In ancient medicine, a purging or cleansing by vomiting or other evacuation.
From Greek 'ana-' (up, back) + 'katharsis' (cleansing, purification). Related to the more familiar 'catharsis,' but with the 'ana-' prefix indicating upward movement (vomiting).
Ancient doctors believed disease came from 'bad humors' and tried to cure illness by making people vomit, a practice that sounds wrong but showed medical thinking before germ theory—they understood purging the body, just not why.
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