Sick culture

L. Eisenberg, Disease and illness Distinctions between professional and popular ideas of sickness, Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 1 9—23, 1977, p. 11. 

Cultures of Streptomyces rimosus var paromomycinus characteristically develop UV absorption at 240 and 278 nm due to formation of malonomicin (22), a compound that shows antiprotozoal activity towards Trypanosoma congolense, the causative agent of sleping sickness in cattle [42]. Malonomicin contains an unique aminomalonic acid unit that, on brief heating in water, undergoes decarboxylation and results in a compound devoid of biological activity [43]. Hydrolysis of the compound yielded L-serine and racemic aspartic acid. The structure was elucidated by chemical and spectroscopic methods [43,44] and was confirmed by total synthesis [45]. 

Healing a patient who is in a state of trance is one of the oldest therapeutic arts. Ancient cultures all around the world have revered individuals deemed to be in contact with supernatural powers and apparently able to use such contacts to cure the sick and distressed while these people were in a state resembling sleep. The supposed connection with the supernatural powers lies behind many of the prejudices and fears about hypnosis — that it is a state that enables inner connections to be made — but it has begun to be universally accepted. 

The medicinal and ceremonial uses of cocaine via coca leaves can be traced back over 4,000 years to pre-Columbian times. It continues to be used legally and is part of the daily culture of South American Indians. Coca leaves are chewed to combat fatigue and to ward off hunger. They are also used to alleviate problems of the larynx, digestive system, metabolism of carbohydrates, vertigo, altitude sickness, and for psychological ills. 

The onset of schizophrenia usually arises at the time of some basic life-crisis, when the individual is likely to experience feelings of guilt, impotence, or incompetence in a life situation culturally acknowledged as crucial. We find that this is also true in many cases of shamanism in addition to being introverted and of a nervous constitution since childhood, the future shaman often receives his vocational call through accident, sickness, familial misfortune, or similar mishap. Thus, we may infer that in cultures where the shamanic institution exists, an individual may choose to restructure his life and become a shaman as a means of resolving a life-... 

Payer L. 1990. Medicine and Culture Notions of Health and Sickness. Gollancz London. 

Educate the parents, too—particularly the mother. In young children, most risk factors for nonadherence reside in the parent. In most cultures, the mother plays an extremely important role in supervising the care of a sick child. For example, even though young children may have an aversion to the bad taste of the drug, they usually take their medications because their mothers tell them it is necessary to feel better. Research shows that children internalize parental beliefs, which greatly influence their attitudes and behaviors toward health problems as they mature into adults. " ... 

The nursing home industry was once excoriated by U.S. Senator Frank E. Moss and Val J. Halamandaris in Too Old, Too Sick, Too Bad. This was in 1977. The situation remains dismal, or more so, as the American family continues its breakup. It is a policy of self for self, with the impoverished elderly kept out of sight and out of mind, a hindrance to the aspirations and lifestyles of the younger generation. In some cultures, the elderly are revered in others, the elderly are left out to die, a primitive form of euthanasia. But it should not be forgotten that what goes around comes around. 

Based on the above reports we investigated the possibility of using "hairy root" cultures in studies of secondary metabolism. We focused on the tropane alkaloids, synthesized in the roots of various Solanaoeae genera (Atropa, Datura, Brugmanaia, Hyosayamua, and Duboisia). Hyoscyamine and scopolamine are widely used in narcotic medicine as sedatives and in the treatment of sea sickness. Scopolamine tilso happens to be the best known antidote against nerve gas. 

Borner (1960) states that soil sickness in fruit culture is a problem of economic importance in Germany. This is a replant problem that involves micro-element depletion and nematodes, but also root residues. As little as 1 g of air-dry root bark of an old apple tree per half liter of nutrient solution reduced root and stem growth of apple seedlings up to 50% within 30 days. Phlorizin, a natural constituent of apple root bark, and its breakdown products, are at least partially responsible for this apple soil sickness. 

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