Medieval herbal remedy

[Welsh Wench]

In researching some things for school, I came across something interesting.

Archeologists have found the remains of a 700 yr old 'chemist' or herb garden in 14th century Soutra Hospital outside of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Two hundred medicinal plants have been found which the monks used to make remedies.

The monks used to crush the roots and tubers of the bitter vetch to make a potion that they gave to suppress hunger pangs when the crops failed.
It was supposed to make people not want to eat and not miss eating food for weeks or months.

It is found in poor grazing and heath land, taking 2-3 years to mature. It has a leathery licorice taste. The plant seemed to become obsolete when potato cultivation came in.

Charles II used to give it to his mistresses to keep them slim.

Now they are thinking it can be used to make a modern slimming pill to fight the national crisis of obesity. 

Which shows that sometimes nature knows best.

[Marietta Graziella]

Isn't it amazing how they always seemed to find a way centuries ago? 

I love that kind of info.  Thanks for sharing your research!! 

The ancient egyptians used dried crocodile urine as the main ingredient in birth control powder.  Uh, yea.  Who discovered that one?!?

[Anna Iram]

Many diet pills today contain Hoodia gordonii. It's a crop originally cultivated in Africa and used for the same purpose: to controll hunger on long hunts or during periods when food may not be available. Or in modern America to get in shape for bikini season.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodia_gordonii

[Welsh Wench]

What I found interesting is that Charles II gave it to the mistresses to slim them down when plumpness was a characteristic of a 'healthy woman'.

I guess plumpness back then was in the eye of the beholder.
Plumpness being a relative term.

[Anna Iram]

Maybe he just figured it made them a cheap date. Don't have to buy them dinner first.

[Anna Iram]

W.W. This really was meant to be just a friendly conversation. I hope you saw it as such.

[DonaCatalina]

Many diet pills today contain Hoodia gordonii. It's a crop originally cultivated in Africa and used for the same purpose: to controll hunger on long hunts or during periods when food may not be available. Or in modern America to get in shape for bikini season.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodia_gordonii

Hoodia should be used with caution. Some health care providers warn that since hoodia suppresses thirst, dehydration is a possibility.

[Welsh Wench]

Thank you, Dona Catalina!

I've been learning alot about drug interactions with herbs and even food.
People think because it is 'natural' they don't have to mention it to their doctors when dealing with legend drugs.

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-16-2006-105644.asp

[Element of Air]

Wow, all of that is really interesting. i always wonder why we don't go back completely (as much as we can) to herbs and such for health issues.

[Tygrkat]

Because pharmaceutical companies can't patent nature 

[Welsh Wench]

And that is so true.
I'm studying pharmacology and the other day we tracked a 'pretend' drug from idea to marketing.
You would be surprised how many hands it has to pass through before it gets to the pharmacy.

For instance--we had a 160 million research budget. The 'drug manufacturer' was a bit reluctant to spend the money in wining and dining the various paths. But the instructor pointed out she had to spend millions to make billions.

In the very end, we 'marketed' the drug under a name I came up with--
BRYBITOL.

Pronounced Bribe-it-all.

But the bottom line is---the pharmaceuticals won't stand for it. And the FDA gets involved too.

[Tygrkat]

And that is so true.
I'm studying pharmacology and the other day we tracked a 'pretend' drug from idea to marketing.
You would be surprised how many hands it has to pass through before it gets to the pharmacy.

For instance--we had a 160 million research budget. The 'drug manufacturer' was a bit reluctant to spend the money in wining and dining the various paths. But the instructor pointed out she had to spend millions to make billions.

In the very end, we 'marketed' the drug under a name I came up with--
BRYBITOL.

Pronounced Bribe-it-all.

But the bottom line is---the pharmaceuticals won't stand for it. And the FDA gets involved too.

That name is funny - and the exercise your instructor had you class doing sounds like it really put the process into perspective - especially for those who may not be aware of how "the healthcare indusrty" doesn't really care about your health - just the health of their profit margin...

[Welsh Wench]

It took us an hour and a half to role-play through the whole process. I was the investigative doctor who supplied the test patients.
We gave them 'drug' vs 'placebo' and had to run through 50 doses (10 doses x 5 test people)
We had to analyze the results, then 'convince' the FDA that it was marketable. We did alot of 'incentives'. 

The first day of class we learned one thing.
The pharmaceuticals are in it for the profit, not the caring.

And the reason some drugs are so expensive is this--
A drug company has a patent on a drug for 15-20 years. That means only that drug company can manufacture that drug.
Once the patent runs out, the 'brand' becomes 'generic' and other drug companies can manufacture the drug at a more economical cost.

[Tygrkat]

It took us an hour and a half to role-play through the whole process. I was the investigative doctor who supplied the test patients.
We gave them 'drug' vs 'placebo' and had to run through 50 doses (10 doses x 5 test people)
We had to analyze the results, then 'convince' the FDA that it was marketable. We did alot of 'incentives'. 

It's interesting that the FDA needs to be 'convinced' that a drug is marketable, not necessarily effective or safe....

The first day of class we learned one thing.
The pharmaceuticals are in it for the profit, not the caring.

Hence the FDA doing as much as possible to discredit the use of natural and holistic medicines...if the pharmaceutical companies can't profit, the FDA doesn't get their cut...when individuals are healthy, they don't need to spend moeny on prescriptions...

And the reason some drugs are so expensive is this--
A drug company has a patent on a drug for 15-20 years. That means only that drug company can manufacture that drug.
Once the patent runs out, the 'brand' becomes 'generic' and other drug companies can manufacture the drug at a more economical cost.

Because the length of the patent is so long and technology advances at an exponentially faster and faster rate, by the time a 'generic' version of a drug is 'allowed', it would seem that it would most likely have been replaced (at least in the market, if not in efficacy) by a 'new' drug with a shiny new patent and a very healthy pricetag

...and all one would have to do would be to change, add, or subtract an ingredient or two (and not necessarily an 'active' ingredient, either) to warrant issuing a new patent...








Not a cynic at all...no way....not me....

[Welsh Wench]

Exactly! The drug manufacturers 'tweak' the drug and can get their patent extended a few more years.

I may not have worded it right as 'marketable'.
But we convinced our 'FDA agent' that it was safe, effective in 10 out of 50 doses (we presented it like, 'hey, if it weren't for that drug, those 10 cases would still be in pain!') and we also offered that since it was replacing morphine, it was not a controlled substance and therefore the DEA is not involved resulting in far less paperwork for the doctors.

Never mind the fact we told our 'FDA agent' that we saw him with a redhead and his wife is a brunette and we had pictures....

As I said, we had a lot of fun with it.