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Published in Anton Sebastian, A Dictionary of the History of Medicine, 2018
L’Obel, Matthias de (1538–1616) Flemish physician and botanist, born in Lille and studied medicine at Montpellier. He served as physician to William the Silent before he came to England under the patronage of Elizabeth I. He was made superintendent of the medicinal garden of Lord Zouche at Hackney, London. He was later appointed physician to King James VI and I of Scotland and England. L’ Obel described a system for classification of plant leaves in his Stirpium Adversaria Nova published in 1570. See Lobelia.
Catalog of Herbs
Published in James A. Duke, Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, 2018
Toxicity — “Toxic, in large doses may cause medullary paralysis: can be fatal.”17 In excess, may produce great depression, nausea, cold sweats, and possibly death.2 Hardin and Arena34 list the symptoms of poisoning, nausea, progressive vomiting, exhaustion and weakness, prostration, stupor, tremors, convulsions, coma, and death. There’s an old story of Sam Thompson who fatally poisoned one of his patients, Ezra Lovett, by Overadministration of lobelia. He was tried for murder but released because no one should have been dumb enough to take him seriously.19 Few things mentioned by Jethro Kloss in his “Back to Eden” seem more dangerous to me personally (I have chewed fresh lobelia on many occasions) than some of his lobelia recommendations” . . . very beneficial if given in connection with other measures, as an enema of catnip infusion morning and evening. The enema should be given even if the patient is delirious. It will relieve the brain.”44 Kloss devotes more than 25 pages to lobelia, describing it as “the most powerful relaxant known among herbs that have no harmful effects.” Both Tierra28 and Kloss44 recommend some rather dangerous herbs as enemas, a practice I cannot recommend, especially with poisonous herbs or herbs of dubious salubrity. Remember the warning: Death has resulted from improper use of this drug as a home remedy.
Drugs Affecting Autonomic Ganglia (Including the Adrenal Medulla)
Published in Kenneth J. Broadley, Autonomic Pharmacology, 2017
Lobeline stimulates respiration by an action on carotid body chemoreceptors. The reflex increases in respiration and bronchodilatation have been used in the past for treating asthma and chronic bronchitis. The effects are, however, transient and unreliable and, when smoked, lobeline fumes aggravate the condition. Lobeline has also been used to stimulate respiration of the newborn when other measures have failed. Finally, lobeline by mouth, as the hydrochloride or sulphate, has been claimed to be of value as a smoking deterrent and several proprietry preparations of lobelia or lobeline salts have recently been available worldwide (eg Lobidan, Nikoban) (Martindale 1989). The results of controlled trials, however, are disappointing and it produces all the unpleasant side-effects of nicotine, including nausea, vomiting, coughing, headache and dizziness.
Respiratory health in Canada before 1800
Published in Canadian Journal of Respiratory, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, 2021
Mental problems were treated by prayers, cries, incantations, and dances. For physical problems, massages and various herbs, ointments, and balms that could contain animal fats were used. Infusions of buds or bark of white spruce, hemlock, or menyanths (or Menyanthis), in particular the annedda, as called by aboriginals (whose origin is still discussed but that seems to be an extract American white cedar), were used to treat scurvy after killing many of Europe's first immigrants.7 Some products, such as monard (monarda), were antispasmodic, and herbs such as lycopodium, lobelia, and betony were used to treat skin ulcers and abscesses. For generalized infections caused by wounds, bleeding was offered. Breastfeeding for up to 5 years could protect young children from infectious diseases.
Dry powder inhalation, part 1: ancient history and precursors to modern dry powder inhalers
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2022
Anne Haaije de Boer, Paul Hagedoorn, Floris Grasmeijer
In the early history, pulmonary therapy is intertwined with habits and rituals to obtain hallucinatory effects and pleasurable sensations. Many herbs used for combustion, smoking, or heating to release their volatile components are not only known for their therapeutic value, but also for their psychiatric effects, often leading to an addiction [21–24]. Well-known examples are Ephedra sinica containing epinephrine, the nightshade species Datura stramonium (thorn apple) and Hyoscyamus Niger (black henbane or stinking nightshade) both with atropine, Papaver somniferum for opium containing noscapine and morphine, Cannabis sativa with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), and Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) with nicotine. Columbus already observed in 1492 that growing and smoking tobacco by native Americans was variably practiced for the treatment of ills and for its pleasurable effects [25]. The rapidly increasing popularity of the asthma cigarette (e.g. with stramonium, lobelia, tobacco, and potash) among patients with asthma in the late 1800s coincided precisely with a growing interest in smoking cigarettes with cannabis and opium for both recreational and medical purposes [26]. Examples like these mark the very thin line between medical and recreational inhalation. It may, therefore, be questioned whether all examples of inhaling vapors, fumes, and smokes from the past should be considered significant examples for the evolution of pulmonary therapy. On the other hand, the beneficial effects from inhaling salt air at the seaside or in salt mines, or those from inhaling the wholesome volatile organic compounds (e.g. limonene and pinene) in pine forests is often disregarded in recent historical reviews [27.28]. Greek soldiers with tuberculosis of the lungs were sent to the pine forests of Libya to inhale these volatile compounds for recovery around 1000 BCE [29]. Also, the Greek/Roman physician Claudius (Clarissimus) Galenus (129 to approx. 200 CE), in the English literature mostly referred to as Galen (of Pergamon), recommended his patients to breathe the sulfuric vapors arising from cracks in the slopes of the Vesuvius, or make a sea voyage for the treatment of tuberculosis [30,31]. The difference with other examples given in literature is that these patients did not create the salutary air themselves, as for instance by combustion or heating of plant materials. Instead, they went to a place where it is naturally present. It may be expected that much older peoples and tribes have recognized the potential health benefits of inhaling certain airborne biogenic substances too, but for the prehistoric period it is difficult to find evidence for habits that did not leave artifacts to be found. From this viewpoint, the inhalation therapy is probably considerably older and much more widespread than any of the milestones mentioned in previously written manuscripts. Frequently, the third millennium BCE is considered the earliest date giving proof of pulmonary drug delivery in the form of written documentation. In the paragraphs 2.1 to 2.4 the current knowledge about some frequently mentioned examples is presented and discussed.