Bloodletting Research Paper

Bloodletting was a popular method of restoring a patient's health and ‘humors’. Early surgery, often done by barbers, occurred without anaesthesia.

The logic and principles of medieval medicine shaped those of Modern medicine. Never was there a more efficient method perfected, so much that it remained through history through so many hundreds of years. Today’s concepts of diagnosis, relationships with the church, anatomy, surgery, hospitals and training, and public health were established in the Middle Ages.

The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a rapid infectious outbreak that swept over Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s resulting in the death of millions of people. Tentatively, this disease started in the Eastern parts of Asia, and it eventually made its way over to Europe by way of trade routes. Fever and “dark despair” characterized this plague. The highly contagious sickness displayed many flu-like symptoms, and the victim’s lymph nodes would quickly become infected. The contamination resulted in a colossal and rapid spread of the disease within one person’s body. Due to the lack of medical knowledge and physicians, there was little that people could do to save those dying all around them. Now that a better understanding of

The United States has always been the symbol of freedom of religion and health care today has needed to increase its knowledge in incorporating the many different religions/spiritual beliefs in order to provide a more holistic approach to care. As health care providers we should not look in validating our own practice in regards to religion or spirituality but to comprehend and learn to see the patterns of similarities and differences in order to provide holistic care to our patients. As religious and spiritual beliefs are never permanent and are constantly changing and/or influenced by government, thinkers, historical events, technology and the shifting values of cultures the study of religions/spirituality should be continuous for all health care providers. The Native American, Buddhism, and Sikhism have some similar traits and values imbedded in their practiced religions that resemble the Christian Faith and medical providers needs to be aware and able to accommodate them in order to provide holistic care.

The black death arrived in Europe in October of 1347. It was brought by twelve Genoese trading ships that docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after a lengthy expedition through the Black Sea. The people that were gathered on the docks to meet the twelve ships were greeted with a terrifying surprise: the majority of the sailors that were on they ship were dead, and the ones that were still alive were somberly ill. They had fevers, were unable to hold down food, and were delirious from pain. They were covered with big black boils that oozed pus and blood. The illness was named the “Black Death” because of the black boils.

Causing so many deaths this disease will forever be known as the Black Death. The Black Plague, also known as the Black death, came to Europe in 1347 and ended in 1351. There are many different stories about how the Black Plague came to be. Some people believe that the black plague was spread by sailors coming from a journey through the Black Sea. They were heading to a port in the Mediterranean to trade their goods. When the boat docked, many people went towards the boat to see what these men had brought. To their surprise, almost all of the sailors were dead; those who were not dead were extremely sick. Boils that oozed blood and pus were all over their bodies, along with other symptoms including

The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic plague, was a serious pandemic that killed more than one-third of Europe’s population. Between 1347-1352, the Black Death had “reportedly killed more than 20 million people.” The plague originated from Asia before traveling throughout Europe and the Mediterranean by fleas infested rats transported through ships. The infested ships had then landed in European ports such as the following: “Genoa, Venice, Messina, and other more.” Thus, the starting the pandemic by the spreading of the highly contagious bacterial infection disease around Europe along with their imports and exports.

One of the well known massive disasters that happened in the history of European is the “Black Death.” This fatal plague led to huge loss of between 17 million and 28 million lives in whole Europe. It took place from 1345 to 1353 and the death arrived by sea during the time when twelve Genoese trading ships had actually docked at the Sicilian port after travelling through the Black Sea. A horrifying surprise befell the individuals who were gathering on the docks when they realized that a great number of sailors had died, and the lucky sailors were extremely ill. In addition, they were covered by mysterious black boils which oozed pus and blood (Cohn, pg 514). This is why they named this kind of illness as the “Black Death.” Then what followed were other various symptoms such as vomiting, fever, diarrhea, chills, severe aches and extraordinary pains- and then death.

