Thousands of years ago medical practitioners believed that sickness is a result of “bad blood. Greek physicians like Hippocrates and Galen maintained that the human body was filled with four basic substances, or “humors”—yellow bile, black bile, phlegm and blood—and these needed to be kept in balance to maintain proper health. Patients with fever or other ailments were often diagnosed with excessive amount of blood and doctors had to cut the vein open and drain some of their vital fluid into a receptacle to restore bodily harmony. Medieval doctors prescribed blood draining as treatment for everything from sore throat to the plague. In 19th century, even after the humoral system fell into disuse, the practice was continued by surgeons and Barbers, they even listed it as a service along with haircuts and shaves. Bloodletting gradually declined after new researched that such practice would do more harm than good.
2. TREPANATION
One of the oldest and most gruesome surgical intervention of all time. It is also known as Trepanning, trephination, trephining or making Burr Hole. It is a surgical procedure where a hole is drilled or scraped into human skull, exposing the dura mater to treat health related problems related to intracranial disease or release pressured blood buildup from an injury.
In ancient times, holes were also drilled into a person who was behaving in
what was considered an abnormal way to let out what they believed were evil spirits.
Prehistoric evidence of trepanation has been found in human remains
from Neolithic times onward. Through cave paintings it indicated that people believed
the said practice would cure migraines, epileptic seizures, and mental disorder.
3. LOBOTOMY
A much modern approach of trepanation. It is a neurosurgical procedure where consists of cutting or scraping away most of the connections to and from theprefrontal cortex, theanterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain. It is described by a psychiatrist as "putting in a brain needle and stirring the works". The idea behind the said surgery is that severe forms of mental illness like schizophrenia, manic depression and bipolar disorder, can be treated by changing the way that the brain works. It was first performed on humans in the late 18th century. It was being glorified by some as a miracle cure for mental illness, and its use became widespread.
4. CATARACT SURGERY
Cataract surgery is one of the oldest surgical procedure known.
In ancient times,,when the lens had become completely opaque, rigid, and heavy, a technique called couching is being performed.
The eye would then be struck with a blunt object with sufficient force to cause the zonules to break so that the lens would dislocate into the vitreous cavity, restoring limited but completely unfocused vision. However, this technique is an ineffective and dangerous method of cataract therapy, and often results in patients remaining blind or with only partially restored vision.
5. TREATING HEMORRHOID
In the Middle Ages in Europe, a popular treatment for hemorrhoids was cauterization with a hot iron and/or making an incision with a sharp knife. Sufferers could also pray to St. Fiacre, the patron saint of this unpleasant condition, hoping for a cure.
6. ELECTRO CONVULSIVE THERAPY
As early as the 16th century, agents to induce seizures were used to treat psychiatric conditions. In 1930S, Convulsive therapy was introduced. ECT works by using electricity to induce seizures. Psychiatrists had already discovered that inducing seizures could relieve symptoms of mental illness. It was believed early on that inducing convulsions aided in helping those with severe schizophrenia but later found to be most useful with affective disorders such as depression.
7. HELIO THERAPY
Starting in the late 1800s, kids who suffered from lupus and tuberculosis were sent to hospitals and clinics to receiveheliotherapy to treat it. The children's skin produced vitamin D in response to the light, and as a result they were better able to fight off TB and other bacterial infections, as well as seriously alarm any child welfare worker that happened to catch a glimpse of the treatment.
