Medieval Understanding of The Human Blood Circulatory System Essay Hello, please edit the essay attached based on the notes included in the essay. it is ju

Medieval Understanding of The Human Blood Circulatory System Essay Hello, please edit the essay attached based on the notes included in the essay. it is just side notes not that much. How did the medieval understanding of the human blood circulatory system, usher the modern
day’ understanding?
Introduction
Ignorance dominated medieval times with views on issues that are understandable or forgotten
today assuming the center stage. Religion and belief in supernatural things affected the people
such that there was no room for the reason. However, even in the face of ignorance, scientists
queried issues affecting society and denoting human nature. Their discoveries paved the way for
the foundation of modern science that holds the conventional wisdom in different fields today.
One such field is medicine and anatomy. Desecration of graves and human bodies was mundane
and unacceptable in medieval times. The rule against operating on the dead to understand how
their bodies functioned resulted in the perpetuation of unfounded beliefs. Individuals rose to
challenge these views (Ducasse 603). William Harvey was one of the daring scientists of the
medieval time whose groundbreaking work on the human blood circulation system, paved the
way for the development of the modern-day understanding of the human body.
Medieval times had a significant impediment in the form of religious beliefs and dogma
inherited from antiquity. Dogmas affected the ability of the people to understand how their
bodies worked. Additionally, the dogma also affected the ability of the medical field to advance.
However, there was adequate and founded knowledge about human beings that was pertinent.
For example, the vascular knowledge at the time originated from the Greeks with works of
Herophilus being the most renowned. He had had a unique opportunity to dissect human
cadavers with permission with the view of understanding how the human system functions
(Ducasse, 600). His description of medicine was above board from the conventional wisdom of
the time. He was also way ahead of the medieval understanding of the human blood system. In
addition to noting the differences between the arteries and veins, he identified the differences in
the arterial walls of the heart and hypothesized that the heart was the driving force for the blood.
Herophilus had some views about the vascular system that are laughable. For example, he
argued that the role of the arteries was to carry air often held in high position as the requirement
for life. His view may be ridiculous today, but his theory made some sense. Arteries carry
purified, but dissolved air (oxygen) (Ducasse 603). Another view that he held at the time was
that blood’s production took place in the liver. Herophilus also held the view that the arterial and
venous systems were independent of each other. Therefore, there was no possibility of blood and
air mixing. The advanced but incorrect views from the Greeks passed down to the middle ages.
The improvement on Herophilus theory of vascular system came through the works of
controversial Ibn al-Nafis. The physician, originally from Arabia, was the first to describe the
pulmonary circulation. He observed that the ventricle did not have any pores that would explain
the presence of blood in the arteries that had been the perceived carriers of the air for a long time
(Ducasse, 603). He also noted that blood flows through the arteries and later flows back into the
heart from the veins. The understanding of the lack of pores in the septum separating ventricles
posited the first modern version of the human vascular system. However, he also noted that
blood flowed into the heart from the veins and mixed with the so-called vital spirit that was in
the lungs. His theory was late in gaining precedence given that its publication was in Italy only.
The Catholic Church played a vital role in defeating progress in science. The church
imposed restrictions on scientists who would have any inclination to study human beings. The
statement of the church came as a result of widespread fear of blood and the dead. Blood
effusion also fell under the category of those practices that impeded the purity of a human being.
The society of the time also held the belief that venous blood had impurities due to the excess
humor in it. It was important at times for the humor to be expunged. However, the above practice
was pure quackery, even though it took the medical profession of the time, many years to
discover the limitations of their method (Ducasse, 606). Patients that underwent bloodletting
would faint or die in the end. Another belief that prevailed at the time was that if one distilled
arterial blood it would be possible to get the vital spirit.
The role of the blood was also different at the time. The original suggestion of the role of
blood in the body originated from Venetian Turisanus. He argued that blood was simply another
humor that if mixed with other humor would provide the body with adequate nutrition (Ribatti,
3). This view is not as different from the modern view of the role of blood as the vital tool for
transportation of nutrients from the digestive system to an organ that needs it. Some of the
thinkers of the time thought that the assumption that there was a vital spirit in the blood was
wrong given that the said spirit was invisible.
