History of Medicinal Plants Flashcards
1
Q
Pollen
A
- evidence of plant pollen in 60 000 year old Paleolithic graves
- pollen from five flowering plant genera that are known to have medicinal properties
2
Q
Fungus
A
- frozen prehistoric man found carrying bracket fungus
- fungus contains agaric acid (laxative) and toxins against some bacteria and parasites
3
Q
Mesotpotamia and Plant use
A
- very knowledgable in math and science but generally believe disease is caused by supernatural powers
- emphasize ritual and religion to find cures
- specialists ritual and religon to find cures
4
Q
What is Chinese Traditional Medicine based on?
A
- natural laws of yin and gang and five elements
- herbs used to create balance between them
5
Q
Shennong 2700 BC (mythical diety)
A
- father of medicine and agriculture
- credited for first chinese herbal “pen ts’ao ching”
- document listed 365 medicines from plants, animals, minerals (ephedra, opium, tea)
6
Q
What is Indian (ayurvedic) medicine based on?
A
practical and holistic set of guideline to maintain balance and harmony
7
Q
What is ‘Vedas’
A
- series of written sanskrit hymns
- used to pass knowledge and wisdom between generations
- oldest is Rig Veda- includes formulas for medicines, herbal use and surgeries
8
Q
Who is George Ebers? What did he do?
A
- german egyptologist
- finds oldest surviving medical text in Luxor, Egypt in 1874
- named is Codex Ebers (lists 876 herbal formulas using 500 plants, contains knowledge dating from before 3000 BC)
9
Q
Garlic (Genus)
A
- Allium Sativum
- genus: allium (onions, leeks, chives)
- allium from celtic word “all” (pungent, burning, smarting)
10
Q
Traditional Uses of Garlic
A
- placed by ancient Greeks at cross roads as a supper offering for the Goddess Hecate
- egyptians believed it strengthened the body and prevented disease
- greek soldiers ate garlic before going into battle to give courage and increase odds of victory
11
Q
What are superstitions associated with Garlic
A
- if a person running a race chews on a clove, it will prevent competitors from passing them
- associated with evil (garlic and onion spring from where Satan’s feel touched in garden of Eden)
- associated with good (protective/white magic)
12
Q
The chemistry of Garlic
A
- is an Alliin: stable odorless derivative of cysteine
- when garlic is damaged, allinase is released, converting allin to allicin
13
Q
Allicin (smell and function)
A
- is responsible for garlic’s flavor and smell
- is relatively unstable
- first isolated by Cavallito and Bailey in 1940s
- allicin activates temp sensitive ion channels found in sensory neurons
14
Q
What two compounds can be extracted from garlic? and what technique is used for both?
A
- diallyl disulfide: heat garlic in boiling water to form a distilled oil (1st compound isolated from garlic in late 1800s - Theodor Wertheim, 1844, detoxifying, antimicrobial)
- ajoene: from garlic macerate (cut up in oil, Wirth et al., 2018, antioxidant, anti-clotting)
15
Q
What were the historical medical uses of garlic?
A
- pre 1928, was used as a pre-antibiotic (Louis Pasteur)
- in 20th century, was used as an antiseptic against gangrene (used to control wound infections during both world wars, raw juice diluted and put on pieces of sphagnum moss)
16
Q
What are the health promoting benefits of Garlic that were known/used in the early 1980s?
A
- eating garlic reduced blood pressure (has blood thinning properties similar to Aspirin)
- contributes to lowered cholesterol and triglyceride levels
- garlic extracts can decrease risk of coronary thrombosis and stroke
17
Q
What is modern research focusing on in relation to garlic?
A
correlate garlic compounds with reduction of heart disease factors
18
Q
Explain the Garlic Dilemma
A
- the most potent medicinal effects are seen with ingestion of RAW garlic
- the garlic aroma reduces most individual’s desire to eat sufficient amount of raw garlic (sulfur compounds enter the bloodstream, exhaled or sweated out)
- modern goal is to generate garlic pills without the associated smell (is it though, the sulfur compounds that yield health benefits?)
19
Q
What is the purpose for producing sulfur containing compounds?
