Francois Joseph Victor Broussais, French Physician

A man sitting in chair, arms outstretched, streams of blood pouring out as a nun places leeches on his body; a man (Broussais) stands in the doorway wearing top hat and coat; sign on the wall reads: Oeuvres compl?tes de Broussais. Francois Joseph Victor Broussais (1772-1838), French physician whose advocacy of bleeding, leech treatments, and fasting dominated Parisian medical practice early in the 19th century. In 1816 he published his Examen de la doctrine medicale generalement adopte, (Review of the medical doctrine generally adopts) which drew down upon its author the wrath of the whole medical faculty of Paris, but eventually his doctrines triumphed. Late in life Broussais became an advocate and a patient of homeopathy and declared that orthodox medicine was more harmful than useful to humanity'. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be humors the proper balance of which maintained health, but it often weakened sick patients. It was the most common medical practice performed by doctors from antiquity up to the late 19th century, a time span of almost 2, 000 years

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1772 1816 1838 Bleeding Blood Letting Blood-letting Bloodletting Breathing Cure Doctrine Fasting Homeopathy Humors Leech Letting Maintain Medicale Orthodox Prevent Quackery Quantity Treatments Vein Weakened

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