The therapeutic bloodletting or purification of blood through medical intervention, particularly in older medical practices.
From Greek 'haima' (blood) + 'katharsis' (cleansing or purification). The term reflects the ancient medical belief that removing blood could cure illness.
Bloodletting was one of medicine's biggest mistakes—doctors genuinely thought draining blood would cure almost everything, from fever to madness, when it actually just weakened patients! It's wild how confidently wrong medicine can be.
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