Syphilis, remedies

The traditional system of medicine of the Pacific Rim uses approx 80 species of Apiaceae, for instance, Centella asiatica (L.) Urban (Hydrocotyle asiatica L. centella, Indian Pharmaceutical Codex, 1955). The plant has been used in India since early times for skin diseases and as a diuretic. It has long been a popular remedy in India for leprosy and syphilis. However, large doses are said to have narcotic action. The plant was used also by the surgeons of Napoleon s army. 

Sassafras oil, sassafras bark, and safrole (80% of the oil) are prohibited by the FDA as food additives and flavorings because of their carcinogenic properties. A safrole-free extract is available on the market, but studies have shown that the product still produces tumors in rats (Tyler, 1993). Nevertheless, sassafras is touted in herbal home remedy books and continues to be available in health food stores. Sassafras still enjoys a reputation as a spring tonic, stimulant, anti spasmodic, blood purifier, and sudorific (sweat producer), and as a cure for rheumatism, skin diseases, syphilis, typhus, and dropsy (congestive heart failure) (Tyler, 1993). Unfortunately, sassafras seems to be nothing more than a folk medicine for more than 200 yr it has been known to be without therapeutic utility (Tyler, 1994). 

Falk s Antacrid Tincture. This alterative has been found a valuable remedy In secondary syphilis and other disorders. Macerate for 7 days 1 ounce powdered guaiac, 1 ounce Canadian balsam, and 2 fluid drachms oil of sassafras, in 8 fluid ounces alcohol. Filter, and add I scruple corrosive eublimatc. Dose, 20 drops in wine or sweetened water, night and morning. 

Traditionally, Erythrina species have found use amongst different communities for various ailments. The bark of E. fusca and E. indica, for example, has been used for the treatment of fever, malaria, rheumatism, toothache, boils and fractures. Boiled roots of the same were taken internally as a remedy for beriberi. In Kenya, a concoction of dried bark of E. ahyssinica has been used for the treatment of trachoma (oral) and elephantiasis (external) and its roots against malaria and syphilis, while the pounded green stem bark is taken as an antihelminthic [3]. The water extract of flowers of E. americana have been used in Mexico for the treatment of insomnia. The resl of other documented traditional medicinal uses are listed in Table 1. 

Indian tobacco (Lobelia inflata), also known as pukeweed , has been used for centuries by the Penobscots people in the Northeastern United States and the Canadian Maritimes, as an entheogenic and emetic drug, before Samuel Thompson (1769-1843), an herbalist from New Hampshire, claimed it as a valuable remedy. The roots were used for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, e.g. syphilis, and skin diseases were medicated with poultices from smashed leaves. By parenteral application, Indian tobacco is effective against oedema and asthma. Thus, Lobelia inflata was found since 1820 in many pharmacopoeias. 

Modern chemotherapy began with the work of Paul Ehrlich early in the twentieth century—particularly with his discovery in 1907 of the curative properties of a dye called trypan red I when used against experimental trypanosomiasis and with his discovery in 1909 of salvarsan as a remedy for syphilis. Ehrlich was awarded one-half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1908. He invented the term "chemotherapy," and in his research he sought what he called "magic bullets," that is, chemicals that would be toxic to infectious microorganisms but harmless to humans. 

T raditional Medicine. This plant (E. angustifolia) was universally used as an antidote for snakebite and other venomous bites and stings and poisonous conditions. Echinacea seems to have been used as a remedy for more ailments than any other plant. Diseases and conditions for which echinacea was employed by physicians (1887-1939) included old sores, wounds, snakebite, gangrene, and as a local antiseptic internally for diphtheria, typhoid conditions, cholera infantum, syphilis, and blood poisoning. ... 

In India, used as a folk remedy for leprosy, lupus, syphilis, tuberculosis, improving mental function, and others (csir ii). 

Inorganic chemicals have been used in medicine since ancient times, although perhaps today we might question the efficacy of these remedies. One of the earliest examples was the use of mercury as a drug by Greek physician Hippocrates later Paracelsus used mercurous chloride as a diuretic. In the 19th century, mixtures of gold compounds with sodium chloride were used to treat syphilis — unsuccessfully ... 

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