Medical History - Tumblr Posts
There's been an uptick of interest in my medical history posts, so have a Medical History Masterpost:
Skillfully Combined™ (the notorious Victorian cough syrup photo and the pharmacology behind it)
The Industrial Revolution & the Pharmacological Boom (ft. expansionism, chemistry and geopolitics)
The Edwin Papyrus & Imhotep (ft. input and correction from an Egyptologist!)
Cancer as a Chronic Disease through History
Imhotep's gout treatment and modern pharmacology
Absolute Madlad Ambrose Paré, Ligature and Haemostatic Clamps
NB: I'm a biomedical science undergrad who's been reading literature about medical history since age 7, not a doctor or a historian. Whilst I add academically weighted sources where necessary, I strongly encourage you to do your own further reading, and not to take my word as Gospel. Finally, none of this is medical advice, nor am I qualified to give medical advice. If you're worried, see your GP.
I can understand how "modern person thrown into the past gets by pretending to be a healer/doctor" is as surprisingly common of a trope as it is. I mean I'm fluent enough at bullshitting to be pretty sure I could pull it off to impersonate a doctor in any time pre-1800s. If I have no idea what something is or how to treat it, I could just get the opinion of the other whatever-passes-as-medical-professionals around, but if their suggestions sound like bullshit I'm not doing it. And I'll beat the shit out of anyone suggesting bloodletting or mercury. With my healing stick. I've tied little bells on it, that jingle comically with every smack.
The awesome curative powers of my healing stick come from two separate sources: Placebo, and me using it to beat anyone trying to give my patients mercury.
I’m not sure if someone has responded yet, but if not:
Humors are an old medical concept that was originally made by ancient greek physicians, but influenced practices during the Middle Ages, and for some time after.
The basic idea is that there are four (4) humors in someone’s body. Blood, phlegm, cholor (also known as yellow bile), and melancholy (also known as black bile). The balance, or lack of balance, determined someone’s temperament and physical health. Each of the biles supposedly had different effects, depending on which one is most present.
One of the most well known ways doctors tried to balance the humors was blood letting.
Sources:
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/emotions/balance.html
https://www.britannica.com/science/humor-ancient-physiology
So I haven't been in the plague doc community for very long, and I was wondering if someone could tell me what it means to balance the humours?
Apothecary bottles and jars from Rijksmuseum Boerhaave.