History of Medicine - Second Period - Wednesday, 3/17

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"Ah, medieval medicine," he said as they walked. He was smiling, but it was a smile that said that there was a certain amount of amusement tempered by something else.

"You've heard the horror stories, no doubt. Leeches. Incense. All manner of... terrible treatments, cobbled together from what was left of the classical medical texts and whatever doctrine they thought made sense.

"Most of the class we've discussed what historical medicinal practices have brought to modern study, but while there are perhaps some portions of the practices that aren't ghastly, suffice to say that modern medicine seeks to step away from what was practiced at this time as opposed to taking much from it."

[ocd up!]

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[notsobadatall.livejournal.com]

Like someone just tried to stick a leech on you.

Listen to the Lecture / Chat Amongst Yourselves

[notsobadatall.livejournal.com]

Not that there was much lecture this time around.

Discussion

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"The use of herbs during this time had little to do with cause and affect of previous eras. Instead, it drew from the medieval Christian doctrine of signatures which stated that God had provided some form of alleviation for every ill, and that these things, be they animal, vegetable or mineral, carried a mark or a signature upon them that gave an indication of their usefulness.

"For example, the seeds of skullcap (used as a headache remedy) can appear to look like miniature skulls; and the white spotted leaves of Lungwort (used for tuberculosis) bear a similarity to the lungs of a diseased patient.

"Then of course, there are the ever-famous leeches, which go back once more to the idea of the four humors that we've discussed previously. What I would like to discuss is this:

"Why do you think this period went so wrong, medically speaking?"

TA

[notsobadatall.livejournal.com]

Because they're wonderful folks.

Nick

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Who was around.

OOC

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*sigh* Even if it feels a little like the end of the world...

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Savannah Levine

Re: TA

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Savannah was definitely here and paying attention to the herbs.

Re: OOC

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

*hugs you*

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Alex Karev

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Naomi Wildman

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Claire Bennet

Re: TA

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Claire was definitely around, if a bit grossed out by the idea of leeches as a medical tool.

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Ellie Bartowski

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Hyuuga Hinata

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K-Mart

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Joolushko Tunai Fenta Hovalis

Re: Discussion

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"It seems that if medicine during this time didn't build on what came before, or built on an incomplete or incorrect understanding of what came before then there wasn't much hope for the time period to go right, medically speaking."

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Spock