

The Fall of Bloodletting and the Rise of Iron - PopeOfNope
http://freetheanimal.com/2015/08/fall-bloodletting-iron.html

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smoyer
Interesting article and I won't dispute the fact that blood-letting was
practiced fervently in the past. I'd like to see a few serious double-blind
studies before I'll jump on the bandwagon.

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nitwit005
Probably stating the obvious here, but the reason they stopped the practice
was because people did such studies.

If bloodletting worked on any common injuries or illnesses, we'd still be
using it for those cases. Even then, we'd probably have tried to find
medication that produced the same benefit to try to avoid the infection risks.

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theoh
It is in fact still used to treat hemochromatosis, which is an "iron overload"
disorder. It's relatively common in some populations.

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deftnerd
I've been aware of the dangers of low iron levels, but I did not know the
dangers of too much iron.

This blog has a link to an article at the NYT that was particularly
interesting.

[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/a-host-of-ills-
when...](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/a-host-of-ills-when-irons-
out-of-balance/)

I have a vegan friend who is always battling low iron levels. After reading
the NYT link, I told her that her spinach and whole grain intake might be
making things worse.

The links between high iron levels and diabetes were also very interesting.

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ajolly
Donating blood seems to have positive impacts on insulin sensitivity. I heard
about an interesting study where they had meat eaters donate blood, and it
significantly improved their blood glucose -
[http://wiki.dandascalescu.com/summaries/life_extension_confe...](http://wiki.dandascalescu.com/summaries/life_extension_conference_2012#Insulin_Sensitivity:_Relation_to_Disease_and_Methods_to_Improve_it)

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SmallBets
Giving blood is one of those things where it's low risk, can help others, and
has some science behind the benefits presumably by reducing iron. Have been
meaning to get into it.

Some of the studies are linked here:[http://www.science-of-aging.com/donating-
blood-extend-lifesp...](http://www.science-of-aging.com/donating-blood-extend-
lifespan.php)

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droithomme
Wow, this title threw me for a loop.

The rise of the Iron Age actually was highly correlated with an increase in
bloodletting. Although copper was widely available, trade routes were needed
to access tin needed to manufacture bronze during the bronze age. This
situation created stable borders and relative peace.

When iron smelting techniques were discovered no one needed to depend on trade
routes to manufacture weapons. At this point borders destabilized and
bloodletting increased.

Of course the article is about a totally different situation.

