The curious use of analgesics in the past

Through time, the history has been unraveling the way of life of our ancestors, their customs and beliefs , among them, the way they fought pain Physically using different types of analgesics, which helped them deal with their ailments.

Various anthropological investigations have shown that ancient cultures developed methods to fight against the ailments of their bodies In fact, through these studies it was discovered that they coped with different pathologies ranging from dental abscesses to open fractures.

The opium poppy goddess and Memphis stone in Egypt

The goddess opium poppy represented in broad strokes the effects of opium , considered a gift from the gods for its sedative and analgesic effects.The goddess carries in her crown part of this seed, representing the typical cuts that are made for obtaining n of the juice of this substance.

The curious use of analgesics in the past

In addition to controlling pain, it is known that the Egyptians used the opium poppy so that children would not cry at night and let their parents sleep.In this sense, it can be said that in a low relief you can see a daughter of Nefertiti, offering her husband, Semenkene , a flower of mandragora.

On the other hand, the Memphis stone was used by Egyptian doctors as an anesthetic: they reduced it to dust and used it on the sore area.Specialists point out that this was some kind of asphalt that, when burned , produced some soporiferous vapors, while others ensure that it gave off carbonic anhydride.

Vegetable substances in Mesopotamia

Older uses point to plant substances with property Anesthetics, such as mandragora, belladonna, cannabis, opium or coca .

The Assyrians used a rather peculiar method: they compressed the Carotid at the neck level causing cerebral ischemia, which achieved a comatose state that doctors took advantage of to perform the intervention.

The effects of wine in India

The Hindus they used the wine as relaxing and sedative.

The curious use of analgesics in the past

In fact, it is said that this technique immobilized patients to undergo surgical intervention.

Legendary surgeons in China

According to the legend, around 300 BC, Pien Chiao used a narcotic drink to numb two individuals and operate them from the heart.Similarly, Hua Tho, was another surgeon who got to prepare a fairly effective sedative which I call «Mario» with which he plunged his patients into a rather deep sleep, however, this fact also led him to death when he intended to operate the rebel Kuan Yun , who suffered from terrible headaches. Kuan I think it could be a perfect plan to be eliminated, and so I send the surgeon to run immediately.

Black Eleboro in Greece

In Greek mythology is narrated as Melampo, king of Argolia, I cure the daughters of the King Proetos of his madness.To do this, black eleboro was used that was supplied to the girls provoking them «forgetting».Moreover, Dioscorides recommended this plant for the treatment of odontalgia.

The curious use of analgesics in the past

The Greeks also went to the temple of Asclepius in the hope that if they slept there, the god of medicine would ease their pain.

Pliny plants in Rome

The Romans used the list of Pliny plants for analgesic purposes, in addition to using rat excrement ash or earthworms boiled in oil, mainly for toothache or sore ear.

Herbal infusion in the Aztec and Mayan civilizations

The Aztecs used the Stronger and braver prisoner, who was given a special treatment by giving a rather ostentatious dress and fed him exquisitely, then forced him to ingest a plant-based analgesic infusion, then lead him to the tip of the Templo Mayor where he was tied of feet and hands on the stone of the sacrifices arching the torso so that in this way the thorax was expanded and with a single movement a laparotomy was carried out: taking out the heart, the liver and the lungs.

The curious use of analgesics in the past

As for the Mayans, they pierced the penis with the prick of a maguey in honor of the gods, or the ones were extracted from the prisoners in order to avoid their participation in another warlike conflict.

It is like that as throughout the years it has been possible to unravel the techniques of our ancestors to fight with the ailments in different parts of his body using infusions, plants and drugs.

Images: Andrea Pravettoni, Li Taip, Paul Simpson, Omar Eduardo

Comments

Hypnagogic hallucinations: between wakefulness and sleep. Does it happen to you?

Sleeping, sounding, waking up...are activities that we carry out daily but that involve a much greater complexity than it seems at first glance.In Science Daily Online we have talked about sleep disorders and some phenomena that occur to many people while they sleep as Shaking or spasms before falling asleep.On this occasion we have approached another of these trances that can occur when we go to sleep, are the Hypnagogic hallucinations: between wakefulness and sleep.Does it happen to you? Hypnagogic hallucinations The hypnagogic hallucinations are those that occur little before the dream begins. They can be visual, auditory and/or tactile .The name was cradled by Alfred Maury (1817-1892), a French physician and academic who made deep studies on the dream in the 19th century, to talk about a situation that occurs at the time of the transition between wakefulness and sleep. The pa Labra hypnagogica/o comes from Greek and is composed of «hupnos» (dream) and «agogos» (induce...

A new color accidentally discovered!

Hi Science Daily Online ! Before reading the article we would like you to know a new way to discover our curious world, through Youtube ! We have a channel that we would love to be part of.You can subscribe and get to know it here-> YouTube Science Daily Online! In 2009 a group of chemists from the University of Oregon who studied the Magnetic properties of manganese oxide , for use in electronic components, discovered by accident a new color.It has recently been released for use in both industry and plastic arts and could be considered as a genuine case of serendipity. A new color discovered accidentally! "Magnetic properties and electronic structure of blue pigments based on manganese", this is the title of the article published in the journal of the American Chemical Society, which describes an investigation carried out in 2009 and which resulted in the discovery of a new color: a manganese oxide pigment with an almost perfect shade of blue . The study s ...

