showing 5 related works from this author
Evaluating ancient Egyptian prescriptions today: Anti-inflammatory activity of Ziziphus spina-christi.
2015
Abstract Background Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf. (Christ's Thorn Jujube) is a wild tree today found in Jordan, Israel, Egypt, and some parts of Africa, which was already in use as a medicinal plant in Ancient Egypt. In ancient Egyptian prescriptions, it was used in remedies against swellings, pain, and heat, and thus should have anti-inflammatory effects. Nowadays, Z. spina-christi, is used in Egypt (by Bedouins, and Nubians), the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan, Iraq, and Morocco against a wide range of illnesses, most of them associated with inflammation. Pharmacological research undertaken to date suggests that it possesses anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, hypotensive and anti-microbial e…
An investigation of the pharmacological applications used for the Ancient Egyptian systemic model ‘ra-ib’ compared with modern Traditional Chinese Me…
2020
Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance Ancient Egyptian texts only offer glimpses into their conceptual understandings of the inner-body and illness manifestation. Explanations of how prescribed materia medica were believed to work are rare and obscure, often resulting in modern approximations for ancient terminology such as ‘ra-ib’—an ancient Egyptian classification predominantly translated as ‘stomach’—leading to misunderstandings of historical texts, and therefore their use of pharmacology. Aim of the study To investigate the ra-ib and the explanatory models of illness from the Egyptian perspective, and to explore the link between these and the prescribed selection of materia medica. To…
Blunt force trauma: an exceptional example of an ancient Egyptian mummy head
2019
In the course of a scientific cooperation between the German Mummy Project at the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim (Germany) and the Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art Luxembourg (Luxembourg), an ancient Egyptian mummy head was analyzed using a multidisciplinary approach including radiocarbon dating, ultra-high resolution computed tomography, physical anthropology, forensic medicine and Egyptology. Dated to the Roman Period, the mummy head belonged to an upper-class woman between 25 and 35 years of age. Computed tomography revealed a lethal blunt force trauma affecting the dorsal parts of the parietal bones, below the intact overlaying soft tissue. Moreover, ancient medical treatment was ev…
In Vitro and In Vivo Antimalarial Activity Assays of Seeds from Balanites aegyptiaca: Compounds of the Extract Show Growth Inhibition and Activity ag…
2011
Balanites aegyptiaca(Balanitaceae) is a widely grown desert plant with multiuse potential. In the present paper, a crude extract fromB. aegyptiacaseeds equivalent to a ratio of 1 : 2000 seeds to the extract was screened for antiplasmodial activity. The determined IC50value for the chloroquine-susceptiblePlasmodium falciparumNF54 strain was 68.26 . Analysis of the extract by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detected 6-phenyl-2(H)-1,2,4-triazin-5-one oxime, an inhibitor of the parasitic M18 Aspartyl Aminopeptidase as one of the compounds which is responsible for thein vitroantiplasmodial activity. The crude plant extract had a of 2.35 and showed a dose-dependent response. After depletion…
Herbal medicinal products - Evidence and tradition from a historical perspective.
2017
Abstract Background Aside from the fully licensed herbal medicines there are products on the European pharmaceutical market which are registered by virtue of their longstanding traditional use. The normal registration procedure does not apply to them because presently they do not meet the legal requirements for a full license as set out in the relevant European Union Directive. One of these requirements, “proof of tradition”, has so far been dealt with in different ways and fails to meet the criteria of good practice. Method This analysis is based on a selective literature search in PubMed and in databases of medical and pharmaceutical history, interviews with licensing experts, a consensus…