http://ask.metafilter.com/tags/leeches tag posts with leeches Fri, 23 Dec 2005 23:03:33 -0800 Fri, 23 Dec 2005 23:03:33 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://ask.metafilter.com/29592/Why-were-they-so-leechykeen While reading <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/47823">this</a> excellent thread, an interesting question popped into my mind - why was bloodletting so popular for so long when it so obviously doesn't work? According to <a href="http://carmichael.lib.virginia.edu/story/tools.html">this</a> page, bloodletting was popular for over a millenium-and-a-half. Although I understand that they had a whole philosophy behind it, couldn't any casual observer have just said, "Well, we bled him/her, and it doesn't look like they've gotten any better. Come to think of it, I've never seen anyone get better as a result of bloodletting. Y'know what? I don't think this bloodletting stuff really works!" tag:ask.metafilter.com,2005:site.29592 Fri, 23 Dec 2005 23:03:33 -0800 medicine medical history historical blood bloodletting leeches galen doctor Afroblanco