Frida Kahlo's Eyebrows | A symbol of its particular beauty

In the first self-portrait that Frida Kahlo made with 19 years already showed how important it was for her to transgress the typical image of the woman of the time, building an image and a look that no one has ever been able to copy, an immortal style. For the artist, her image was another form of expression, and that's why Frida Kahlo's eyebrows have remained in the collective memory as the living representation of her voice, her words, her cries in each painting, in each poem and in each image.All this shows us that, despite the beauty canons inherent in each time, these are absurd, and both the mustache and the uniceja can be incredibly magnetic. In Science Daily Online we have told you countless facts about the Mexican artist .We have talked, for example, about Frida Kahlo's parents to give us an idea of her childhood and how her relationship with her parents marked her life.We have also explored the artist's love life in the entry about Frida Kahlo's Lo...

5 great inventions made by women

It may seem that women have been for centuries away from the great ideas that make the world progress, but is not like that .In Science Daily Online we have already seen how women have actively collaborated in this development, and this time we bring you 5 great inventions made by women that we believe will surprise you. 5 great inventions made by women 1.The Monopoly The Monopoly, the board game par excellence, that has gathered environment at a table for several generations, he was devised by a woman: Lizzie Magie in 1903 .Lizzie patented it in 1904 with the name "The Landlord's Game".With the intention to teach the economist's thesis Henry George .A few years later, Charles Darrow made a version of Atlantic C ity, which I call Monopoly, to try to sell it to Parker Brothers, which I finally got. In the legal investigations for a litigation that the toy company kept with the creator of the Anti-Monopoly, it was discovered that really the ...

Can you solve this Math Challenge of 7? | Do it in 7 seconds

You already know that we love the whole team to ask you logical riddles, such as The riddle of coffee cups, and some other mathematical challenge to make you think.We are sure that you are one of those bright and fast minds and that you can give solution to the next mathematical challenge that we bring you. To curl the curl, and since the mathematical operation goes from number 7, we challenge you to find the solution on 7 seconds, do you dare? The best thing about math is that they do not allow interpretations, either it is white or black, or it is correct or incorrect, so you should know that the mathematical challenge that we present below has only one solution. Presentation of the mathematical challenge The following algebra problem is apparently very simple to solve, however, it is true frustrating entity to see how most people give a wrong solution to the mathematical operation. The next mathematical challenge was presented by Presh Talwalkar, presenter of the MindYo...

The amazing labyrinth of Reignac-sur-Indre

We are in a beautiful region of the center of the Loire, right in Reignac-sur-Indre .This exceptional place is rich in dense forests, in an important river that crosses and nourishes it, and Wherever you leave your eyes, everything will be saturated by soft green hills, limestone hills, ocher meadows, large fields of corn and numerous sunflower fields. Here, just in case the natural imagination wasn't already quite suggestive, the human hand has also wanted to raise a unique tourist attraction: the largest vegetable maze in the world. Amazing! We invite you to meet him. The magic of the labyrinth of Reignac-sur-Indre The idea was original and almost immediately successful.It was in 1996 when in this field of sunflowers of 4 hectares, the first plant maze in the region was raised and the one that so far, is the most extensive we can find in the whole world.No one knows very well why, but people love to "get lost" Between its winding corridors, its corners tha...

Elizabeth Siddal: Muse, model and an afterlife love

It's her. Elizabeth Siddal, the Ophelia of the famous John Everett Millais painting. We're sure you've come across that face on more than one occasion, about all if you are a lover of art and the interesting pre-Raphaelite movement, which had its splendor throughout the 19th century. The story of Elizabeth Siddal is unique and special.This woman of red hair and virginal face was the muse of all the painters of this "brotherhood" of lovers of detail and symbolism.A woman who wrote poetry and who, after marrying the most peculiar of all these artists, decided to take her own life.What happened next lit the legend that surrounds the interesting canvas of his life. We are sure that you would love to immerse yourself with us in the cold waters that took the life of the Ophelia most famous in the history of art…. Elizabeth Siddal, the model of red hair Venus Verticordia, Dante Gabriel Rosetti Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal was born in London in 1829.It is ...

The mirror syndrome, a modern evil

The mirror syndrome is an idea that attempts to transmit numerous psychologists and psychiatrists about a very common behavior today.People, society and almost all the scenarios that surround us , are inhabited by hundreds of mirrors; Think about it for a moment... Mirrors in clothing stores, in shops, in work centers...Televisions are mirrors to reflect on, just like magazines and numerous publications that we receive in our social networks.People observe and try to reflect in these media.At the moment when we take "self-awareness" through these mirrors, the problem appears on numerous occasions.The drama. Am I the one who reflects the mirror? Is it true that I have so many defects? Why are the images that I see around me so ideal and I so imperfect? It is here that what many begin to call "the mirror syndrome" arises.A clear distortion between what we see and what we are.Between what is in the mirror and what my brain actually sees. The importance o...

6 ocean mysteries hidden underwater

Without a doubt, one of the most intriguing places in the world is the ocean.It is so large and deep and has so many interesting things to discover underwater, where the human being is not able to reach by his own means and needs the help of technology to discover the mysteries of the ocean. 6 mysteries of the ocean hidden underwater 1.Most of the ocean remains unexplored Marine biologists use satellites, radars and math to map the percentage of how much the ocean has explored, however, marine biologist John Copley believes that less than 5% of the entire ocean This is what has been explored in reality.Even when they try to look for shipwrecks or airplanes that have fallen into the water, they barely travel less than 1%. Many years can go by and they spend a lot of money, and not all of them are still known exactly mysteries that hides . 2.Atlantis: Reality or fiction? At least sometime in our lives we have heard about Atlantis, the lost city.Some theories say that it ...

Science Daily Online

Search This Blog