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  • Vicia faba L. Fabaceae. Broad beans, Fava bean. Distribution: N. Africa, SW Asia. Culpeper (1650) writes: 'Fabarum. Of Beans. Of Bean Cods (or Pods as we in Sussex call them) being burned, the ashes are a sovereign remedy for aches in the joints, old bruises, gout and sciaticaes.’ The beans are perfectly edible for the majority, but 1% of Caucasians, predominantly among Greeks, Italians and people from the Eastern Mediterranean regions, have a genetic trait in that they lack the ability to produce the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. As a consequence, eating broad beans or even inhaling the pollen, causes a severe haemolytic anaemia a few days later. This condition is known as favism. The whole plant, including the beans, contains levodopa, a precursor of dopamine, and some patients with Parkinsonism report symptomatic improvement after commencing on a diet that contains these beans regularly. A case of neuroleptic malignant-like syndrome (fever, rigidity, autonomic instability, altered consciousness, elevated creatine phosphokinase levels) consequent on abrupt discontinuation of a diet containing plenty of broad beans, has been described in a patient with Parkinsonism. This is usually seen when patients abruptly discontinue L-dopa therapy. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Sensible eating in retirement / Batchelors Nutritional Advice Centre.
  • Sensible eating in retirement / Batchelors Nutritional Advice Centre.
  • Sensible eating in retirement / Batchelors Nutritional Advice Centre.
  • Head and neck of an elderly man, seen in left profile. Etching by Wenceslaus Hollar after Leonardo da Vinci, 1648.
  • An old man and an old woman conversing while holding on to their walking sticks. Etching in the style of Rembrandt, ca. 1630.
  • A woman in ragged clothing stands inside a stone niche holding a bowl; representing poverty. Coloured aquatint by H. Shaw, 1843.
  • An old woman dressed in rags carrying a bowl in her left hand and a stick in her right hand. Etching possibly after J. Callot.
  • An old man. Charcoal drawing.
  • Health & energy wise : ask yourself the following questions... / produced by Bloomsbury Health Education in association with Westminster Age Concern.
  • An old man dressed in rags with a hat made from rags holding a stick with both hands. Etching.
  • Health & energy wise : ask yourself the following questions... / produced by Bloomsbury Health Education in association with Westminster Age Concern.
  • An old woman dressed in rags moving with the aid of two crutches. Gouache painting possibly after J. Callot.
  • Health & energy wise : ask yourself the following questions... / produced by Bloomsbury Health Education in association with Westminster Age Concern.
  • An old woman dressed in rags carrying a bowl in her right hand and a stick in her left hand. Etching possibly after J. Callot.
  • An old woman dressed in rags holding a stick in her right hand, counting the coins in the palm of her left hand. Etching possibly after J. Callot.
  • Health & energy wise : ask yourself the following questions... / produced by Bloomsbury Health Education in association with Westminster Age Concern.
  • Health & energy wise : ask yourself the following questions... / produced by Bloomsbury Health Education in association with Westminster Age Concern.
  • Health & energy wise : ask yourself the following questions... / produced by Bloomsbury Health Education in association with Westminster Age Concern.
  • An old woman dressed in rags holding a rosary in her right hand and a staff in her left. Etching possibly after J. Callot.
  • An old woman dressed in rags holding a rosary in her left hand and a staff in her right. Etching possibly after J. Callot.
  • Two old women dressed in rags sharing the contents of a bowl. Etching possibly after J. Callot.
  • An old woman dressed in rags holding her right arm in a bandage made of straw and a stick in her left hand. Etching possibly after J. Callot.
  • An old woman wearing ragged clothes is leaning on a stick. Etching by Jean Duplessi-Bertaux.
  • A bearded old man dressed in rags moves with the aid of a stick and carries a bowl in his left hand. Engraving with etching by P. Quast.
  • A female beggar sitting on a stool with a cat on her lap and another cat curled up under the stool. Etching possibly after J. Callot.
  • An old woman dressed in rags holding her left arm in a bandage made of straw and a stick in her right hand. Etching possibly after J. Callot.
  • An old woman in ragged clothes with a stick. Etching, 1817.
  • A lame man in ragged clothes and a boy approach a gentleman for alms. Etching by J. Duplessi-Bertaux.
  • A female beggar sitting on a stool with a cat on her lap and another cat curled up under the stool. Etching possibly after J. Callot.