Prostitutes, courtesans, enchanters and midwives were also known to distribute potions. Individuals unable to afford to buy a potion at an apothecary or from a peddler could go to their local herbalist (often labeled a witch) in their village, or a female member of their household. These were eventually dismissed as quackery. ĭuring the 17th to 19th century, it was common in Europe to see peddlers offering potions for ailments ranging from heartbreak to the plague. Some popular ingredients used in potions across history include Spanish fly, nightshade plants, cannabis and opium. These potions, while often ineffective or poisonous, occasionally had some degree of medicinal success depending on what they sought to fix and the type and amount of ingredients used. Reasons for taking potions ranged from curing an illness, to securing immortality to trying to induce love. Throughout history there have been several types of potions for a range of purposes. The term philtre is also used, often specifically for a love potion, a potion that is supposed to create feelings of love or attraction in the one who drinks it. Pills, Potions and Poisons is an entertaining read that should also help to improve your health and quality of life.A collection of vials labelled as potionsĪ potion (from Latin potio "drink") is a liquid "that contains medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers.” It derives from the Latin word potus which referred to a drink or drinking. It shows how drugs work and explains why it is that taking some medicines for many years is far safer than suffering the long-term effects of disease. Here, then, a fascinating survey of how chemicals have their effects in the body.
There is also a chapter on drugs which are abused such as cannabis, alcohol, nicotine and ecstasy, and a chapter covering some of the poisons we encounter, such as carbon monoxide, arsenic, sheep dip, and the venoms of snakes, spiders, scorpions and marine organisms. The various chapters cover drugs used to treat high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, ulcers, cancers, infections, impotence, incontinence, arthritis, osteoporosis, as well as hormone replacement therapy, oral contraceptives and drugs used in disorders of the brain such as schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. The book covers all the major groups of drugs, with complete listings of all the drugs available in the UK and the USA, so that the reader can locate his or her specific drug and read about the actions of the drugs in that group. Each chapter also includes a summary of the key points together with illustrations, photographs or diagrams to summarise the main groups and how they work in the body. Most chapters include fascinating background information on how some of our most important drugs were discovered, along with intriguing and often amusing anecdotes about the drugs and the people behind their discovery. This book attempts to rectify this problem by showing in clear, non-technical language how medicines and other drugs work in the body to reduce the effects of disease. One of the reasons most commonly given by patients for not taking drugs is that they feel unhappy about taking medicines which they do not understand and of which they are afraid. Oxford Research Encyclopedias: Global Public HealthĪbout half of all the medicines prescribed by doctors are not taken by their patients.
#What is pills and potions about series#
The European Society of Cardiology Series.Oxford Commentaries on International Law.
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