The of use maggots to aid wound healing – known as maggot therapy (MT) or maggot debridement therapy (MDT) is a type of biotherapy that has been reported since ancient times. The Old Testament cites the infestation of a wound with fly larvae – “My body is covered with worms and scabs, My skin is broken and festering.” (Old Testament, Job 7:5, NIV Version, 1984). The benefits of this biotherapy have been recognised for centuries; Grossman states “since ancient times, fly larvae have been deliberately introduced into wounds to promote healing” (Grossman J. Flies as medical allies. The world & I. October 1994;187-193) and goes on to state that this method was practiced by aborigines in Australia, Hill people in Burma, and Mayan Indian healers …show more content…
This was evidently problematic, and so American surgeon William S. Baer realised the importance of his observation when he cleared out wounds infested with maggots to find “these wounds were filled with the most beautiful pink granulation tissue as one could imagine” and that the patients “went on to healing”. Baer refers to the maggots as “their friends, which had been doing such noble work” (maggot therapy book), encompassing the changing attitudes towards maggot therapy as its benefits are realised. Baer then progressed into a professor of orthopaedic surgery at the John Hopkins University after the war, and here he began to apply maggots to nonhealing wounds as treatment. It was during this time that the predecessor of what is today known as a ‘biobag’ was born – a biobag is sealed polyester bag that contains the maggots, so they can work on the wound without coming into direct contact with the skin. Baer developed cage-like dressings for the maggots to be contained in, to avoid disturbing the staff and patients with the sight of maggots, and to prevent them from
The Republican sniper had medical knowledge from training that helped him, for the rest of his life. An opposing sniper on a rooftop targeted and shot the Republican sniper. The shot had left his arm immobilized, and left him in a lot of pain. Since the bullet was still in his arm and most likely fractured the bone, the Republican sniper saturated the bullet hole with iodine to prevent infection and clean the wound. Then, he covered the wound in a piece of cotton and added the dressing over it.
The outfits these “doctors” wore covered them head to toe. They were designed by Charles de Lorme. The outfits consisted of long robes that covered their entire body, and hood that wrapped tightly around their face, and a mask with a long beak and glass eyeholes cut and put into them. Inside the beak usually held herbs and remedies used to purify the “diseased air” of the victims that the plague the doctors worked with.
The Bakongo believe that the great god, ne Kongo, brought the first sacred medicine ( or Nkisi) down from heaven in an earthenware vessel set upon three stones or termite bounds. A nkisi (or minkisi) is loosely translated a ‘spirit’ yet it is represented as a container of sacred substances which are activated by supernatural forces that can be summoned into the physical world. Visually, these minkisi can be as simple as pottery or vessels containing medicinal herbs and other elements determined to be beneficial in curing physical illness or alleviating social ills. In other instances minkisi can be represented as small bundles, shells, and carved wooden figures. Minkisi represent the ability to both ‘contain’ and ‘release’ spiritual forces which can have both positive and negative consequences on the
Maya also had hundreds of principal deities (197). The gods and goddesses had direct control of nature and their being as well. The peoples of Mesoamerica’s life’s was solely based on pleasing their gods and goddesses even though there were so many.
However, after many, many days of frogs hopping around everywhere. They began to be irritated and annoyed. Nevertheless, they had faith that the Lord had a reason. The third plague was lice. All the dust found on Pharoh’s land turned into lice, causing pain to the man and the animals.
We had no sterilized gauze dressing, no gauze sponges.... We knew nothing about antiseptics and therefore used none (“Civil War Medicine”, paragraph
In Religions of Mesoamerica by David Carrasco, the traditions of both Maya and Aztec cultures are looked into in a deeper manner – especially their religion. As is true with most religions and societal codes, they are adapted from ideas before them to better fit the beliefs of the people practicing. Most of the Mesoamerican religions appear to have several similarities, stemming from an idea Carrasco describes as means for world-making, centering, and renewal. The interpretation of this metatheory is also taken very different between the two religions as well. Establishing in the areas of Mexico and Guatamala around 200CE (Carrasco: 116), the Maya people were one of the first (along with the Olmec) to create the key characteristics of religion that will continue on throughout other Mesoamerican societies - including the Aztecs.
