MICROANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -Several thousand years ago, whether you were an Egyptian with migraines or a feverish Greek, chances are your doctor would try one first-line treatment before all others: bloodletting. He or she would open a vein with a lancet or sharpened piece of wood, causing blood to flow out and into a waiting receptacle.

Detailed explanation-2: -Bloodletting was a common procedure, first appearing in Egypt, as indicated by the Ebers papyrus, an Egyptian medical papyrus dating to circa 1550 BC. Ancient pathology was based in the famous Hippocratic theory of the four humors, whose balance maintained health.

Detailed explanation-3: -Bloodletting was carried out by scarification with cupping, by phlebotomies (venesections), rarely by arteriotomies, using specific instruments called lancets, as well as leeches. In different periods of history bloodletting was practiced by priests, doctors, barbers, and even by amateurs.

Detailed explanation-4: -What was bloodletting? Bloodletting was the name given to the removal of blood for medical treatment. It was believed to rid the body of impure fluids to cure a host of conditions. Originally, bloodletting involved cutting a vein or artery-typically at the elbow or knee-to remove the affected blood.

Detailed explanation-5: -The practice of bloodletting began around 3000 years ago with the Egyptians, then continued with the Greeks and Romans, the Arabs and Asians, then spread through Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.