Introduction
In the 16th and 17th century, medical practices were very flawed. There weren't many advances during these era, and many medical ideas had been the same for hundreds of years. An example is blood letting.
The Four Humors
People in the 1500s to 1600s believed that the human body was made up of four humors. They determined the physical and emotional qualities of a person.These humors were blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. Blood was associated with air, spring, the heart, and Jupiter. Phlegm was associated with water, autumn, the brain, and the Moon. Black bile was associated with Earth, winter, spleen, and Saturn. Yellow bile is associated with fire, summer, the gall bladder, and Mars. If the four humors were balanced, a person would be happy and healthy. If they weren't, they would become ill.
Blood Letting
Blood letting is where you take blood from an ill person, typically by a cut or with leeches.Blood letting was thought to be a common cure for many illnesses.Given that the four humors existed, blood letting makes sense. It would help balance the four humors by getting rid of excess blood. Now that we know that this theory is false, we now know that blood letting is a terrible idea.
Surgery
Surgery was much different back in the 1500s and 1600s. Surgery was dangerous and many died due to lack of current technology. The surgical instruments were only wiped with a cloth after surgery, and there were no antibiotics to kill germs. There were no pain killers to lessen the pain, though patients would sometimes drink large amounts of alcohol during surgery.
Doctors
In the 1500s and 1600s, there were three types of doctors. There were Apothecaries, who prepared and sold medicine. There were Physicians, who were thought to be the elites of the medical field. For the most part, Physicians worked in cities and would prescribe medicine, such as quinine for malaria. Surgeons dealt with any medical case that required surgery. Surgeons were considered inferior to Physicians.