Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Greece and Rome
Published in Michael J. O’Dowd, The History of Medications for Women, 2020
Hippocrates knew that there was in most diseases a tendency to natural resolution, or vis medicatrix naturae, ‘the healing power of nature’, and made little use of drugs in treatment. Hippocrates believed that therapy should assist nature and he confined his treatments to fresh air, good diet, purgation with black hellebore (Helleborus niger), and vomiting induced with white hellebore (Veratrum album). Medical decoctions of barley gruel, barley water, hydromel (honey and water) and oxymel (honey and vinegar) were administered and complemented by massage and hydrotherapy. Hippocrates was aware of drug side-effects and warned that hellebore, used as an emetic or purgative, could cause convulsions if given in high dosage. He also thought that it was better not to treat those with internal cancers because they died sooner if treated.
Roman Medicine
Published in Arturo Castiglioni, A History of Medicine, 2019
Horace tells us that he suffered from rheumatic pains and gastric distress. He often speaks of physicians and drugs, and he tells of having obeyed Musa, the physician of Cæsar, who had recommended sulphur baths. Persius, speaking of an insane patient, says that it is. too late for him to use hellebore. Juvenal speaks of physicians practising both medicine and surgery, and also selling drugs. Martial, who often scourged ignorant physicians and charlatans, speaks of a gladiator who was formerly an oculist:
H
Published in Anton Sebastian, A Dictionary of the History of Medicine, 2018
Hellebore [Helleborus, Greek: eleio, to injure + boros, eaten] The roots of several species of this poisonous plant have been used since ancient times as a remedy. Pliny (AD 23–79) recommended it as a purgative and treatment for hydrophobia, while Hippocrates (460–377 BC) used it as a cleansing agent for ulcers. Paul of Aegina (AD 625–690) recommended its use for melancholy. The active ingredient (helleborin) from the black hellebore root (Helleborus niger) was obtained by A. Husemann in 1864.
Veratrum parviflorum poisoning: identification of steroidal alkaloids in patient blood and breast milk
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2022
Jared T. Seale, Joseph E. Carpenter, Matthew D. Eisenstat, Emily A. Kiernan, Brent W. Morgan, Daniel P. Nogee, Xinzhu Pu, Colin A. Therriault, Michael Yeh, Owen M. McDougal
Patient 8 is a 58-year-old female who also consumed false hellebore leaves boiled in water. She developed vomiting, lightheadedness, chest discomfort, generalized weakness, and a sensation of pressure with tingling in the right arm 1.5 h after the meal. She initially presented to an urgent care clinic where she was noted to be hypotensive, and transferred to an ED. Blood pressure on arrival was 80/50, with a heart rate of 46. She received atropine 0.5 mg IV with transient improvement of her heart rate to 80, and blood pressure of 130/70. Her heart rate decreased to the 40 s again in the ED and blood pressure was 80/50. She received another dose of atropine 0.5 mg IV and a 1 L IV fluid bolus. Labs showed no acute abnormalities, with undetectable digoxin. EKG revealed sinus bradycardia. She was started on a dopamine infusion at 15 mcg/min and admitted to the ICU. She remained hemodynamically stable with heart rate in the 60 s and 70 s with normal blood pressure overnight. The dopamine drip was weaned off over 24 h, with full resolution of all symptoms.
Non-pharmacological treatments for pediatric refractory epilepsies
Published in Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 2022
Eleonora Rotondo, Antonella Riva, Alessandro Graziosi, Noemi Pellegrino, Caterina Di Battista, Vincenzo Di Stefano, Pasquale Striano
To date, no RCTs have assessed whether herbal remedies may play a role in epilepsy treatment. However, two open-label studies published in the Chinese medical literature have reported some benefits of phytotherapy over DRE, with more than 75% reduction in seizure frequency in two-thirds of patients [75,111]. A multitude of botanicals/herbs, such as piper, ginkgo Biloba, radix ginseng, and turmeric, are generally considered safe, affordable and well-tolerated, and have been used for centuries to treat epilepsy [112]. In that context, China has a significant tradition based on twenty-three different botanicals, all obtained from natural plants, that are usually mixed in different ways to create specific formulas [112]. Despite this century-old tradition, the current scientific evidence mainly consists of animal models which suggest a potentiation of GABAergic activity as the mode of action of these remedies [113]. As for the American hellebore, betony, blue cohosh, mugwort, pipsissewa, skullcap, and valerian, it is not known whether they may also have antiepileptic properties [114–116] and no scientific data on their clinical efficacy are currently available [115,117].
Bersaldegenin-1,3,5-orthoacetate induces caspase-independent cell death, DNA damage and cell cycle arrest in human cervical cancer HeLa cells
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2021
Justyna Stefanowicz-Hajduk, Magdalena Gucwa, Barbara Moniuszko-Szajwaj, Anna Stochmal, Anna Kawiak, J. Renata Ochocka
Bufadienolides are C-24 steroids which a have six-membered lactone ring attached at the C-17β position of the perhydrophenanthrene core. The name of this group of compounds comes from genus Bufo (the toad) which contains bufadienolides (Kamboj et al. 2013). These compounds were identified in species like Bufo marinus L. (Bufonidae) (Matsukawa et al. 1997), B. viridis Laurenti (Uasnova et al. 2002), B. gargarizans Cantor (Tian et al. 2010), B. rubescens Lutz (Cunha Filho et al. 2005), Fusarium poae (Peck) Wollenw. (Nectriaceae), F. sporotrichioides Sherb. (Morishita et al. 1992), Photinus (Lampyridae), and Rhabdophis (Colubridae) (Kamboj et al. 2013). In addition to animals, many plant species also contain bufadienolides. They were identified in Kalanchoe (Crassulaceae), Tylecodon (Crassulaceae), Helleborus (Ranunculaceae), Scilla (Hyacinthaceae), Cotyledon (Crassulaceae), Urginea (Hyacinthaceae), Mimosa (Fabaceae), Millettia (Fabaceae), and Drimia genus (Hyacinthaceae) (Stoll et al. 1933; Wagner et al. 1985; Steyn et al. 1986; Botha et al. 1998; Pohl et al. 2001; Watanabe et al. 2003; Goel & Ram 2009).