Panacea (medicine)
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A panacea /pænəˈsiːə/, named after the Greek goddess of universal remedy Panacea,[1] is any supposed remedy that is claimed (for example) to cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely. It was in the past sought by alchemists in connection with the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone, a mythical substance that would enable the transmutation of common metals into gold. The term "panacea" is used in a negative way to describe the overuse of any one solution to solve many different problems, especially in medicine.[2] The word has acquired connotations of snake oil and quackery.[3]
In Greek mythology, Panacea was one of the daughters of the Greek god of medicine Asclepius, along with her sister Hygeia. Hygeia was considered the goddess of preventative medicine while Panacea was the goddess of healing, or in a modern conception, the goddess of therapeutic drugs.[1] According to the mythology, Panacea had an elixir or potion with which she was able to heal any human malady.[4]
A panacea (or panaceum) is also a literary term to represent any solution to solve all problems related to a particular issue.[citation needed]
Ancient medicine[edit]
Ancient Greek and Roman scholars described various kinds of plants that were called panacea or panaces, such as Opopanax sp., Centaurea sp., Levisticum officinale, Achillea millefolium and Echinophora tenuifolia.[5]
The Cahuilla people of the Colorado Desert region of California used the red sap of the elephant tree (Bursera microphylla) as a panacea.[6]
The Latin genus name of ginseng is Panax, (or "panacea") reflecting Linnean understanding that traditional Chinese medicine used ginseng widely as a cure-all.[7]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Dyke, H.B. (1947). "The Weapons of Panacea". The July Scientific Monthly. 64: 322–326 – via JSTOR.
- ^ "HONEY, MUD, MAGGOTS AND OTHER MEDICAL MARVELS". msu.edu.
- ^
Örtenblad, Anders, ed. (18 December 2015). "Foreword by David Collins". Handbook of Research on Management Ideas and Panaceas: Adaptation and Context. Research Handbooks in Business and Management series. Chelthnham: Edward Elgar Publishing (published 2015). p. xxvii. ISBN 9781783475605. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
A panacea is [...] a cure-all. In modern medicine its lexical equivalents would include such things as 'elixirs', 'patent medicine' and 'snake-oil'. Panaceas are sold by 'quacks'. the purchasers of such preparations are, consequently, taken to be either gullible, desperate, or both.
- ^ Ortenblad, Anders (2015). Handbook of Research on Management Ideas and Panaceas: Adaptation and Context. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-78347-559-9.
- ^ Glare, P.G.W. (1968). Oxford Latin Dictionary. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 1288.
- ^ Bean, Lowell John and Katherine Siva Saubel, 1972, Temalpakh (From the Earth); Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants, Banning, CA. Malki Museum Press, page 48. http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/filtered/?string=Panacea&tribe=24&use_category=1.
- ^ Attele, AS; Wu, JA; Yuan, CS (1999). "Ginseng pharmacology: multiple constituents and multiple actions". Biochemical Pharmacology. 58 (11): 1685–1693. doi:10.1016/S0006-2952(99)00212-9. PMID 10571242 – via Cancer Network.
External links[edit]
The dictionary definition of panacea at Wiktionary- There are a total of 341 entries detailing Native American Panacea in the Native American Ethnobotany Database. All Panacea from Native Americans can be seen in this link here: http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/filtered/?string=panacea&tribe=&use_category=1
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