Medieval times later witnessed a rise in the number of scientifically-oriented studies of
the human body (Ribatti, 3). The official dissections started at the University of Bologna. The
ruler at the time required all surgeons to attend dissections of the human bodies collected from
executed criminals. The backing from the king added to the edge that the universe latter attained
the deep understanding of human anatomy. However, little attention went to the vascular system.
The later middle ages served a vital role in the progression of human understanding of the
general anatomy. Human beings had been confirmed to the thinking handed down to them from
antiquity. However, the later middle ages saw the repulsion of the Catholic law banning
dissection. The move often paved the way for the surgeons to do more than one post mortem a
year. As a result, they started questioning the beliefs and knowledge emanating from the
antiquity (ElMaghawry, Zanatta, and Zampieri 31). The questioning aspect of the individuals
resulted in a higher level of understanding as to how the body works. For example, the first
correct theory of pulmonary circulation by Ibn al-Nafis would now stand the test of proof. Galen
thinking about the vital spirit in the arteries was no longer a way of thinking. The discovery also
marked the end of the dependence on antiquity in understanding human anatomy, as well.
William Harvey would later make the first prediction on how the human vascular system
functions (Ducasse, 607). He was able to describe the functioning of pulmonary circulation.
Harvey’s discovery was to come after fifteen years of dissecting animals and cadavers. His
description of the human pulmonary circulation system was in line with the modern
understanding of how the system works. He noted that circulation was similar to human beings
and animals with minor differences. He argued that veins fed blood into the right auricle and
later the right ventricle. The blood that got into the body through the right side would be pumped
into the lungs using the pulmonary system. Later, the blood returned into the heart using the left
side of the heart. In the end, the blood would spread to the rest of the body via the aorta and later
to the different arterial system.
Harvey may be the first person to have published the pulmonary system of blood
circulation. The discovery was the main breakthrough in understanding how the human vascular
system functioned. The advances that the researchers of the time made were dependent on their
efforts to think about more than the norm or conventional wisdom. Harvey noted that there were
some anomalies between the veins and the arteries. Not all arteries had any valve system.
However, the veins had an anomaly that took the form of valves directed towards the heart.
The valves’ function was to favor the flow of the blood to the heart as he hypothesized
(ElMaghawry, Zanatta, and Zampieri, 31). However, there are other roles of the valves such as
the prevention of backflow that may result in other issues in the affected areas. He assumed that
the arterial and venous systems in human and animal that he dissected were in one way or the
other associated with each other. The assumption hinged on an idea of uniqueness that the
system manifested during the entire research period. His hypothesis of the connection between
the two systems came true later when the linkage in the tissue of batrachian was discovered.
Harvey helped the world in debunking myths and dogmas that impeded the understanding
of the human circulatory system (ElMaghawry, Zanatta, and Zampieri, 31). The discovery and
elimination of thinking that different humor in the body affects the way of life paved the way for
an understanding of other issues that affect the human mind. The medieval understanding of the
human blood circulatory system is not as different from the modern version. The original
research at the time was difficult, but it assisted in the development of a body of knowledge that
is relevant even today. Knowledge of the human blood system would be different were it not for
the efforts of physicians of medieval times.
Conclusion
The human blood system is a direct manifestation of efforts by the medieval scientists. The
scientists managed to debunk dogmas, even at times when individual imaginations were the
primary basis of making decisions. Ensuing medical practices have positioned the medical field
in a manner that helps it meet its ongoing goals. Majority of the people who practice medicine
today may have been part of a network of quacks were it not for the medical discoveries of the
time. The bulk of the concepts that are normal in the current times tend to base their premises on
the discoveries done after years of research in medieval times.
Sources
Ducasse, E., et al. “Vascular knowledge in Medieval Times was the turning point for the
humanistic trend.” European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery 31.6 (2006):
600-608.
ElMaghawry, Mohamed, Alberto Zanatta, and Fabio Zampieri. “The discovery of pulmonary
circulation: From Imhotep to William Harvey.” Global Cardiology Science and
Practice (2014): 31.
Ribatti, Domenico. “William Harvey and the discovery of the circulation of the blood.” Journal
of Angiogenesis Research 1.1 (2009): 3.

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