Boligol - role in medicine
The plant is officinal (from officina - pharmacy, medicine) in many countries of the world, that is, it is included in the official pharmacopoeias of these countries. However, Russia does not belong to such countries, and the use of hemlock spotted hemlock for medical purposes is officially and categorically forbidden.
Despite the fact that scientific medicine categorically considers hemlock poisonous and does not recognize for it any therapeutic properties, in folk medicine it is used for treatment, and very widely.
Even in ancient Russian herbalists we read; "Omeg (one of the names of hemlock. - М. К.), steamed in hot water or boiled in milk, applied in bags in the form of cataplasm, very well tames anton fire, also skirroznye hardening of the nuclei and prostate gland and even uterine cancer". "Village men cure open cancer by applying omega leaves smeared with honey to the ulcer. It has also been successfully used for facial cancer by boiling omega leaves in lime water and dabbing with it more often."
Modern folk healers believe that hemlock herb has analgesic, sedative, anticonvulsant, and anti-inflammatory properties. It is mainly used to make pain-reducing drugs and to treat malignant tumors.
People know the strong poisonousness of all parts of this plant and take it in very small doses, mostly in drops. It is used for diseases of the digestive organs, genitourinary organs, as well as for urinary retention in the bladder, anemia, nocturnal ejaculation, delayed menstruation, persistent painful cough. Poultices of fresh leaves are widely used in rheumatism and gout. Used hemlock herb and as a remedy for some malignant neoplasms.
Some oncology specialists believe that hemlock is also promising in scientific pharmacology and should be included in anti-cancer drugs.
In homeopathy, hemlock preparations are considered basic. They are prescribed quite widely, particularly for tumor processes, uterine fibroma, atherosclerosis, enuresis, etc. д.
Precautions
.Hemlock is a deadly poison!
It should never be forgotten that hemlock is among the most poisonous plants. Both the healing effect (in strictly therapeutic doses) and toxic - up to lethal - are provided by the same substances contained in the plant. They mainly belong to the group of alkaloids: they are coniine, conhydrin, pseudoconhydrin. Conium (conium) acts similarly to the dreaded poisons nicotine and the equally well known curare. In small doses of hemlock herb causes active muscle contraction, and in large doses - their complete paralysis. The name "conium" comes, according to one version, from the Greek "konos," "dizziness," and according to another, from "kone," meaning "to kill, one who kills."
Immature, green seeds contain the largest amount of the basic beginning - coniine (up to 0.4 %). Coniine, gamma-conisein - lethal dose 0.15 g. (pronounced nicotine-like effects). Nicotine is an alkaloid found in tobacco. The lethal dose (of the substance in its pure form) is 0.05 g.
In ancient Greece, hemlock preparations were a deadly poison. They were used as an official method of execution - they were used to poison those condemned to death. At the same time, this method of killing was even considered humane due to its relative painlessness.
The death of the great Socrates, who was condemned to death "for being godless and corrupting the youth," was described by his disciple Plato in his immortal creation "Phaedon." When Socrates asked how he should behave after drinking a goblet of poison, the prison guard replied, "Do nothing, as soon as you drink, walk a little until your legs become heavy, and then lie down." When Socrates noticed that this symptom had appeared, he lay on his back. The watchman then groped him from time to time, then squeezed his knees and thighs hard to show those around him that Socrates' body was badly stiffened. Then the convulsions began and he died of suffocation.
In addition to the above-described alkaloids preparations of hemlock, as, however, and almost all other drugs from representatives of the umbrella family, contain furocoumarins. In biochemistry, they are used to cross-link DNA molecules. It is believed that by entering the human body, furocoumarins disrupt the genetic information embedded in its cells.
Especially poisonous are unripe hemlock seeds and young shoots. The lethal dose is 50 mg per 1 kg of body. An elementary calculation shows that it is enough to ingest only about 40 g of the plant, and the person may no longer be able to be saved. How much does a baby need at his weight?
