5 Most Disturbing & Barbaric Medical Treatments In History

Summary

This video explores five of the most barbaric and dangerous medical practices from history. It discusses trepanation, where holes were drilled into skulls to treat ailments; bloodletting, an ancient practice of draining blood to balance bodily humors; toxic medicines like mercury and radioactive water, once thought to cure diseases; lobotomies, a brutal treatment for psychiatric conditions; and corpse medicine, where human remains were consumed for healing. These treatments, though often harmful, reflect humanity's historical struggle to understand disease and find cures.

Takeaways

• 💀 Trepanation: An ancient practice involving drilling or scraping holes into the skull to treat conditions like seizures, headaches, and abnormal behavior, often to release evil spirits.
• 🧠 Despite seeming primitive, trepanation had some benefits in treating head wounds, and evidence shows many patients survived, as seen in healed skulls from the Neolithic period.
• 💉 Bloodletting: The most widespread medical treatment in history, used to balance bodily humors by draining blood, often doing more harm than good despite some limited benefits, such as temporarily lowering blood pressure.
• 🪒 Barber surgeons: Barbers not only offered haircuts but also performed bloodletting, tooth extractions, and even amputations, with the red and white barber pole symbolizing the procedure.
• ☠️ Toxic medicines: Dangerous substances like mercury and radioactive materials were once seen as miracle cures for diseases like syphilis, but often caused more harm, with cases like Eben Byers' radiation poisoning showing the deadly effects.
• 🧪 Mercury and radium: Both were believed to have healing properties for centuries. Mercury was used as a treatment for syphilis until penicillin became available in the 1940s, while radium water was promoted for health benefits until its dangers were realized.
• 🧊 Lobotomy: A once-popular psychiatric treatment that involved severing parts of the brain to reduce mental disorder symptoms, often leaving patients with permanent cognitive and emotional damage.
• 🔨 The ice-pick lobotomy: A specific technique using an ice pick through the eye socket to cut connections in the brain, performed on around 40,000 people in the U.S. before it was abandoned in favor of antipsychotic drugs.
• 🩸 Corpse medicine: Human remains, including bones, fat, and blood, were used as medicinal ingredients, especially popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries, with the belief that consuming parts of a body could cure related ailments.
• 👑 King Charles II’s ‘King's Drops’: A famous example of corpse medicine, containing human skull mixed with alcohol, used by royalty to treat illnesses.

Q & A

What is trepanation, and why was it practiced in ancient times?

Trepanation is a surgical procedure where a hole is drilled or scraped into the skull, exposing the brain. It was believed to release evil spirits or treat ailments such as seizures, epilepsy, and headaches. Evidence of this practice dates back to Neolithic times.

How successful was trepanation in terms of patient survival?

Despite sounding dangerous, trepanation had a surprisingly high survival rate, as many skulls found with trepanation holes show signs of healing. This suggests that the majority of patients survived the procedure.

How did the belief in bodily humors influence the practice of bloodletting?

Bloodletting was based on the ancient belief in the four bodily humors—blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. It was thought that imbalances in these humors caused illness, and removing excess blood would restore balance and cure disease.

What were some of the tools and methods used for bloodletting?

Bloodletting methods included cutting veins in the arm or neck, using spring-loaded lancets, scarificators, and leeches. Surgeons also adjusted the amount of blood drawn based on the patient's age, size, and even weather conditions.

Why was mercury used as a medicine, and what were the consequences?

Mercury was used for thousands of years as a medicine, believed to have life-extending properties and to treat ailments like syphilis. However, it is highly toxic and led to severe side effects such as delirium, muscle spasms, and even death.

Why were radioactive products once considered beneficial for health?

Radioactive products like radium water and radon pendants were thought to improve health, based on the belief that natural radioactive hot springs had healing properties. Products were marketed as cures for rheumatism, impotence, and other ailments.

What led to the decline in popularity of lobotomies as a treatment for mental disorders?

Lobotomies fell out of favor in the 1950s with the introduction of advanced antipsychotic medications, which were more effective and less invasive in treating psychiatric conditions. The procedure's damaging effects on personality and intellect also contributed to its decline.

What was the main belief behind the use of 'corpse medicine' in history?

Corpse medicine was based on the belief that consuming parts of a human body could cure ailments. For example, ground skull was thought to cure headaches, and fresh blood was believed to contain vitality that could cure blood diseases.

Why did the use of corpse medicine decline, and when did this practice officially stop?

The use of corpse medicine declined as medical understanding progressed, and by the 18th century, it was largely abandoned. The last recorded instance of attempting to use blood from a public execution was in 1908.

How are modern medical practices like blood transfusions and organ transplants compared to historical corpse medicine?

While modern practices like blood transfusions and organ transplants are scientifically grounded, some may argue that they are a continuation of the ancient belief in using human body parts to cure illnesses, though the methods and understanding are vastly different.