The Most Insane Medical Practices in History

4. Almost all diseases were treated with bloodletting.

Bloodletting was very popular in India and Arabic countries and was even mentioned in documents from ancient Greece and Egypt. It was believed that blood contained "bad humors," which had to be let out to cure the patient. In the medieval period, barbers took care of bloodletting. It was popular up to the 19th century. Even George Washington had his tonsillitis cured this way, although he died afterward.