In 1799, 67-year-old US President Washington was pressed to the operating table by two doctors, who slit his throat four times with knives and released several basins of blood, which eventually led to Washington's death.
As long as the body is unwell, bloodletting can be cured, almost the hottest talk in the United States around the 18th century, this therapy does have a certain effect in relieving human humidity and heat and detoxification, but US President Washington has not been able to withstand it.
Washington is the first president in the history of the United States, he led the army to win American independence, formulated the basic constitution and economy of the United States, has a very deep impact on American history, and is the founder of the United States.
However, after two terms as president, Washington did not become too obsessed with power, but retreated according to the constitution and handed over the presidency to someone else, at which time the domestic situation had nothing to do with him, and Washington returned to his Mount Vernon to retire.
Washington owned a large number of servants and slaves in Mount Vernon, and he also wanted to spend his old age riding horses in his mountain villa and enjoying the scenery every day, but unfortunately such days only lasted for two years.
At the end of 1799, when the 67-year-old Washington was out riding a horse as usual, it suddenly rained heavily, and although Washington quickly turned around and returned to the estate, the wet feeling of the rain still made his body feel uncomfortable and his body began to heat up.
Several servants in charge of serving thought that Washington had a cold, and quickly arranged for Washington to rest at ease, Washington was also in a more optimistic physical condition before, and he also thought that there was no problem, so he just went to bed early under the service of his wife and servants.
But when he woke up the next day, Washington's cold did not improve in the slightest, in addition to fever, accompanied by sore throat, after a while began to be weak, and often coughed, the servants quickly contacted a personal doctor.
After the visit of the private doctor, it was basically concluded that Washington was pneumonia caused by a cold, and because the throat also began to become inflamed, the doctor believed that this was a manifestation of a large amount of humid heat in the body, and recommended the use of bloodletting therapy.
Bloodletting therapy originally traced back to ancient Egypt and Greece, cited in Europe and the United States, it was only widely used in the army at first, soldiers' heat stroke, colds and inflammation can be solved by bloodletting, but because of the good effect, this therapy is widely spread and has become the mainstream treatment.
Hipolaktides believes that bloodletting is to maintain the balance of four body fluids in the human body, including black bile, phlegm, yellow bile and blood, cold and fever are generally blood problems, so it is generally believed that bloodletting can solve the problem of fever, and this practice does have a certain effect.
Therefore, in 1799, it was relatively normal for doctors to choose bloodletting therapy after conservative treatment was ineffective, and with the help of several assistants, the two attending doctors personally cut Washington's vein and released about 500 milliliters of blood for him.
The attending doctor showed a relaxed expression after the blood, and it was no surprise that Washington would feel cool after a while, and it would also be able to strengthen his body's blood circulation, but things did not go for good.
Washington did not get as cold as expected, and after a period of observation, Washington's body was more painful, and the fever did not slow down, which doctors believed was the cause of the toxins in the body, so leeches were used to absorb the blood toxins in Washington's body.
After the first treatment was declared completely ineffective, doctors believed that the blood in the body was not balanced, or that there might still be toxins in Washington's body, so doctors decided to continue phlebotomy.
Doctors repeatedly bleeded from Washington's veins, but the results were not satisfactory, but the doctors did not choose to moderate the treatment, and eventually bleeded Washington four times in a row.
Under normal circumstances, if you lose about 500 milliliters of blood, you will feel dizzy, but the doctors have excreted about 2,500 milliliters of blood in Washington's body.
The blood eventually drained filled the bloodletting basins used by several doctors, which were at least half of the blood in Washington's body, which was a complete lethal amount, and Washington's blood was basically drained, and bloodletting therapy became one of Washington's causes of death.
From the point of view of modern medicine, the doctor's approach is very terrifying, because Washington is already very old, and the body is sick, and the resistance is very poor, even if only 500 ml of blood is put in, it will be difficult for Washington to bear.
After all, medicine is used on the human body, as long as it exceeds the tolerance level, even miraculous methods will bring negative effects.
After the bloodletting treatment failed, Washington's body also exceeded the load, and before dying, he freed the black slaves on his estate, and the first president of the United States died due to the underdevelopment of medical technology.
The bloodletting therapy used in Washington largely disappeared from the end of the 19th century, but it still exists today, but it is by no means based on draining half of the person.
Resources
"Lessons from Washington's Tragic Death"
"Washington's Death VS The Pseudoscience Controversy"
"From the Death of George Washington to Acute Epiglottitis"
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