European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 23, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse The roots of Medicin ancient world used to grow contraceptives by Boyce Rensberger the Washington Post m after they have sex some of the appalachian women of Virginia North Carolina take a teaspoonful of seeds from the common Weed called Queen Anne s lace crush them stir them into a Glass of water drink the Gritty preparation. They say it keeps them a from getting pregnant. Quot As it happens the same Plant grows in Rural parts of India s Rajasthan state peasant women there Chew Swallow the seeds dry. They too rely on it As a form of contraception. Though a world apart today women in both regions possess knowledge that can be traced Back at least 2,500 years a to ancient greek physicians including Hippocrates who prescribed seeds of Queen Anne s lace As both a contraceptive As an herbal morning after in fact according to John m. Riddle a historian of Medicine at North Carolina state University in Raleigh who unearthed the tradition evidence is accumulating not Only that the venerable methods do work in animal tests but that the knowledge use social acceptance of effective Plant derived birth control drugs was widespread in the ancient worlds Riddle recently published his findings in a Book contraception abortion from the ancient world to the Renaissance. According to Riddle herbal birth control created much of the wealth of the greek City state of Cyrene on the coast of what is now Libya. Cyren ians collected exported the sap of a Plant that the greeks called is Ephion the romans Sylph cum. An image of the Plant appears on 5th Century . Cyrenia coins the roman naturalist Pliny the elder mentions that is Ephion Cost More than its weight in Silver. Why was the Plant so valued according tothe ancient physician Soranus Quot Cyrenia juice Quot As he called it when taken by Mouth would prevent Conception or induce an abortion whichever was needed. By the 4th Century ., however Sylph cum died out apparently harvested to extinction. Women seeking an alternative turned to is Ephion s close relatives in the giant fennel family including Asafoetida a key ingredient in today s Worcestershire sauce. Though said to be less effective than Sylph cum Asafoetida was cheaper widely prescribed in the ancient world. Riddle said ancient documents name Many other plants used to regulate Fertility. Among the More prominent Are pennyroyal Rue Willow Date Palm pomegranate members of the Genus artemisia such As Wormwood myrrh. A such concoctions have usually been dismissed by modern medical experts As ineffectual but tests on Laboratory animals in recent years have proved otherwise. Experiments using crude extracts of Asafoetida show that it does something. In rats for example it inhibited implantation of fertilized ova at rates up to 50 percent. Extracts of Asafoetida s close relatives were nearly 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy when Given within three Days of mating. According to Norman r. Farnsworth a pharmacologist at the University of Illinois Chicago who has collected the evidence forbears experiments on animals show that some 450 Plant species worldwide contain natural substances that prevent ovulation Block fertilization Stop implantation or reduce Fertility in some other Way. Many plants contain oestrogen like compounds that alter the Subtle balance of hormones needed for Conception maintenance of pregnancy. Some have substances that simply make the fallopian tube transport the egg so fast that it enters the uterus before Itcan be fertilized Dies because it cannot survive there in that state. One Plant simply inhibits an enzyme that the sperm must release to penetrate the egg. Even foods in an Ordinary diet can have contraceptive effects Farnsworth found a peas for example. The clue emerged from the fact that in the history of Tibet the population has been stable for periods of up to 200 years. During those times tibetans subsisted largely on Barley peas. When mice were fed a diet of 20 percent peas litter sizes dropped in half. At 30 percent peas the mice failed to reproduce at All. The forerunners of today s midwives probably knew which plants could prevent pregnancy. Plants against pregnancy among the hundreds of plants cited in ancient medical herbal texts As useful for birth control Are Many that really do work according to modern tests on animals. Some prevent Conception some abort an Early pregnancy the tests also show that some can be toxic. Among the Best documented Are those shown Here. A com from 6th to 5th Century . Cyrene depicting the Sylph cum Plant which was. Renowned in Greece a Rome As an effective contraceptive. It was harvested to extinction by the 4th Century Artemesia or Wormwood was used in roman times Tor birth control animal studies show it prevents. Implantation of the. A Aily embryo. It also has toxic Side oho ets Queen Annex a lace of the wild Carrot family grows in much of the world. To this Day women As far apart As India Appalachia Swallow its crushed seeds As a Quot morning after Quot. Concoction. a widely used in ancient times As a Tea contains. Pule one which causes abortion in humans animals. In 1978 a. Colorado woman trying to end her. Pregnancy died after taking pennyroyal Oil a More concentrated form of the Active ingredient. I k a i m i a my Hil Mii t v. U l. In so my i file mural birth control because natural birth control chemicals exist in so Many Motsy it is not unreasonable that ancient Peoples would be discovered them John m. Riddle of North Carolina s Ite University suggested. A he also proposed that the widespread use of these stances would explain periods in ancient history Evhen t s population remained stable or even declined. During to first five centuries ., for example historians e Tim ate that the population of Europe fell from 32.8 n lion to 27.5 million a in the absence of major wars or Lide mics. The population declines