Medicine

Curing epilepsy — peonies, the gospel, and hair of the dog

Medieval medical know-how: “John of Gaddesden (1280-1349), physician to Edward II and compiler of the encyclopaedic Rosa anglica medicinae [The English Rose of Medicine], recommended reciting the gospel over an epileptic patient while bedecking him with peony and chrysanthemum amulets or the hair of a white dog” (From Roy Porter’s excellent The Greatest Benefit to […]

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Iatrochemists: why iron salts cure anemia

A fun anecdote from the history of medicine. (Fun in hindsight, though not necessarily fun for those who lived through the medical history.) The late-medieval Iatrochemists believed that progress could be made by uniting medicine with alchemy. Their intellectual leader was Paracelsus (1493-1541), a Swiss physician whose goal was to reform medical chemistry by rejecting

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The great Renaissance medical bloodletting controversy

Why accurate translation and skilled editing are important: Bloodletting was a common practice in medieval medicine and did not die out until the nineteenth century. The practice was encouraged by the belief that the excellent Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen practiced it. Most phelobotomists followed the Persian genius Avicenna‘s editions of the Greek texts, which

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Mortality headlines [humor alert]

How media report statistics according to their philosophy: Enlightenment headline: SCIENCE and CAPITALISM a great success. Jaded-feminist headline: The PATRIARCHY encouraging women to be BABY-MAKING MACHINES. Socialist-Marxist headline: Europeans gain by EXPLOITING poor women in the THIRD WORLD. Postmodern headline: NO news here — “HEALTH” and “PROGRESS” mere SUBJECTIVE narratives.

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Death by doctor — the king’s medical treatment

Source: Nathan Belofsky, Strange Medicine: A Shocking History of Real Medical Practices Through the Ages (Penguin, 2013), p. 116. Online at Google Books. [If only the goat had been from West India. Classic mistake.] But seriously: Why? The best theories, diligently applied: We’ve read the texts, with their mix of ancient traditions, magic, and alchemy.

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Death by doctor — Kenyan traditional edition

Source: THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, March 25, 1991 Age-old practices spread lethal modern virus By Lorerta Tofani, Inquirer Staff Writer MACHAKOS, Kenya — The balding medicine man sharpened his pocketknife with another knife, filling his small rural office with the screech of metal. Then, dipping the smaller blade into a jar of herbs, he made two

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