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  • Taxus baccata L. Taxaceae European Yew. Trees are feminine in Latin, so while Taxus has a masculine ending (-us), its specific name, baccata (meaning 'having fleshy berries' (Stearn, 1994)), agrees with it in gender by having a female ending ( -a). Distribution: Europe. Although regarded as poisonous since Theophrastus, Gerard and his school friends used to eat the red berries (they are technically called 'arils') without harm. Johnson clearly ate the fleshy arils and spat out the seed, which is as poisonous as the leaves. It is a source of taxol, an important chemotherapeutic agent for breast and other cancers. It was first extracted from the bark of T. brevifolia, the Pacific yew tree, in 1966. About 1,100 kg of bark produces 10 g of taxol, and 360,000 trees a year would have been required for the needs of the USA – an unsustainable amount. In 1990 a precursor of taxol was extracted from the needles of the European yew so saving the Pacific trees. It is now produced in fermentation tanks from cell cultures of Taxus. Curiously, there is a fungus, Nodulisporium sylviforme, which lives on the yew tree, that also produces taxol. Because taxol stops cell division, it is also used in the stents that are inserted to keep coronary arteries open. Here it inhibits – in a different way, but like anti-fouling paint on the bottom of ships – the overgrowth of endothelial cells that would otherwise eventually block the tube. The economic costs of anticancer drugs are significant. Paclitaxel ‘Taxol’ for breast cancer costs (2012) £246 every 3 weeks
  • Volidan 21 has the lowest oestrogenic activity of any combined oral contraceptive : transport and the British.
  • Volidan 21 has the lowest oestrogenic activity of any combined oral contraceptive : transport and the British.
  • Volidan 21 the oral contraceptive with really low and predictable oestrogenic activity : gambling and the British.
  • Volidan 21 the oral contraceptive with really low and predictable oestrogenic activity : gambling and the British.
  • Volidan 21 has the lowest oestrogenic activity of any combined oral contraceptive : domestic equipment and the British.
  • Volidan 21 has the lowest oestrogenic activity of any combined oral contraceptive : domestic equipment and the British.
  • In reversible airways obstruction Entair rapidly absorbed lastingly effective : holidays and the British.
  • In reversible airways obstruction Entair rapidly absorbed lastingly effective : holidays and the British.
  • Low-cost Multivite the balanced vitamin supplement for patients of all ages : education and the British.
  • Low-cost Multivite the balanced vitamin supplement for patients of all ages : education and the British.
  • Low-cost Multivite the balanced vitamin supplement for patients of all ages : food and the British.
  • Low-cost Multivite the balanced vitamin supplement for patients of all ages : food and the British.
  • For chilblains Pernivit prophylaxis and treatment : housing and the British.
  • For chilblains Pernivit prophylaxis and treatment : housing and the British.
  • When pain is severe DF118 subdues the pain but not the patient : Spare time and the British.
  • For patients with pain Paramol-118 especially pain of musculoskeletal origin : shopping and the British.
  • For patients with pain Paramol-118 especially pain of musculoskeletal origin : money and the British.
  • For patients with pain Paramol-118 especially pain of musculoskeletal origin : money and the British.
  • For patients with pain Paramol-118 especially pain of musculoskeletal origin : shopping and the British.
  • When pain is severe DF118 subdues the pain but not the patient : Spare time and the British.
  • For patients with pain Paramol-118 : alcohol and the British.
  • For patients with pain Paramol-118 : alcohol and the British.
  • Ancoloxin and its 14 years' successful ue in pregnancy sickness : clothing and the British.
  • Ancoloxin and its 14 years' successful ue in pregnancy sickness : clothing and the British.
  • When cough is complicated by bronchospasm or congestion Extil Compound Linctus treats the complications as well as the cough : sanitation and the British.
  • When cough is complicated by bronchospasm or congestion Extil Compound Linctus treats the complications as well as the cough : sanitation and the British.
  • The tax on medicine represented as a tax on illness and, ultimately, even on the 'abnormality' of healthiness: ten vignettes. Photomechanical reproduction of a wood engraving by H. Maigrot, 1907.
  • A figure comprised of medicine bottles and tablets, representing the patent medicine business, dances behind a pensive Lloyd George; representing attitudes to the introduction of the National Insurance Act of 1911. Wood engraving by B. Partridge, 1912.
  • A figure comprised of medicine bottles and tablets, representing the patent medicine business, dances behind a pensive Lloyd George; representing attitudes to the introduction of the National Insurance Act of 1911. Wood engraving by B. Partridge, 1912.