). When not properly taken care of, too much iron may leave the body vulnerable to various sicknesses and ill-health. As a result, there is a need to identify a method that would help overcome this deficiency. Interestingly, one of the ideal ways that can be used to address this problem is through bloodletting. Since regular purging of iron is beneficial for the body, bloodletting could help achieve this. In general, bloodletting allows people to take care of the amount of iron in the body. As reported by the health experts, too much of iron may not be good for the body. Since bloodletting is one of the ideal methods that help take good care of the level of iron in the body, it is clear why it is wrong to leave the practice behind. People should also return to bloodletting for its benefit of burning calories. A study carried out by the University of California; San Diego disclosed that when blood is donated more than 600 calories are burned in the process (Parapia, 490). This shows that bloodletting would even contribute to burning more calories. We should also return to bloodletting as it may improve the insulin sensitivity, thus reducing the risk of acquiring type-2 diabetes as well as reducing the hardening of the arteries and heart attack risks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that in as much as there are past medicine and medical practices such as soothing syrup for babies, lobotomy on physically and mentally challenged, deep sleep therapy and bloodletting that should be left in the past, there are various reasons as to why it would be beneficial to return to these practices. Bloodletting, for instance, remains valuable health-wisely in as much as it poses multiple health risks and complications to people.

Work Cited

DePalma, Ralph G., Virginia W. Hayes, and Leo R. Zacharski. "Bloodletting: past and present." Journal of the American College of Surgeons 205.1 (2007): 132-144.

Parapia, Liakat Ali. "History of bloodletting by phlebotomy." British journal of hematology 143.4 (2008): 490-495.