Doctors are infamous for their unreadable writing; Richard Selzer is not one of those doctors. A talented surgeon, Selzer has garnered critical acclaim for his captivating operating room tales, and rightfully so. A perfect exhibition of this is The Knife, a detailed illustration of a surgery. What may seem like an uninteresting event is made mesmerizing by Selzer’s magnificent account of the human body and the meticulousness that goes into repairing it. The rhetorical appeals, tone, and figurative language that Selzer uses throughout The Knife provide the reader with a vivid description of the sacred process of surgery.
Human sacrifice was considered a maximum expression of religious practices as well as the prayer rituals, which were an essential part of Mayan culture. The people sought help from the gods through divination, horoscopes, prophecies, and more to combat issues like difficulties caused by the devil, rites of puberty, avoiding droughts, marriage, among other activities. Mayans put so much trust in their prayers that they allowed them to dictate everyday life and participated frequently in self, animal, and human sacrifice. Rituals took place at the magnificent Mayan temples, which still stand today. The Mayans commonly asked for gifts such as the gift of life, health, sustenance, and to succeed in things such as hunting, fishing, and trading.
They often nursed the sick using home remedies that were passed down from generation to generation. Medicines were based on the “theory of opposites”. For example, if someone had a fever and felt hot, they were given a medicine made from a cold plant like lettuce to cool them down. Many pains were treated with certain things because they had similar appearance. For instance, ivory was used to treat a toothache because they looked alike.
Overall, the techniques adopted in medicine led to the recovery of many soldiers and saved the lives of many soldiers, whose conditions once seemed impossible to
In the documentary, “The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America,” portrays the journey of an immigrant Hmong family battling to maintain their cultural traditions alive in the United States. In the Hmong culture, it is believed that every individual has seven souls and if they have an illness, for example sickness, it means that their soul has departed or taken by evil spirits. Hmong people believe in Shamans, who are gifted and respected people who can make contact with their ancestors and return the lost souls of people. In this documentary, the main character Paja Thao is a shaman who is challenged by American customs to keep his cultural Hmong traditions alive and pass it down to his children. Paja becomes sick because he feels like his children don’t care about the Hmong tradition anymore because they don’t participate in his rituals and realizes his children have assimilated to the American culture.
The Maya artists produced materials to make things with, such as “goods made of cotton, feathers, clay, wood, and precious metals and stones.” Hopkins (5). These materials and art helped encourage the fascination with these cultures and displays how the civilizations were
The Murder of Danielle Van Dam By: Nevethan Jeyachandran Submitted to Dr.Monica Sauer Student Number: 500-523-913 Course: Intro to Forensics (CCHY-183) December 01, 2014 Introduction The Murder of Danielle Van Dam is a gruesome case which took place in the year 2002. A 7-year old girl went missing from her bedroom in San Diego, California, on Feb1-2, 2002. Her badly decomposed body was found in a remote area far away from her home on February 27. Police suspected a neighbour, David Alan Westerfield for the murder.
The Aztecs made knives from volcanic glass, they sharpened them and used them to perform surgeries and after the surgery is done they used the herbal medicine they created and cover the patient’s body in order not to let it get infected, they had an advanced surgical system and they were good at healing the wounds. The Tictils dealt with wounds carefully, they cleaned them gently, then they washed it with urine, and used medical plants and vegetables to rub and cover the wound so it would get better faster. The way the Aztec’s doctor dealt with wounds attracted European physician so after hundreds of years, the European’s started using Aztec’s methodology to treat the wounded. The Aztecs had a developed bone surgery which was the most advanced kind of surgeries. They were famous for healing the fractures, they used traction and counter traction, which means to pull the weight of the body to a correct order to relieve pressure on the muscles and bones, and that helped to avoid deformities.