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  • Article

Epidemic threats and racist legacies

Epidemiology is the systematic, data-driven study of health and disease in populations. But as historian Jacob Steere-Williams suggests, this most scientific of fields emerged in the 19th century imbued with a doctrine of Western imperialism – a legacy that continues to influence how we talk about disease.

  • Article

Fleeing fear, defying prejudice

As teenage refugee Sedra Al-Yousef grappled with rebuilding her life and education in another country, at the same time she used compassion and humanity to demolish populist anti-refugee myths.

  • Article

Unravelling genetic origins from the potato to cinchona

Starting with the humble potato, Nataly Allasi Canales reveals how researchers unearth the genetic origins of modern plant varieties, and explains why their work is so important for biodiversity.

  • Article

The first seizure

Historian Aparna Nair had her first seizure when she was 11. Here she recalls that first time, and how other people’s reactions are sometimes the most disturbing part about having a seizure.

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Images

  • The Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson standing in a room by a table; Nelson pointing at a map of Southern Europe. Mezzotint by S.W. Reynolds after J.P. Knight, ca. 1839.
  • Lamium orvala L. Lamiaceae Balm-leaved red deadnettle. Orvala is the Latinised name for the French name, orvale, for Salvia sclarea Distribution: Southern Europe. I can find no information about it. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Cistus ladanifer L., Cistaceae. Common Gum Cistus or Ladanum/labdanum. Distribution: Southern Europe and N. Africa. The fragrant resin from the sticky leaves, Gum Labdanum, is extracted and used in Mediterranean regions as an insecticide and deodorant ((Lewis & Elvin-Lewis, 2003). Lyte (1578) advises local application to prevent hair loss and cure earache
  • Euphorbia nicaeensis All. Euphorbiaceae. Distribution: North Africa, Southern Europe to Turkey. Root extracts have been shown to have cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory action in experimental situations. Euphorbia species all have toxic sap, and had many names in early literature, eg esula, about which Culpeper (1650) says that '(taken inwardly) are too violent for vulgar use
  • Gentiana asclepiadea L. Gentianaceae. Gentian. Perennial herb. Distribution. Southern Europe and Caucasus. Named after Gentius, King of Illyria (the western Balkan Peninsula) in 181–168 BC. Gentius had a powerful navy of 270 warships (lembi) and like most kings of this era he fought constant wars, fighting with the Romans against Macedonia, and then changing sides only to be defeated and brought captive to Rome in 168 BC
  • Acanthus spinosus L. Acanthaceae. Bears breeches. Distribution: Southern Europe to Western Turkey. Herbaceous perennial flowering plant. Named for spiny leaves. Dioscorides recommended the roots applied for inflammation and spasms, and -when drunk- to promote urine, check diarrhoea, and for phthysis, ruptures and convulsions. The leaves are the model for those at the top of Corinthian columns. Tetraglycosides isolated from the plant show cytotoxicity in sea urchin eggs and crown gall tumour on potato disks. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Iris graminea L. Iridaceae Grass-leaved flag. Flower de Luce. Distribution: Central and Southern Europe. This is probably the Iris bulbosa minor sive angustifolia [the lesser bulbed or narrow-leaved Iris], Lesser bulbed Flower de luce of Parkinson (1640). He advised that the properties of all Flag Irises were more or less the same, but says there is no agreement about the properties of the bulbous kinds (such as this plant). Of the Flag Irises, Culpeper (1650) writes that the roots 'resist poison, help shortness of the breath, prove the terms [menstruation]
  • Cynoglossum officinale L. Boraginaceae. Houndstongue. Distribution: Europe. Culpeper (1650) writes: “... being roasted and laid to the fundament, helps the haemorrhoids. It is also good against burnings and scaldings.” It contains hepatocarcinogenic pyrrolizidine alkaloids and while people are known to eat the young leaves as a vegetable, this is inadvisable. The whole plant is hairy and may cause contact dermatitis. The use of herbal remedies, which contain these alkaloids, by the Bantu of southern Africa correlates with their high incidence of tumours of the liver and pancreas. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Scabiosa columbaria L. Dipsacaceae. Small scabious. Distribution: Europe. Culpeper (1650) writes: ‘The roots either boiled or beaten into powder and so taken, helps such as are extremely troubled with scabs and itch, are medicinal in the French-pocks [syphilis], hard swellings, inward wounds ...’ The genus name comes from the Latin word scabies, meaning ‘itch’. According to the Doctrine of Signatures, the rough leaves indicated that it would cure eczematous skin. However, the leaves are not really very rough... Not used in herbal medicine at the present time except in Southern Africa where it is used for colic and heartburn, and the roots made into an ointment for curing wounds (van Wyk, 2000). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Galega officinalis L. Fabaceae. Goat's Rue. Distribution: Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor. Culpeper (1650) writes that it ‘... resists poison, kills worms, resists the falling sickness [epilepsy], resisteth the pestilence.’ Galega officinalis contains guanidine which reduces blood sugar by decreasing insulin resistance and inhibiting hepatic gluconeogenesis.. Metformin and Phenformin are drugs for type II diabetes that rely on this group of chemicals, known as biguanidines. Its name gala, meaning milk plus ega meaning 'to bring on', refers to its alleged property of increasing milk yield, and has been used in France to increase milk yield in cows. officinalis refers to its use in the offices of the monks, and is a common specific name for medicinal plants before 1600 and adopted by Linnaeus (1753). The fresh plant tastes of pea pods. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
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