Author Topic: Medical Hemalurgy  (Read 5078 times)

XJface

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Medical Hemalurgy
« on: October 02, 2010, 09:00:49 AM »
It seems that Hemalurgy could potentially have a significant place in medicine alongside things like blood and organ donation, in the form of voluntary hemalurgic attribute donation. One complication of this would be the fact that hemalurgy and heart donation are mutually exclusive, so the benefit a recipient would receive from transference of a some hemalurgic attribute would have to be weighed against the benefit of transplanting the heart itself. Presumably they would have to have a way of ranking the suitability of a heart for transplant versus hemalurgy while taking into account what is needed for other patients. A weak or diseased heart which cannot be transplanted could be used for just about anything hemalurgically, whereas a heart ideal for transplant could be used for hemalurgy instead if its owner is a pewter misting and there's a potential recipient whose vast injuries are certain to be fatal without the effect of pewter allomancy.

Lord Terrisman

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2010, 03:39:05 PM »
That's an awesome concept!

Munin

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2010, 04:02:58 PM »
Don't you have to kill someone to make a Hemalurgic spike?
There's a difference between what's best and what's right. What's best might be different tomorrow or the day after, but right and wrong will stay the same after a thousand years.

Omelethead

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2010, 04:26:25 PM »
Don't you have to kill someone to make a Hemalurgic spike?

Or harvest from a dying person, just like organ donation.

I'm guess pewter would be the only medical "transplant". Unless they gave blind people tin spikes, either to cure near blindness or to beef up the other senses.

I wonder if wills would include hemalurgic spiking. So if a misting is on their deathbed, they get spiked to let their children inherit. Or if they pass down a hemalurgic spike they were using, even if it would lose potency.

Awesome idea.  ;D

jcats

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2010, 04:35:50 PM »
I've always seen Hemalurgy as very akin to Acupuncture, and with a kinder, gentler Sazed at the helm, perhaps its been toned down to that lvl?  for example, a patient goes to a local Spiker, who used various metal-spikes and rods to poke and prod the patient, perhaps "Killing" the sickness, or disease.

i could also see it as akin to Steroids, where a person Spikes themselves to be quicker, or stronger, etc.

Munin

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2010, 07:55:45 PM »
Don't you have to kill someone to make a Hemalurgic spike?
Or harvest from a dying person, just like organ donation.
Organs are only taken after a person is dead. You don't actually kill them for their organs.
There's a difference between what's best and what's right. What's best might be different tomorrow or the day after, but right and wrong will stay the same after a thousand years.

Fireborn

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2010, 09:03:41 PM »
Don't you have to kill someone to make a Hemalurgic spike?
Or harvest from a dying person, just like organ donation.
Organs are only taken after a person is dead. You don't actually kill them for their organs.
What he's saying is that the person is spiked when they're terminally ill.  They're killed, yes, but only when there's nothing that can be done for them.  True, this would probably severely reduce the potency of the spike, but it's better than how Hemalurgy has previously been conducted.  It's sort of like with Breath, only more extreme.
When to live is to die, and to die is to live, does either really matter?

Salkara

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #7 on: October 02, 2010, 09:35:26 PM »
Don't you have to kill someone to make a Hemalurgic spike?
Or harvest from a dying person, just like organ donation.
Organs are only taken after a person is dead. You don't actually kill them for their organs.

If this idea were used, I'd imagine it would be controversial for at least some of society. In essence, it would be euthanasia.

Twim'c

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #8 on: October 02, 2010, 11:03:26 PM »
If this idea were used, I'd imagine it would be controversial for at least some of society. In essence, it would be euthanasia.

But a lot more painful.

Doesn't Hemalurgy do weird things to people, though?
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XJface

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #9 on: October 02, 2010, 11:04:42 PM »
This sort of thing would be covered in living wills and such. "If I am rendered brain dead by injury or illness I consent to be used as a hemalurgic donor." I imagine that's the scenario where it would be most accepted.

Something else that occurred to me is some sort of multi-spike, several smaller pieces that fit together to make one large one. Perhaps that would let you spread it out across multiple recipients, though probably at reduced potency.

Inkthinker

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #10 on: October 02, 2010, 11:29:29 PM »
If this idea were used, I'd imagine it would be controversial for at least some of society. In essence, it would be euthanasia.

But a lot more painful.

Doesn't Hemalurgy do weird things to people, though?

Well, Ruin did weird things to people. And does Hemalurgy still work without Ruin? I guess Sazed would control it now...

Stormblessed

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #11 on: October 03, 2010, 01:38:10 AM »
*MISTBORN SPOILERS*

Ruin is still around, know held by Sazed. Ati, the person holding the shard that was making people who were spiked do bad things is no longer alive, and Brandon has already said that Sazed wont get infected by the power of Ruin as he also holds the power of Preservation.

But I really like this idea. It has some really interesting applications.

EDIT: Better place mistborn spoilers on this post.
"You've killed me. Bastards, you've killed me!
 -- Darkeyed Soldier

Omelethead

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #12 on: October 03, 2010, 04:08:45 AM »
Don't you have to kill someone to make a Hemalurgic spike?
Or harvest from a dying person, just like organ donation.
Organs are only taken after a person is dead. You don't actually kill them for their organs.

Yes, but a person's body is kept on life support after they die in order to harvest the organs. They could leave a person on life support, then spike them.

It would probably be a very controversial subject in their society (much like organ donation can be in ours). It just might require the donor to be euthanized . The whole process just needs to be regulated and voluntary.

Fireborn

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #13 on: October 03, 2010, 04:45:45 AM »
The ironic would be that the process has actual historical basis for being evil.
When to live is to die, and to die is to live, does either really matter?

Omelethead

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Re: Medical Hemalurgy
« Reply #14 on: October 03, 2010, 05:47:50 AM »
The ironic would be that the process has actual historical basis for being evil.

But with the whole change in leadership, evil is good!