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  • Catharanthus roseus (L.)G.Don Apocynaceae. Madagascar Periwinkle Distribution: Madagascar. It is the source of vincristine and vinblastine, which impair cell multiplication by interfering with microtubule assembly, causing metaphase arrest and are effective medications for leukaemias, lymphomas and some solid tumours. The mortality from childhood leukaemia fell from 100% to 30% once it was introduced - not a drug that could ethically be tested by double-blind trials. These chemicals were initially discovered by investigators in 1958 who were looking for cures for diabetes so tested this plant which was being used in the West Indies to reduce blood sugar levels. There are 70 different alkaloids present in this plant, and some - catharanthine, leurosine sulphate, lochnerine, tetrahydroalstonine, vindoline and vindolinine - lower blood sugar levels. However, the toxicity of this plant is such that this is not a plant to try at home for diabetic management. The vincristine content of the plant is 0.0003%, so two kilograms of leaf are required to produce sufficient vincristine for a single course of treatment for a child (6gm). Fortunately it is a vigorous weed and easy to grow in the tropics. Artificial synthesis has now been achieved. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Chinese opium smokers in a saloon experiencing various effects of the drug. Engraving by G. Paterson, 1843, after T. Allom.
  • Chinese opium smokers in a saloon experiencing various effects of the drug. Engraving by G. Paterson, 1843, after T. Allom.
  • An opium den in London's East End with smokers lying on wooden bunks and slouching by the fire. Wood-engraving by W. B. Murray, c. 1880.
  • An opium den in London's East End with men lying on wooden bunks as a smoker enters. Wood-engraving, c. 1880, after J. C. Dollman.
  • Chinese opium smokers in a saloon experiencing various effects of the drug. Tinted lithograph, c. 1866, after T. Allom.
  • A man vomits into a bowl as his companion lifts his wig and steadies the bowl. Coloured etching by T. Sandars, 1773, after J. Collier.
  • One man vomits into a bowl as his companion lifts his wig and steadies the bowl. Etching by T. Sandars, 1773, after J. Collier.
  • Nineteen scenes depicting popular disillusionment with doctors and medicine. Coloured wood engraving by Henriot, ca. 1900.
  • Nineteen scenes depicting popular disillusionment with doctors and medicine. Coloured wood engraving by Henriot, ca. 1900.
  • Nineteen scenes depicting popular disillusionment with doctors and medicine. Coloured wood engraving by Henriot, ca. 1900.
  • Nineteen scenes depicting popular disillusionment with doctors and medicine. Coloured wood engraving by Henriot, ca. 1900.
  • Usage de drogues : be gay : bien être / Crips Île-de-France.
  • Usage de drogues : be gay : bien être / Crips Île-de-France.
  • Usage de drogues : be gay : bien être / Crips Île-de-France.
  • Usage de drogues : be gay : bien être / Crips Île-de-France.
  • Usage de drogues : be gay : bien être / Crips Île-de-France.
  • Usage de drogues : be gay : bien être / Crips Île-de-France.
  • Usage de drogues : be gay : bien être / Crips Île-de-France.
  • Usage de drogues : be gay : bien être / Crips Île-de-France.
  • Usage de drogues : be gay : bien être / Crips Île-de-France.
  • A sunflower, a symbol of bringing life back by giving blood; an AIDS prevention advertisement by the AIIMS Blood Transfusion Service and NGO AIDS Cell, New Delhi. Colour lithograph by N.R. Nanda, ca. January 1994.
  • A sunflower, a symbol of bringing life back by giving blood; an AIDS prevention advertisement by the AIIMS Blood Transfusion Service and NGO AIDS Cell, New Delhi. Colour lithograph by N.R. Nanda, ca. January 1994.
  • Brugmansia suaveolens 'Pink Beauty'
  • Brugmansia suaveolens'Pink Beauty'
  • Erythroxylum coca Lam. Erythroxylaceae Coca. Distribution: Peru . Cocaine is extracted from the leaf. It is no longer in the UK Pharmacopoeia (used to be used as a euphoriant in ‘Brompton Mixture’ for terminally ill patients). Cocaine, widely used as a local anaesthetic until 1903, inhibits re-uptake of dopamine and serotonin at brain synapses so these mood elevating chemicals build up and cause a ‘high’. Its use was often fatal. Coca leaf chewing was described by Nicolas Monardes (1569
  • 6th self-portrait.
  • 6th self-portrait.
  • Two trees being cultivated by doctors; symbolising the differences claimed by James Morison between the 'organic' and his 'hygeist' approached to health. Lithograph, c. 1835.
  • Two trees being cultivated by doctors; symbolising the differences claimed by James Morison between the 'organic' and his 'hygeist' approached to health. Lithograph, c. 1835.