History of Botanical Medicine

Question 1

What is Biophilia?

Answer 1

An innate feeling (or emotional affiliation) for all living forms & systems, activated through our relationship & experiences with Nature

Question 2

The earliest known written records on the therapeutic use of plants are what? And when?

Followed by what? When? And where?

Answer 2

Sumerian tablets dating back to 3000 BCE.

Ebers papyrus written in 1500 BCE in Ancient Egypt

Question 3

How many years ago have archeological studies shown the practice of herbal medicine in Iraq? And what about in China?

Answer 3

60,000 years ago in Iraq
8,000 years ago in China

Question 4

How many years ago have archeological studies shown the practice of herbal medicine in China?

Answer 4

8,000 years

Question 5

Ex: Ashwagandha to ground the vata dosha

Answer 5

Ayurvedic Medicine (3000 BC)

Question 6

Ex: Sheng Jiang (ginger) to disperse phlegm and release heat to the exterior

Answer 6

Traditional Chinese Medicine (2800 BC)

Question 7

Ex: Pure honey for topical wound treatment
Certain seeds used in divination rituals

Answer 7

African Traditional Medicine

Question 8

Ebers papyrus (written in 1500 BC) contained 811 herbal prescriptions including salves, plasters, poultices, inhalations, gargles and suppositories.
Ex: poppy for insomnia and to lessen pain

Answer 8

Ancient Egyptian Medicine (3000 BC)

Question 9

Ex: Black hellebore on the 1st and 2nd days following an accident to heal fractures

Answer 9

Greco-Roman Medicine (400 BC)

Question 10

Ex: Cosmetic application of pressed oils like saffron and olive oil (500 BC)

Answer 10

Persian/Iranian Medicine (1500 BC)

Question 11

Ex: Cascara bark as a laxative tea used by the Nuxalk, Coast Salish, Quileute, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw and other nations

Answer 11

First Nation Traditional Medicine

Question 12

Sumerian tablets included 15 prescriptions including za’atar (thyme) for sore throats and cough

Answer 12

Arabic/Sumerian Medicine (3000 BC)

Question 13

Who developed the Humoral Medical Theory?

Answer 13

Aristotle and Hippocrates
in 4th c BC and became the first European medical theoretical system.

Question 14

What are the Symbolic elements of HMT?

Answer 14

Earth, Fire, Water, Air

Question 15

What are the qualities of HMT?

Answer 15

Cold, hot, wet, dry

Question 16

(HMT) What are the 4 fluid states (“humors”) within the body?

Answer 16

Blood, Choler (yellow bile), Phlegm, Black Bile

Question 17

What are the temperaments in the body according to HMT?

Answer 17

Sanguine, Choleric, Phlegmatic, Melancholic

Question 18

Who was the surgeon to the gladiators and personal physician to Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor)? And what did he do?

Answer 18

Galen (131-200 AD)

He made humoral medicine the cornerstone of medicine in Europe for the next 1500 years

Question 19

Who is the father of medicine?

Answer 19

Hippocrates (468-377 BC)

Question 20

Who wrote De Materia Medica and was doctor to the Roman Armies of Nero?

Answer 20

Dioscorides (50-70 AD)

Question 21

What is the Materia Medica?

Answer 21

Book containing 600 medicinal plants

Question 22

What did Ibn-Sina (Avincenna) do?

Answer 22

He wrote The Canon of Medicine, which heavily influenced the practice of medicine for centuries.

Question 23

Who was the founder of chemical pharmacology?

Answer 23

Paracelsus

Question 24

What did Paracelsus believe that the specific medicinal action of each plant depends on?

Answer 24

It’s active principle.

Question 25

What does Arcana mean?

Answer 25

Getting to the quintessence of the pure or chemical part of a plant.

Question 26

P to P Willow Bark

Answer 26

Aspirin

Question 27

P to P Chinchona tree

Answer 27

Quinine

Question 28

P to P Foxglove

Answer 28

Digoxin

Question 29

P to P Artemisia

Answer 29

Anti-Malarial drugs

Question 30

P to P Poppy

Answer 30

Morphine, Codeine

Question 31

P to P Periwinkle

Answer 31

Vinblastine (chemotherapy drugs)

Question 32

P to P Wild Yam

Answer 32

Steriods (estrogen, progesterone, DHEA)

Question 33

What is the doctrine of signatures?

Answer 33

Concept by Paracelsus, that plants contain visual clues to their usefulness (colour, form place of growth, resemblance to human organ.)

Question 34

Who provided cheap and readily available healthcare to the poor in 1616-1654?

Answer 34

Nicholas Culpeper

Question 35

Who translated latin herbal pharmacopeia into english: 'English Physician'?

Answer 35

Nicholas Culpeper

Question 36

Who said: "... infinite number of poor creatures perish daily who else might happily be preserved if they knew what the herbs in their garden are good for?"

Answer 36

Nicolas Culpeper (1616-1654)

Question 37

What is American western herbalism an integration of? Which knowledge systems?

Answer 37

European colonists, indigenous elders and healers, African men and women brought to the Americas through slavery

Question 38

What words would be used to describe the "integration" of knowledge systems that began western herbalism?

Answer 38

nonconsensual collaboration, colonization, imbalance of power, uncredited

Question 39

Who worked as a travelling physician using hydrotherapy and herbs? And was often vilified by the press?

Answer 39

Samuel Thomson (1769-1843)

Question 40

Where does most of Samuel Thomson's knowledge of herbal medicine come from?

Answer 40

Indigenous people

Question 41

Who were the eclectics of America?

Answer 41

Early physicians interested in blending the old & new theories of medicine. Used modern science to understand the body and herbs to treat the conditions diagnosed.

Question 42

Who was responsible for bringing the knowledge of Echinacea from the plains nations to the pharmacopoeias of the world?

Answer 42

The eclectics of America

Question 43

Who helped to publish Eclectic Materia Medicas?

Answer 43

Ellingwood and Felter

Question 44

When did Eclectic Medicine become popular?

Answer 44

20th Century

Question 45

When was the suppression of biophilia medicine?

Answer 45

1906-1928

Question 46

Why did the suppression of biophilia medicine happen?

Answer 46

Scientists and physicians began systematically attacking the use of plant medicines. Stated that there was too much unscientific past.

Question 47

How did the creation of the American Medical Association affect biophilia in medicine?

Answer 47

It issued licenses to practice medicine based on achieving certain standards of competence, and steered it away from traditional herbal practices.

Question 48

What is the primary form of healing world wide, used by over 80% of the population?

Answer 48

Herbal Medicine