Korean Job Discussion Forums

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

I was watching Arirang's Top 10 folk remedies. Classic "appeal to ancient wisdom" fallacy. Anyway, they were talking about "black blood" and how it's a sign of indigestion. Okay. Then they went to the medical expert. A doctor of oriental medicine. "Blood that lacks oxygen looks darker. So it is good to get rid of the bad blood."

Okay his first sentence is based in science. Yes. But the second part? Like red blood cells can't ever get more oxygen? So you better get rid of this stuff now? Like you just can't wait until it gets back to the heart? Does he realize veins carry blood TO the heart, blood in need of oxygen? If you *beep* a vein (vs an artery) you might get darker blood?

mateomiguel · Joined: 16 May 2005

actually you'd only get darker blood in a vacuum. Because as soon as the blood gets out of you its exposed to oxygen and turns red. You can see both blue and red blood in your body somewhere (most likely face and arms) but the only blood that comes out is red blood.

Also, your liver is in charge of filtering your blood and if there ever was such a thing as bad blood it would fix it right up. So the only possibility of bad blood present in your system would be liver failure. This is not curable by bleeding someone. Actually its not curable by anything really Sad

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huck · Joined: 19 Jan 2003

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

One of the teachers at our school has a little kit that looks like what a diabetic uses to test blood sugar levels. Sometimes when girls are having magic time cramps they'll go to her for a rather rough massage, after which she'll *beep* each of their thumbs by the thumbnail, and squeeze out a few drops of 'bad' blood. I suspect that the small amount of acute pain and anticipation of it temporarily distracts the nervous system from the abdominal pain, fooling them into thinking it's doing something useful.

mateomiguel · Joined: 16 May 2005

damnit!

Atavistic · Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:41 pm Post subject:

I had 부항 done last year on a terrible bruise that had migrated from my calf to my heel. It hurt like hell and was ugly as hell.

The blood letting certainly did help. Koreans can blame it on bad blood, I chalk it up to releasing the pressure.

thebomb · Joined: 13 Nov 2006

Red blood cells are always red. Since RBCs make up about 40-45% of our blood, the blood is red. Red blood cells are red because they have a
protein called hemoglobin which contains iron. Iron likes to bind oxygen. Oxygen combined with iron is red. The more oxygen iron has bound to it, the redder it is.

It is true that some persons have "iron poor blood". In this case their
red blood cells are less red than normal, but they are still red. The
iron in the hemoglobin of red blood cells is what carries oxygen to every
tissue in the body.

Why some people may think that blood can be blue is probably because of thecolor of our veins, which may be visible near the skin's surface. They appear blue because they do not get as much oxygen as the other tissues.

normalcyispasse · Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:56 pm Post subject:

Well, I actually had this done as part of an acupuncture session. Weird, but I felt a LOT better afterwards. I can probably attribute that to the acupuncture/massage/TENS though.

MarionG · Joined: 14 Sep 2006

Actually, there are all sorts of conditions that indeed do cause "bad blood." And the liver doesn't cure disease, so in the case of, for example, aplastic aenemia, a usually fatal blood disease, ten livers won't help.

nobbyken · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Location: Yongin ^^

Mywife was a nurse.
A few months back she wasn't feeling well and wanted me to stick a needle in her finger.

She couldn't do it herself because she is squeemish about her own blood.
After she pleaded a few times, I waited until I felt less faint (I could do it to myself, but felt weak doing it to her!) and then took a stab at her finger with a needle.

I even felt weak typing this, and I told her to get one of these automatic jabbers like diabetes patients use for the next time.

Colorado · Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:19 pm Post subject:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you need light to have color. Without light you can't have any color except black which is actually not a color but the absence of color. Since there is no light inside your veins everything inside them is black Your blood is not red or blue or any other color until you bleed or otherwise expose it to light.

thebomb · Joined: 13 Nov 2006

endo · Joined: 14 Mar 2004 Location: Seoul...my home

Hollywoodaction · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

Points to Mateo for knowing that the blood in you veins (and in the suction cups) appears dark red because it is rich in carbon dioxide and poor in oxygen. This blood is on its way to the lungs. Oxygen rich blood, after it returns from the lungs, appears a lighter red because it is in its oxygenated form. The difference in colour is due to the difference in wavelengths of light that are absorbed and reflected by hemoglobin when it is bound to carbon dioxide or oxygen. So, the 'black' blood in a vial will look red when exposed to oxygen. That is why your blood flows red when you cut yourself.

As for why your veins appearing blue...They aren't blue. They just look blue because the other colours are absorbed by the skin. Only high energy wavelengths, blues, are seen because they have the energy to travel into your skin and reflect all the way back.

aussieb · Joined: 08 Sep 2007 Location: Brisbane,Australia

Blood Letting is also practised in modern Western medicine. Hemachromatosis causes an excess of iron in the blood which can only be treated by venesection (Blood Letting).
People with this condition usually face a period of treatment where 450 - 500 mls of blood is extracted on a weekly or fortnightly basis until the iron levels reduce. this is followed by venesection probably on a 3 monthly basis for life.