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Islamic Medicine
Published in Charles Greene Cumston, An Introduction to the History of Medicine, 2018
The Islamic pharmacopoeia contained two hundred new plants, a great many of which are still used at the present time, and it may be well here to mention a few of the most important. Among laxatives, the Arabs added rhubarb, senna, cassia and manna, and so forth. As stimulants they were the first to use nux vomica and camphor. Among their medicaments having a preponderant action on the nervous system may be mentioned aconite, Indian hemp, and amber. They introduced colocynth as a diuretic and drastic aperient as well as santal, and they well knew the effects of ergot concerning which Ibnu’l-Baytar states that “it is a violent poison and when ingested produces bloody urine, a black tongue and disturbances of the intelligence.” The Arabs recounted the various forms of a given medicament, its absorption and doses, their contra-indications and their antidotes in cases of poisoning.
Abies Spectabilis (D. Don) G. Don (Syn. A. Webbiana Lindl.) Family: Coniferae
Published in L.D. Kapoor, Handbook of Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants, 2017
Medicinal properties and uses — The pulp of colocynth in large doses causes violent griping, prostration, and sometimes bloody discharges. Even in moderate doses it is seldom prescribed except as an adjuvant to other cathartics. In the form of solid extract, it enters into many of the purgative pills of modern pharmacy. The roots of the plant also possess purgative properties and are used in ascites, jaundice, urinary diseases, and rheumatism. Internal pulp only of the dried, peeled fruit is official in the British Pharmacopoeia; it is useful in biliousness, fever, intestinal parasites, constipation, hepatic and abdominal, visceral and also cerebral congestion, and dropsy. Oil from the seed is used for snakebites, scorpion-stings, any bowel complaints, epilepsy, and also for the growth and blackening of the hair.1
Evidence from the ancient Near East
Published in Marshall Joseph Becker, Jean MacIntosh Turfa, The Etruscans and the History of Dentistry, 2017
Marshall Joseph Becker, Jean MacIntosh Turfa
Leek calls this a “septic tooth” and notes that all of these ingredients tend to be astringent. Leek (1967b: 53) also translates “dзrt” as colocynth, but Ebbell (1937: 133) offers a very different Egyptian term for colocynth. Colocynth (Citrullus colocynthis) is an herbaceous vine related to the watermelon and known from northern Africa and the Mediterranean. A powerful cathartic is prepared from the fruit. “dзrt” more likely identifies carob, according to Manniche (1989: 91).
Investigating the effects of Citrullus colocynthis on cognitive performance and anxiety-like behaviors in STZ-induced diabetic rats
Published in International Journal of Neuroscience, 2023
Mohammad Amin Rajizadeh, Amir Hashem Aminizadeh, Khadijeh Esmaeilpour, Mohammad Abbas Bejeshk, Asie Sadeghi, Fouzieh Salimi
Citrullus colocynthis commonly known as “bitter apple”, “colocynth”, “vine-of-sodom”, and “Tumba” is an annual tropical plant [1] common in countries including Europe, Asia, and Africa [10]. The whole plant has many medicinal properties such as anti-inflammatory, anti-candidal, bacterial, and anti-oxidant, and the fruit is scientifically proved as antidiabetic [8]. Olatunya et al. stated that C. colocynthis seeds contain PUFA and the consumption of large amounts of PUFA is linked to a lower incidence of depression, a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and decreased prevalence of age-related memory loss [10]. PUFAs might have a positive influence on controlling and developing diabetes. This positive influence includes protecting the pancreatic beta cells from damage, which results from the production of free radicals in diabetes [11]. Furthermore, C. colocynthis fruit extract has a pain mitigatory effect in patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy [12].
Medicinal plants in the treatment of urinary tract malignancies during the Araboislamic period (7th- 14th century AD)
Published in Arab Journal of Urology, 2022
Achillefs Drogosis, Charalampos Mamoulakis, Emmanuel Chrysos, Gregory Tsoucalas, Spyros N. Michaleas, Marianna Karamanou
Although a variety of medicinal plants were used in general against cancer, a plethora of them were administered to palliate cancer symptomatology. Especially for the urinary tract glycyrrhiza-liquorize was used for the ulcerated kidneys (not in all cases the ulceration meant cancer), daucus-carrot, erythrodanum-madder and cinnamomum-cinnamon had been known to absorb substances and purge kidneys, while viola-violet, cucurbita sylvestris-colocynth, lapis lazuli-cyanus, opium-poppy, petroselinun-stone parsley and tragacantha-tragacanth gain their place as pain killers. Finally, hyssopum-hyssop was used to ameliorate hardness of the kidneys, a probable tumorous effect [13]. Avicenna had also proposed linum usitatissimum-flax, pinus brutia-pine and corylus-hazel as analgesics [14]. More anodynes were suggested by Rhazes who mentioned prunus amygdalus-almond, prunus cerasus-cherry and cassia-East Asian evergreen tree [Figure 3] [15].
Poisoning by non-edible squash: retrospective series of 353 patients from French Poison Control Centers
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2018
G. Le Roux, I. Leborgne, M. Labadie, R. Garnier, S. Sinno-Tellier, J. Bloch, M. Deguigne, D. Boels
The agents involved, as described by patients, were the following:Colocynth (Cucurbita pepo, C. argyrosperma, Lagenaria siceraria), in 174 patients (49.3%);Squash (Cucurbita sp.), in 99 patients (28.0%);Zucchini (C. pepo), in 45 patients (12.7%);Winter squash (C. maxima), in 26 patients (7.4%);Pumpkin (C. pepo), in nine patients (2.5%).