Bloodletting

treated. Even after the treatment the patient still had little chance to survive because the doctors at the time didn’t really know what to do. They tried bloodletting, boil-lancing, and herb burning to try and cure the disease, and sometimes the patient would get better, as long as they didn’t catch an infection from the boil-lancing and bloodletting. The Black Death had many results, some both positive and negative. While this epidemic prowled through Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and…

“Bloodletting” was still a popular technique used by physicians until the early 20th century. Bloodletting was the theory that humans contained the elements of earth, air, fire, and water in their bodies; each being represented by blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. A healthy person had a harmonious balance between the four. Alternatively, sick people had some sort of imbalance. To get rid of the disproportion, physicians practiced bloodletting, or rather, cutting into…

Science can lead the world into many places, it can either lead them to a longer life or it can lead to a quick death. The short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story where a scientist Aylmer creates a chemical that removes the birthmark but kills Georgiana during the chemical process. For something trivial as in trying to remove a birthmark, it can unexpectedly create advancements in science. Aylmer’s experiment does go too far with the scientific boundaries, but he creates…

The practice of human sacrifice was a very prevalent in the ancient cultures of the Mesoamerican region. While practiced by smaller civilizations, the Aztec empire’s aggressive use of sacrifice was romanticized in movies, books, and other mediums. Before the Aztec empire’s height in 1427, historians speculate that the natives practiced sacrifice only in small quantities. The Aztecs dominated the Mexican region in culture for the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. After the arrival of the Spanish…

Environmental factors greatly affected the development of complex societies during the Foundation Period. In early ancient history, specifically Paleolithic society, hunter gatherer peoples relied solely on their environment for food. Although as people began to realize the extent of their environment, they slowly shifted towards agriculture as people began to settle into communities. Agriculture created a massive change regarding social order and culture. Patriarchy, stratification, and…

Smallpox and Malaria Treatment in the 1700’s Diseases are one of the few things in life that have been around for centuries. Almost all diseases started from viruses, then turned into much bigger outbreaks that could take centuries to cure. The first cases of smallpox and a few other deadly diseases occurred around 300 CE (“History of Smallpox”). Ever since then, doctors have created medicines and vaccines to prevent further outbreaks, but in the 1700’s it was much harder. During the…

and 25 show a series of rituals performed by Shield Jaguar II and his wife. Lintel 24 depicts a bloodletting ritual performed by the king of Yaxchilán and his wife. This sacrifice mirrored the Maya story of the creation of the human race: gods would bleed out to create them. By partaking in this ritual, the queen demonstrated moral and physical strength and suitability as Maya to the people. Bloodletting was a common practice in Maya life which played a significant part in public rituals and…

Survival of the Sickest, written by Dr. Sharon Moalem provides a fascinating glimpse into the idea that modern day human diseases that afflict us actually have a significant role in the selection and existence of our ancestors. Before reading this book, I was used to thinking of diseases as disorders that adversely affect a person. While this may be the case for most individuals, Moalem explained in his book that that there’s an underlying connection between various diseases and longevity of a…

Any person back in the day who had “mental illness, mental retardation or physical deformities were largely treated the same” (“The Illness of History”, n.d.). The beliefs of people differ which causes the history of treatment to be varied. Different religions, faiths, beliefs have their spin on why this diseases occur. A method that was used back in the day ws called "Trephining" and the practice was to drill holes into a patient's skull in order to allow the spirits inside a chance to escape…

Although there were a wide variety of deities worshiped by the Mayans, the most prominent of them were Hunab Ku, Itzamna, Ix Chebal Yaz, Ah Puch, Ek Chuah, and Chac. Hunab Ku: The Mayans worshiped this god as their supreme god and viewed him as the creator of the universe reportedly. He is also synchronized with the god Itzamna. Hunab Ku was viewed so highly that it was believed he did not participate in the affairs associated with humans. As in any religion, the creator of the universe and…