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Philipus Paracelsus Research Paper

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Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, usually known as Paracelsus, was born in Einsiedeln, Switzerland on either the 11th November or 17th December 1493. This was the time of the Renaissance. He died on the 24th September 1541. During this period of time surgery was practiced mostly by barbers, who used the same tools for both their trades. Medicine was primitive and painful in this era. There was much controversy over how to manage wounds, for example the argument of whether or not pus was good. Cauterization, or the burning of a wound to close it, was the main way to stop bleeding. All in all, most medicinal views were based off of unproved theories. Magic was not used in healing at this time as witch burnings were still taking place. It was very taboo, and had no place in healing where he worked. As a wizard, Paracelsus is credited …show more content…

He opposed most of the normal beliefs of his time, instead saying that illness was the result of the body being attacked by agents from outside the body. He was against excessive bloodletting, saying that the process disturbed the harmony of our systems, and that our blood could not be purified by having decreasing the amount within us. He spent some time as a military surgeon, where doctors thought that infection was a natural part of the healing process. He stood for cleanliness and protection of wounds and the regulation of diet. The popular ideas of that time opposed these theories and suggested sewing or plastering wounds instead. Paracelsus introduced the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine. His views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man (microcosm) and nature (macrocosm). He used this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification (as the others of his time did) but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses had chemical remedies that could cure

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