Calf blood flow at rest and during postocclusive reactive hyperaemia was measured using an electrocardiogram-triggered plethysmograph in 14 patients with polycythaemia (nine with primary disease and five with polycythaemia secondary to cyanotic heart disease) before and after a course of venesection. The mean packed cell volume was reduced from 0.57 to 0.47, and whole-blood viscosity fell by 50...

Some External Quality Assessment Schemes (EQAS) require large volumes of human serum. During a one year period, 595 units of blood were obtained from 87 patients with haemochromatosis and polycythaemia, who underwent therapeutic venesection at the Edinburgh and South East Scotland Blood Transfusion Service. Serum from 59% of these donations was used in the EQAS for peptide hormones and related ...

This paper is based upon a ten year study on the combination of venesection (fasd), blood letting (hejamat) and herbal therapy in the treatment of sciatalgia as based on the sayings of the Holy Prophet of Islam and his family. In this paper we present venesection and blood letting as two major methods of treating sciatalgia in parallel with herbal therapy and we demonstrate the efficiency of th...

This paper is based upon a ten year study on the combination of venesection (fasd), blood letting (hejamat) and herbal therapy in the treatment of sciatalgia as based on the sayings of the Holy Prophet of Islam and his family. In this paper we present venesection and blood letting as two major methods of treating sciatalgia in parallel with herbal therapy and we demonstrate the efficiency of th...

Regional cerebral blood flow measurements and neuropsychological testing were conducted before and after venesection on 6 patients with polycythemia secondary to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Venesection resulted in lowered viscosity and hematocrit, and an accompanying improvement in cerebral perfusion and mental function. Blood flow was significantly increased in the left cerebral hem...

In the first and second of these works, Galen thoroughly refutes the statements of his predecessor, Erasistratus, point by point, and firmly establishes his own views on the importance of venesection. We are reminded here of the uncompromising thoroughness of Sir William Harvey in De Moto Cordis (1628). Galen, however, lacks Harvey's characteristic ability to incorporate simple yet decisive exp...

Blood (or plasma) rheology is related to cardiovascular risk. Mechanisms of this association are unclear but may be partially related to impaired left ventricular (LV) function and increased central blood pressure (BP) during light activity. This study aimed to test these hypotheses. Twenty patients (14 men; aged 61+/-12 years) with polycythemia rubra vera (n=16) or hemochromatosis (n=4) were s...