have usually been attributed to infanticide but there is Little documentary evidence of the p Active. Quot women in those Days had a lot More control Oyer their productive lives than we used to think Quot Riddle said hey had Access to things that really pharmacologist Norman r. Farnsworth agrees. Quot it s o Ivious Quot he said. Quot they were having sex at least As much a at any other time they did t have condoms. But y a a Don t see All these fair Maidens getting pregnant every y a a. V.,a a Why then did the knowledge fade away Riddle cites two factors. One was the change of n Medicine from something that virtually anyone could f Active to the special province of men with formal t dining. A a a a a a. A a a a since the use of herbal birth control agents was probably i1 the hands of women it remained outside the Canon of r ale administered Medicine passed on by word of Nouth a used mainly by those without Access to the costlier professional physicians. A More brutal form of suppression arose during the Middle Ages Riddle believes women who possessed the 5 crets of Fertility control were burned As witches. Quot you look at the things witches were accused of Quot Riddle said. Quot most of them have to do with Fertility. They re accused of causing sterility babies born dead causing. Impotence a he suspects the Quot witches Quot were midwives who dispensed the ancient Wisdom. He cites a statement repeated during the inquisition Quot the Devil works through a the Washington Post rain forests a disappearing source for drugs by Sally Lehrman san Francisco examiner a growing number of rain Forest communities Are becoming aware of the Healing treasures they hold a often just in time. Healers who practice ancient methods Are dying off so Are the rain forests As pressure to Harvest expensive Heartwood mounts. Now As the Industrial world is clamouring Quot a Quot to collect medicinal riches indigenous people Are reawakening to the rain Forest s potential cultivating it asking for compensation. Quot doctors have forgotten their roots Quot said or. Rosita Arvigo who operates a natural Healing practice in Belize. Quot when you live in a country that s labelled third world you get a Complex. You d rather identify with labs . Coats injections than medicinal healers with hands. Stained with Arvigo has written a captivating Book about her experience As an apprentice to Don Elijio Panti one of the last surviving healers in Belize. In the Book Shastun named after a tool used by mayan healers she describes her visits to Elijio s hut the flowering therein of the secrets of the rain Forest. Arvigo s work has resulted in a medicinal Plant Reserve projects such As a medicinal plants Camp for youth the collection of hundreds of specimens for the National cancer Institute. One of Elijio s most powerful plants for example has Given excellent results against his a the virus that causes a in preliminary Laboratory tests at Sci a . Government Laboratory. In a visit to san Francisco Arvigo described increasing interest among indigenous Peoples to preserve their lands preserve their rights to their lands. At a series of . Agency for International development conferences with traditional healers the healers said that drug companies should share profits from their rain Forest gleanings. Rather than keep the Money themselves the healers with Arvigo s help decided to found an association that would enhance the Healing association plans educational meetings clinics documentation of their research support for apprentices to learn ancient methods their work has resulted in stronger guarantees from the National cancer Institute that profits information technology would be shared with Home countries Arvigo said. Sci the new York botanical gardens both partners in the botany research each will bring a Beli Zinn to their laboratories for a year. Elijio s teachings will be preserved along with 2,800 samples of native plants information from local healers about their uses. Shaman pharmaceuticals which is developing modern drugs from ancient rain Forest remedies also has set an example the South san Francisco company says it is committed to returning scientific technical knowledge medicines other compensation to native Peoples. Shaman has two drug candidates developed from Plant extracts that were rain Forest remedies both of which Are in clinical trials. The company is considering an agreement with Arvigo its Healing Forest conservancy provided the seed Money for the 6,000-acre Terra Nova rain Forest Reserve which Arvigo helps administer. But some companies Are concerned about the increasing assertiveness of rain Forest residents. The biotechnology Industry originally objected to the. Biodiversity treaty presented at the 1992 Earth Summit because of worries about forced profit sharing lost product rights. The treaty is a worldwide agreement to preserve Plant animal species it went into effect in january. The Industry now supports the treaty but recently the biotechnology Industry association wrote to . Senate leaders raising issues about intellectual property Protection Bio safety rules in the document a the association said the . Government should say. It would withdraw from the agreement if certain conditions weren t met. Environmental activists said they also weren t delighted with the treaty but that both Industry activists had agreed to a Compromise. The rain Forest Alliance has launched a project to Analyse the effects of the treaty in general evaluate the Transfer of knowledge out of the rain Forest into the Industrial world. Shaman will be one of 14 Case studios said Don Kat executive director of the group. Well look at How biodiversity has been extracted from regions contracts that were formed conservation Quot Katz said. Quot we Hope to create models that tropical communities local governments can . Scrupps Howard nows Sonvico. As rain forests Are cleared by developers Rich sources for medicinal drugs could be disappearing forever
