Western medicine is a field that has come a long way with the advancement of science and technology and is indispensable to the world. Today, this field of medicine has developed to the extent that even human heads are transplanted to save human lives. The beginning of this western medicine goes back to a very distant history. But even in the early days of medical science, when medicine was not developed in this way, various methods were used to cure people’s diseases. We are going to talk about the various methods used to cure diseases in those early days. These methods are very strange methods that are quite scary if you hear them from a time when the world is so advanced.
1. Bloodletting
It is scary to hear that a person’s body is bleeding. But in the past when medicine was not so advanced, would you believe it if people were allowed to bleed from their bodies as a way to cure certain diseases?
Although this method of bloodletting therapy is believed to be a practice of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians, this method is most popular during the classical Greek and Roman period between 8-6 BC. Doctors at that time made a cut somewhere in the human body and made the extra blood flow when it was determined that certain diseases would occur due to the lack of blood in the body.
2. Trepanation
This is a dangerous method of treatment that is mind-blowing even when you hear it. This is a treatment method that was used in very distant history about 7000 years ago. There is no mistake in calling this method one of the oldest surgeries in the world.
It is still debatable on what basis skull piercing was done to cure various diseases in this way. However, it is believed that this happened on the basis of tribal customs. Apart from that, it is also speculated that these piercings were done with the idea of removing certain mental illnesses from the head and driving away bad spirits from the head. Skulls pierced in this way have been found in excavations in Peru.
3. Treatments using animal bile
Animal bile is also a common treatment used to treat various diseases at that time. It is said that the bile of the python was used to cure ulcers related to the female genitalia.
The most unpleasant fact is that at that time elephant bile was mixed with water to get rid of bad breath. It is said that this was a very famous treatment method in ancient China.
4. Cocaine
As far as we know, cocaine is a product that falls under the category of illegal drugs. Recently, European countries have approved the use of cocaine for various medical procedures. But in things like anaesthesia for very large surgeries. But historically, cocaine has been used as a treatment for common mental illnesses such as depression. Even Sigmund Freud, the famous father of psychoanalysis we all know, is among the doctors who prescribed cocaine as a mental treatment. Also, in addition to mental illnesses, prescribing cocaine for diseases such as teeth, aches, and even migraines have been common at that time.
5. Heroin
Heroin is a very dangerous drug that is prohibited by law. But in the 1920s, this dangerous drug called heroin had become a widely recommended treatment for coughs in small children.
6. Arsenic
Arsenic is a very bad chemical element that can even cause death if ingested. Also, arsenic is an element that can cause cancer in many organs such as the lungs, kidneys, and liver by ingestion.
The surprising thing is that this arsenic has been used as a treatment for many common diseases like fever, headache and blood diseases in ancient history.
7. Treatment with animal excreta
This is a very unpleasant method used by the ancient Egyptians as a treatment. They have used the excrement of many different animals like donkeys, dogs and flies to treat skin diseases. This story is very unusual for us who live in a time where we pay great attention to the cleanliness of an external wound to prevent the occurrence of exfoliation. But later research has concluded that the presence of microflora containing antibiotics in the faeces of some animals may have led to the healing of skin infections.
If so, while sharing this article, don’t forget to post your thoughts in the comment section and if there are other treatments like this, don’t forget to leave a comment below.
Stay connected with Buzzer.lk and Buzzer History to find out more of this kind of exciting information.
