Modern medicine has its scientific roots in the Middle Ages − how the logic of vulture brain remedies and bloodletting lives on today

<p>Nothing calls to mind nonsensical treatments and bizarre religious healing rituals as easily as the notion of Dark Age medicine. The &ldquo;Saturday Night Live&rdquo; sketch&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edIi6hYpUoQ" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Medieval Barber Theodoric of York</a>&nbsp;says it all with its portrayal of a quack doctor who insists on extracting pints of his patients&rsquo; blood in a dirty little shop.</p> <p>Though the skit relies on dubious stereotypes, it&rsquo;s true that many cures from the Middle Ages sound utterly ridiculous &mdash; consider&nbsp;<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2853665" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">a list</a>&nbsp;written around 800 C.E. of remedies derived from a decapitated vulture. Mixing its brain with oil and inserting that into the nose was thought to cure head pain, and wrapping its heart in wolf skin served as an amulet against demonic possession.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/the-conversation/modern-medicine-has-its-scientific-roots-in-the-middle-ages-how-the-logic-of-vulture-brain-f110cc06068c"><strong>Click Here</strong></a></p>