Bloodletting is one of the oldest procedures in our society. It dates back thousands of years and many different cultures used it. Considered one of the oldest medical practices, bloodletting is believed to have originated in ancient Egypt. It then spread to Greece, where doctors like Erasistratus, who lived in the 3rd century BC, believed that all diseases came from an overabundance of blood, or plethora. In the second century AD, the influential Galen of Pergamon developed Hippocrates' earlier theory that good health required a perfect balance between the four humors, blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. His writings and teachings made bloodletting a common technique throughout the Roman Empire. Soon it also spread to India and the Arab world. In medieval Europe, bloodletting became the standard treatment for a variety of ailments, from plague and smallpox to epilepsy and gout. Practitioners typically cut veins or arteries in the forearm or neck, sometimes using a special tool with a fixed blade called a flame. In 1163, a Church edict forbade monks and priests, who often acted as physicians, from performing bloodletting, stating that the Church prohibited the procedure. It was partly in response to this injunction that barbers began offering a range of services including bloodletting, cupping, tooth extractions, lancing devices and even amputations as well as, of course, cuts and shaves. I found this quite comical. The Aztecs, Mayans, Mesopotamians, and Egyptians were all cultures that used this procedure. The purpose of bloodshed was to relieve the pain caused by illness. Examples of some illnesses usually included something as serious as leprosy or something like... middle of paper ... or they occur. Blood donation is the most common name for bloodletting, but there is an ancient practice that has never really died out. This is the use of leeches. Leeches are still used today to treat certain illnesses and injuries. For example, doctors still use leeches to help reattach body parts such as toes and fingers. The reason why using leeches is effective in this process is because leeches help remove any excess blood that could cause problems for the patient later in life. Although phlebotomy is almost no longer used except in certain extremely rare conditions. One is hemochromatosis, a genetic disease affecting 600,000 to 1,000,000 Americans in which the body stores too much iron. One way to treat this problem is to periodically drain some of their iron-rich blood, which restores the proper balance of minerals..