A
- protect allium species against decay by fungal species
- strong taste of allicin and other diallyl disulfides, inhibit animal foraging of underground plant parts, like bulbs
20
Q
Asclepius
A
- greek God of medicine
- son of Apollo
- treats the sick with help from his daughters Hygieia and Panacea
21
Q
Hippocrates
A
- was the first to examine patients closely, uses case studies
- ideas on health are cornerstone of European medicine until Pasteur’s germ theory
- uses warming, cooling and healing herbs
- four humors: hot, cold, dry, wet
22
Q
Theophrastus
A
- “father of botany”
- student of Plato and Aristotle
- writes historia plantarum
23
Q
Historia Plantarum
A
- written by Theophrastus
- 300 BC
- inquiry into plants
- standard reference for 1000 years
- rejects mysterious practices associated with plant collection
24
Q
Dioscorides and De Materia Medica
A
- greek physician moved to rome
- 1st century AD
- compiles the De Materia Medica
- portrays use, properties, cultivation of 600 plants
- recognizes growth and production factors of plant compounds
- refers to uses and preparations of many herbal remedies
25
Q
Galen
A
- physician to Marcus Aurelius
- follows ideas of Hippocrates and puts them into practice
- uses dissections to understand organisms and to practice surgeries
26
Q
What are ‘Galenicals’?
A
- designed by Galen
- expensive concoctions of herbs and animal parts
27
Q
What was Europe’s first ‘Herbal”
A
De Materia Medica became the standard reference in Europe
28
Q
Which empire had influence after the fall of the Roman empire?
A
- the Arabian empire
- arabian herbalism simplifies Galen’s medicines
- also develops pharmacy as a different discipline than medicine
29
Q
Who was Avicenna?
A
- persian court physician
- creates ‘Canon of Medicine’
- identifies plants that can be used for analgesia and anesthesia prior to surgery
30
Q
A
31
Q
Malaria
A
- infects between 300-300 million people each year
- widespread disease distribution
- correlation with bad air and swamps
32
Q
Causes of Malaria
A
- four species of protozoans from the genus Plasmodium cause different forms of disease
- symptoms include: reoccurring bouts of fever and chills and anemia
- malaria is initiated by a bite of female Anopheles mosquito which carries the parasite in its saliva and injects it into the blood stream
33
Q
Merozoites
A
- merosoites are created from sporozoite forming of parasite multiples in liver
- they invade red blood cells, multiply rapidly, deplete hemoglobin, red blood cells rupture and new generation of merozoites release
34
Q
Discovery of Malaria Cure in Late 16th century
A
- spanish invade Incan empire in Peru
- observe that natives used the bark of a mountain rain forest tree to treat fevers
- in 1645, father Tafur took the bark to rome as a cure for “the ague” (malaria)
35
Q
Intro of Bark to Europe
A
- 1650, England: British protestants reluctant to try Catholic concoction
- 1680s: Peruvian Bark was standard treatment
- 1820: two French chemists, Pelletier and Caventou isolated the alkaloid Quinine from the bark
36
Q
Genus Cinchona
A
- cinchona officinalis
- first species to be described
- Andean highlands of Ecuador and Peru
- glossy leaves and pink or yellow flowers
37
Q
Quinine
A
- compound found in peruvian tree bark
- odorless white powder
- bitter taste
- alkaloid
38
Q
How does Quinine interfere with merozoite action?
A
- concentrates in parasite food vacuoles
- prevents polymerization of heme into hemozoin resulting in toxicity to the parasite
39
Q
Synthetic anti-malarial drugs
A
- USA and Britain synthesized quinine analogues during world was II
- chloroquine, malarone, mefloquine
- used to target different Plasmodium life cycle stages and strains
40
Q
What does overuse of synthetic anti-malarial drugs lead to?
A
- leads to resistant Plasodium strains
- this lead to resurgence of interest in natural quinine
41
Q
Wormwood
A
- a quinine alternative
- Artemisia annua
- chinese herbal medicine used in fever reduction
- contains terpene compound called artemisinin which interacts with heme to form free radicals that kill parasites
- more effective synthetic versions have been creative
42
Q
Science and herbology in 1800-1900s
A
- purification of plant compounds
- synthesis of plant compounds in laboratories
- medicine turns away from herbs and towards technology (medical schools focus of pharm, not bot)
43
Q
Science and Herbology in 2000
A
- return to use of herbs and plant extracts in some countries
- herbs are prescribed in a specific way
44
Q
What is the Nagoya Protocol?
A
- established in 2014
- objective: fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
