Heroic medicine
Heroic medicine has several meanings, depending on the era of discussion. In the pre-scientific period, it referred to such things as belief all disease was believed to be due to overstimulation, or to an imbalance humors, which needed to be balanced or released by bloodlettin or other means. Later, it referred to using extremely toxic treatments, without strong justification, for ill-defined illnesses.
Today, it can refer to two quite dissimilar things. One is treatment that really needs to be recognized as futile care with no hope of improving quality of life. The other is exceptionally high-risk treatment where risk is proportional to benefit.
Early usage
Benjamin Rush, in The Enlightenment, pushed bloodletting, purging and other harsh methods to reduce overstimulation. [1]
Transition
Modern period
Futility
High-risk
- Leucovorin rescue
- Pelvic exenteration
References
- ↑ Barbara Floyd,, Scientific Medicine, University of Toledo