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I'd hardly call a regular trip to give blood "medieval". They're not giving out leeches.

hprotagonist 4y ago
right; those are for cleanly healing scars. “your humours are imbalanced and you should be bled, you’ll feel better” is not far off from “your iron level is too high”, though…
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- phkahler 4y ago
  >> those are for cleanly healing scars. My go-to for that is Iodine.
  - metadat 4y ago
    I use those silicone scar strips. Wound healing technology is nearly magical these days.
  - hprotagonist 4y ago
    the normal use is reduction of venous congestion at an incision site after a major surgery, which i hope you’re not doing regularly enough to have a go-to!
    - phkahler 4y ago
      Think of it as helping tissue to find the correct shape and structure. Some claim this includes curing some cancers (skin cancer in particular). It is needed in some pathways to apoptosis.
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
  > “your humours are imbalanced and you should be bled, you’ll feel better” is not far off from “your iron level is too high”, though… The difference is that now we have both empirical evidence that it works, when it works, what the side effects are, and generally why it works. As opposed to cargo culting, poor cost/benefit analysis, and inaccurate understanding of what's actually happening.
  - hprotagonist 4y ago
    we have a much better model now, i agree.
- robonerd 4y ago
  Medical leeches are used to encourage blood flow, particularly after reconstructive surgeries; the benefit is not from the leech sucking your blood, but from the bleeding that continues after the leach is removed. (Their saliva has anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties.)
treeman79 4y ago
Medical leeches are a thing. https://www.uhhospitals.org/Healthy-at-UH/articles/2020/03/how-leeches-can-save-lives-and-limbs-for-some-patients https://www.uhhospitals.org/Healthy-at-UH/articles/2020/03/h...

right; those are for cleanly healing scars. “your humours are imbalanced and you should be bled, you’ll feel better” is not far off from “your iron level is too high”, though…

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
phkahler 4y ago
>> those are for cleanly healing scars. My go-to for that is Iodine.
- metadat 4y ago
  I use those silicone scar strips. Wound healing technology is nearly magical these days.
- hprotagonist 4y ago
  the normal use is reduction of venous congestion at an incision site after a major surgery, which i hope you’re not doing regularly enough to have a go-to!
  - phkahler 4y ago
    Think of it as helping tissue to find the correct shape and structure. Some claim this includes curing some cancers (skin cancer in particular). It is needed in some pathways to apoptosis.
yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
> “your humours are imbalanced and you should be bled, you’ll feel better” is not far off from “your iron level is too high”, though… The difference is that now we have both empirical evidence that it works, when it works, what the side effects are, and generally why it works. As opposed to cargo culting, poor cost/benefit analysis, and inaccurate understanding of what's actually happening.
- hprotagonist 4y ago
  we have a much better model now, i agree.
robonerd 4y ago
Medical leeches are used to encourage blood flow, particularly after reconstructive surgeries; the benefit is not from the leech sucking your blood, but from the bleeding that continues after the leach is removed. (Their saliva has anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties.)

treeman79 4y ago

Medical leeches are a thing. https://www.uhhospitals.org/Healthy-at-UH/articles/2020/03/how-leeches-can-save-lives-and-limbs-for-some-patients https://www.uhhospitals.org/Healthy-at-UH/articles/2020/03/h...