In the book Magdalena and Balthasar we find the Magdalena often participated in the technique of bloodletting sometimes twice a month (44). Magdalena mentions that she has bloodletting done from her arm but as the diagram on page 115 of Magdalena and Balthasar shows, bloodletting could be done from various places on the body. One can wonder if perhaps the act of bloodletting is what led to such a large number of people succumbing to the plague or other viruses simply because their immune systems were weakened from the blood loss. I also question whether children were subjected to bloodletting? If so, how young did the process begin?
Below are pictures of the bloodletting technique:
http://socialjusticefirst.com/2012/06/20/from-dr-keynes-to-financial-bloodletting/
http://www.altmedicinezone.com/alternative-treatment/the-top-5-gravest-medical-concerns-back-then/
Works Cited
"A Brief History of Bloodletting." PBS. Last modified December
1980.http://www.pbs.org/wnet/redgold/basics/bloodlettinghistory.html.
Ozment, Steven. Magdalena and Balthasar: An Intimate Portrait of Life in 16th-Century Europe Revealed in the Letters of a Nuremberg Husband and Wife." London: Yale University Press, 1986.
4 comments:
Beth, your question about when the acceptable age to start bloodletting is a good one. I would think that if they believed that bloodletting balanced the humors and prevented illness, they would start the process as early as possible.
On a side note, I know we discussed this in class, but did you know that bloodletting is coming back? A school website, called Medtech (http://www.medtech.edu/blog/the-history-progression-and-modern-stance-on-bloodletting) says that bloodletting, known now as blood donation, is used to improve certain aspects of those who suffer from metabolic syndrome. Crazy stuff, ya? It's like its a on a cycle, and now it's starting to come back into accepted practices.
No McKenzie I didn't know that bloodletting was being used today. I wonder how often the "cycle" allows someone to participate in this process?
I wish I could attach a photo--but note that blood-letting is not just a medieval technique but stretches back to the Ancient Greeks through the 1800s. So numerous American accounts whether it was Benjamin Rush or George Washington, and sometimes far more than the moderate Magdalena at twice per month, or the recommended once per month. See it as a wide-spread phenomenon. I have seen modern sources that argue that it may have had a placebo effect, and less harm than later when we get to the age of more disease and dirty waters in the 1800s.
Re children and blood-leeting I used the book: The Sick Child in Early Modern Europe by Hannah Newton available on google.books (2012). She argues that children were first recommend for other types of treatment, including environmental medicine (sleep, excercise, evacuation, air), so fixing the environment to clear up the disease. Also internal medicine through drinks, herbs and recipes to alter the humoral landscape. External medicine like polstices, liquor, plasters, powders, could work. Finally suppositories and other things injected into the bowels. All these were seen to be fairly forgiving and non-confrontational when addressing a child. They were favored because they were "gentle." Blood-letting was considered a surgical procedure (69), and was best suited when it matched the patient's constintuency. According to contemporary sources you would not do it to an abnormally weak child because their bodies could not hold it up. Acc. to Newton, "children's humours, like their bodies, were depicted as weak and easily overwhelmed by aggressive remedies" (71). This helps answer some questions. And Magdalena, pro-blood letter, and deeply involved in health must have always had some doubts about not resorting to these measures as a curative?
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