Why was bloodletting so widely practiced? - Stephanie Honchell Smith episode artwork

EPISODE · May 23, 2026 · 8 MIN

Why was bloodletting so widely practiced? - Stephanie Honchell Smith

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Trace the history of bloodletting, a medical practice dating back to ancient Greece and its continued use into the 19th century.--Bloodletting was a pervasive medical practice that dates as far back as ancient Greece and continued well into the 19th century. Physicians like Hippocrates believed bad health could be attributed to a fluid imbalance, and recommended bloodletting to help reset the body's balance. So, why did bloodletting stick around so long? Stephanie Honchell Smith digs into its popularity and shortcomings.Lesson by Stephanie Honchell Smith, directed by Denys Spolitak.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-doctors-used-to-bleed-their-patients-stephanie-honchell-smithDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-doctors-used-to-bleed-their-patients-stephanie-honchell-smith/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.behance.net/denysspolitak/info----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Ophelia Gibson Best, Paul Schneider, Joichiro Yamada, Henrique Cassús, Karthik Cherala, Clarence E. Harper Jr., Vignan Velivela, Ana Maria, Exal Enrique Cisneros Tuch, Tejas Dc, Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri, Morgan Williams, Devin Harris, Pavel Zalevskiy, Karen Goepen-Wee, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Yansong Li, Cristóbal Moenne, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak Hajizadeh, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, and Victor E Karhel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trace the history of bloodletting, a medical practice dating back to ancient Greece and its continued use into the 19th century.--Bloodletting was a pervasive medical practice that dates as far back as ancient Greece and continued well into the 19th century. Physicians like Hippocrates believed bad health could be attributed to a fluid imbalance, and recommended bloodletting to help reset the body's balance. So, why did bloodletting stick around so long? Stephanie Honchell Smith digs into its popularity and shortcomings.Lesson by Stephanie Honchell Smith, directed by Denys Spolitak.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-doctors-used-to-bleed-their-patients-stephanie-honchell-smithDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-doctors-used-to-bleed-their-patients-stephanie-honchell-smith/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.behance.net/denysspolitak/info----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Ophelia Gibson Best, Paul Schneider, Joichiro Yamada, Henrique Cassús, Karthik Cherala, Clarence E. Harper Jr., Vignan Velivela, Ana Maria, Exal Enrique Cisneros Tuch, Tejas Dc, Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri, Morgan Williams, Devin Harris, Pavel Zalevskiy, Karen Goepen-Wee, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Yansong Li, Cristóbal Moenne, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak Hajizadeh, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, and Victor E Karhel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Why was bloodletting so widely practiced? - Stephanie Honchell Smith

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This episode was published on May 23, 2026.

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Trace the history of bloodletting, a medical practice dating back to ancient Greece and its continued use into the 19th century.--Bloodletting was a pervasive medical practice that dates as far back as ancient Greece and continued well into the 19th...

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