Page 78 - Grasp English C1 (Student Book)

6 Medical Scıences

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You wouldn’t want to take a turn for the worst in ancient times.
Many doctors were ignorant, treatments were often horrifying,
and in some hospitals, patients dropped like flies. However, some
ancient medical practices are still used by doctors today, even
though they 2 !

Take bloodletting, for example. The Ancient Greeks thought that
blood was one of the body’s four “humors” which needed to
be kept in balance. Having too much blood in your body was
thought to be the cause of headaches, fevers and all manner of
other health problems, so blood was 3 whenever
anyone felt under the weather. Many different instruments, from
knives to sharpened pieces of wood were used, and in some cases,
leeches. Bloodletting isn’t practised these days, but leeches are
still useful after reconstructive surgery, as they stimulate blood
circulation. For example, if someone is in bad shape after losing
an ear in a fight, leeches can help return the blood supply to the
ear after it is replanted.
Trepanation is another example of an ancient medical technique
4 . Trepanation involves hammering a hole
into the skull. It has been practised for at least 7,000 years. The
procedure may have started in order to release evil spirits, or as a
treatment for headaches, blood clots and other head or brain
conditions. You might think that patients undergoing trepanation
in ancient times would soon meet their maker, but studies of
ancient trepanned skulls show that the majority of these patients
were soon fit as a fiddle. Trepanation is still used today to treat
brain injuries.

Ancient medical practitioners also rightly noted 5 .
Wounds covered with maggots may look disgusting, but actually,
maggots make wounds incredibly clean. This is because maggots
turn dead cells in wounds into liquid and then consume it.
Maggots were widely used during the American Civil War to treat
the wounds of soldiers who were at death’s door. Now surgeons
still use them on large wounds, as they are a better option than
continually cleaning them.

It’s easy to underestimate the abilities of ancient healers. But
by examining the natural world, learning from experience and
taking chances, ancient medical practitioners were able to put
people on their last legs back on their feet, and in this way, paved
the way to modern medicine.

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