OLD-SCHOOL MEDICINE: BIZARRE MEDIEVAL TREATMENTS THAT ARE STILL USED TODAY Researchers at Nottingham University recently recreated a ninth-century Anglo-Saxon eye salve and found to their astonishment that it totally wiped antibiotic-resistant MRSA infection. The recipe for the eye ointment, which is made from a combo of onion, garlic, wine and cow bile, was found in Bald's Leechbook, one of the earliest known medical textbooks. This age-old superbug-fighting concoction isn't the only medieval treatment modern doctors and therapists are turning to. In fact, there are plenty of medical and complimentary medicine practices from the Middle Ages that are still in use today, from bloodletting to leech therapy. While they may seem gruesome, some of these ancient remedies are backed up by science and work better than many contemporary treatments. Brace yourself and click through the gallery for nine bizarre old-school remedies you won't believe we still use. CAUTERY Then – iron cautery – applying a red-hot poker to the skin – was used primarily to stem bleeding but it was also a treatment for epilepsy, tumours and even piles (ouch x 1,000!) during the medieval period. It makes you shudder at the thought. A brutal treatment by any stretch of the imagination, old-fashioned cautery techniques may have actually increased the risk of infection and many patients would not have survived the trauma of the procedure. Now – cautery is far more refined and less invasive in the 21st century and instead of hot irons, doctors use electronic devices, infrared, lasers and chemicals such as silver nitrate to do the job. Modern cautery is mainly used to treat warts and chronic nosebleeds but it's still a viable piles treatment, too. Thankfully, modern infrared and chemical haemorrhoid cauterization techniques are nowhere near as painful. BLOODLETTING Then - the practice of bleeding a patient began thousands of years ago in the ancient world and was a go-to treatment for everything from fevers and plague to gout and smallpox during the Middle Ages. Medieval medicine was based on the four humours of ancient Greece: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. An imbalance was thought to cause illness, so patients were bled to rebalance the body and cure the malady. Now – though bloodletting is completely ineffective for most illnesses, it is still used today to treat certain conditions. Now known as phlebotomy therapy, it is the most effective treatment for a number of iron overload disorders and one of several treatments for polycythemia vera, a condition in which the bone marrow produces too many red blood cells. LEECH THERAPY Then – along with crude metal and sharpened wooden tools, leeches were used to draw blood from patients during the Middle Ages. Basically, any illness that manifested in obvious inflammation and redness was thought to be caused by an excess of 'impure' blood, so the bleeding was thought to remove the inflammation, rebalance the out-of-sync humour and heal the patient. Shockingly, medieval physicians would bleed a patient until they fainted as this was thought to be beneficial. Now – these days, disinfected leeches are used in hospitals for certain plastic and reconstructive procedures. Leeches secrete a natural anticoagulant that minimises blood clots and helps to restore healthy blood flow to damaged parts of the body. “Leeches are extremely effective and better than simply putting a hole in the tissue to make it bleed because the leeches lines the bite they make with a good anticoagulant that is very long lasting,” says Ken Dun, a consultant plastic surgeon at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester. MAGGOT THERAPY Then – historical evidence shows that people used fly larvae to clean up wounds during the Middle Ages. Physicians would wrap a handful of maggots in cheesecloth and apply it to a wound to prevent gangrene. Maggots only eat dead flesh and ignore the living tissue which helps stave off infection, so they make for an effective though rather revolting wound management treatment. Now - maggot debridement therapy (MDT) as it is now known is used in many modern day hospitals for wound management, particular for burns and frostbite cases, as well as diabetes-related necrosis. Maggots can debride (clean up) a wound more precisely than modern techniques and their secretions contain antibiotics that are effective in fighting some resistant superbug strains. TREPANNING Then – an age-old medical procedure that can't have been too pleasant without anaesthesia, trepanning involves drilling a hole in the scalp to expose the membrane of the brain. In the ancient world it was thought to expel evil spirits from the body, but by the Middle Ages, trepanning was mainly used to treat severe headaches, epilepsy and skull fractures. Now – trepanning relieves intracranial pressure, so it can be helpful in treating certain types of brain haemorrhage that may follow a head injury. Now known as a craniotomy, surgeons remove a tiny piece of bone and then reattach it once the pressure is relieved. Modern doctors also use the technique to implant deep brain stimulators for the treatment of several neurological diseases. HOREHOUND Then – like the MRSA-fighting eye salve, this medicinal herb – popular with physicians since the first century – also features in the ninth-century Bald's Leechbook. A tried-and-tested remedy for coughs and colds, the advice is as follows: “for a cough, boil a good deal of horehound in water, sweeten and give the man a cupful to drink.” Now – horehound is still used in modern cough lozenges and there is solid scientific evidence that confirms its effectiveness. A 2011 study found that the herb has powerful antibacterial and antioxidant properties, and research conducted a year later reported on the herb's "antidiabetic, anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory properties". NASAL POLYPS REMOVAL Then – people in the Middle Ages with nasal polyps – small fleshy growths in the nostrils – could have them cut out and cauterised by a physician. The procedure was widely practised and while the pain would have no doubt been eye-wateringly excruciating, manuscripts from the time suggest that these sorts of operations were relatively risk-free. Now – surgery is just one of several treatment options nowadays for nasal polyps. Steroid sprays and drops tend to be the first line treatments and if they don't work, the patient may be referred for an operation. An electric shaver-like device is the tool of choice, but like the Middle Ages, cautery is used by some surgeons to seal the blood vessels post-op. HONEY Then – the medicinal benefits of honey have long been known. Bald's Leechbook recommends honey as the preferred treatment for a variety of conditions. When people could get their hands on the stuff, honey was widely used to disinfect and treat open wounds, skin ulcers and sties in the eye. Now – honey is naturally antibiotic, so our medieval ancestors were definitely onto something. Nowadays, its use in hospitals is enjoying something of a revival with some doctors turning to honey, especially potent manuka honey, as a last resort to treat stubborn antibiotic-resistant infections, and there are several studies that verify its microbe-killing prowess. CUPPING Then – cupping involves placing heated cups on various parts of the body. The procedure creates a vacuum that sucks the skin and draws it up. During the medieval period, doctors thought this treatment would draw out bad fluids and purge the body of excess humours, so it was used for a variety of conditions. Now – the only therapy in our round-up that has no medical benefit whatsoever, cupping as a treatment isn't supported by science – there is no solid evidence it works – yet as a fad alternative procedure, cupping is popular in many parts of the world. Source