In October 1347, twelve Genoese trading ships sailed to the port of Messina having with them a certain, unexpected disease known as The Black Death. Many sailors were already dead, some alive but close to death. Beginning with what they had from the plague were huge boils that oozed blood and pus. Onto the future, The Black Death spread all through Europe and killed more than 20 million people. Rumors had been spread which everyone called "A great Perstilence .

Knowing they had little time before they would all die they catapulted the bodies over the city walls, infecting those within the city. This shows early biological warfare, by the time the merchants figured out that the plague was spreading throughout the city it was too late, trying to flee they boarded their ships heading for Sicily. When they got there, they docked in Messina, bringing the plague to Europe(Video). There were many horrific symptoms of the Bubonic Plague, the most common and notable were swollen lymph nodes in the groin, armpit, or neck, fever, chills, fatigue, and coughing up blood. People would be alive one day and dead the next. There were many theories on why this happened, some thought it was a punishment from God (Doc BE) or a supernatural force (Doc BB). Today the plague does not affect us as much as it had in the 1340-50s, this is due to modern medicine. Because the plague hasn’t changed much genetically, we have been able to develop antibiotics to treat it (Doc E), making our selves safer than those back then. October 3, 1348- Paris (Doc A, AA). The rumors were true, the plague is

Nobody understood the Black Death, however, they did understand the symptoms, such as the ones listed above,would eventually lead to death. Therefore, people began to take several steps to avoid the sickness and keep it from spreading. A popular reaction to the plague was quarantining. Many would send the infected to what they called pestilence houses, and there they would die. Others considered different options such as boarding up the house if someone were ill, and those who had the means to do so, fled to the countryside. Eventually, sickness prevention took on a larger scale. Venice initiated the isolation of ships in order to determine whether it had been infected or not. They would hold the ships for up to forty days or sometimes longer. In addition, physicians of the 14th century blamed the Black Death on a contaminated fog, so they

     The longest running tradition in medicine, bloodletting, was a widely accepted practice with a three-thousand year-old history from the ancient Egyptians to the late 19th century. At that time, physicians thought that disease was a curse caused by the supernatural. It was a common idea that blood carried the vital force of the body and was the seat of the soul. Anything from body weaknesses to insanity were attributed to a defect in this vital fluid. Bloodletting was a method for balancing other fluids in the body and cleansing it of impurities. Shakespeare takes the same knowledge of blood and applies it to “Macbeth” in which the connotations not only foretell one’s glory but also one’s guilt.

The pandemic known to history as the Black Death was one of the world’s worst natural disasters in history. It was a critical time for many as the plague hit Europe and “devastated the Western world from 1347 to 1351, killing 25%-50% of Europe’s population and causing or accelerating marked political, economic, social, and cultural changes.” The plague made an unforgettable impact on the history of the West. It is believed to have originated somewhere in the steppes of central Asia in the 1330s and then spread westwards along the caravan routes. It spread over Europe like a wildfire and left a devastating mark wherever it passed. In its first few weeks in Europe, it killed between 100 and 200 people per day. Furthermore, as the weather became colder, the plague worsened, escalating the mortality rate to as high as 750 deaths per day. By the spring of 1348, the death toll may have reached 1000 a day. One of the main reasons the plague spread so quickly and had such a devastating effect on Europe was ultimately due to the lack of medical knowledge during the medieval time period.

Not only were the ships carrying cargo; with it, they carried a silent pestilence. This pestilence had already taken the lives of many on the ships, only to leave those who remained gravely ill. Not only did they exhibit delirium and excessive vomiting, the sailors also had mysterious black boils enveloping their bodies. Those boils oozed a

The Great Plague killed nearly half of the European population during the fourteenth century. A plague is a widespread illness. The Illness was also known as the “Black Death”. Most of the European people believed the plague was the beginning of the end of the world. They were scarcely equipped and unready for what was to be entailed. It was by far one of the worst epidemics yet to be seen in those times.