bloodletting: Quick Facts

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The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Nov. 7, 2026

News •

‘The reason is obvious’: Bloodletting begins over Republicans’ electoral wipeout • Nov. 4, 2026, 1:54 PM ET (Sydney Morning Herald)

Facts

Also Known As	bleeding • blood-letting

Photos

fleam, a device for bloodletting

Seventeenth-century illustration showing a doctor in period clothing applying leeches to the bare back of a seated woman in a domestic interior.

bloodletting lancets owned by surgeon Edward Jenner

bloodletting surgeon preparing to let blood by cupping

anatomy of the European medicinal leech

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Topics

What Was the Science Behind Medical Bloodletting?blood polycythemia vera leeching hemochromatosis therapeutics birth control dentistry complementary and alternative medicine regenerative medicine blood transfusion surgery functional measurement recreation therapy psychotherapy in vitro fertilization

Key People

Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Rush

United States statesman and physician

Broussais, François-Joseph-Victor

François-Joseph-Victor Broussais

French physician