Quid pro quo

All too often ancient herbal and other remedies have been dismissed as âsimplyâ folklore of no relevance to medical science. John Riddleâs approach however has been to explore the history of drugs with the hypothesis that ancient and medieval medicines were effective - a methodology that he expounds in the final essay (hitherto unpublished). Indeed he shows both from detailed case-studies and from the comparison of the listings given by classical and medieval authorities with those in modern pharmacopoeias that our ancestors had discovered and made effective use of many of the drugs used in medicine today from antiseptics and analgesics to oral contraceptives even chemotherapy for cancer. There is the suggestion therefore that more careful examination and identification of the drugs used in the past may reveal chemicals that can be exploited anew. Central to these studies is the investigation of how a drug was used and how knowledge about it was transmitted - and perhaps also distorted in the process - from the Classical world through the Middle Ages. Les anciens remÃdes phytothÃrapie et autres ont trop souvent Ãtà mis aux rangs du folklore et considÃrÃs comme nâayant aucun rapport avec la science mÃdicale. Lâapproche de John Riddle cependant a Ãtà dâexplorer lâhistoire des drogues en prenant pour hypothÃse lâefficacità de la mÃdecine ancienne et mÃdiÃvale - une mÃthodologie quâil expose dans son dernier essai (jusquâàprÃsent jamais publiÃ). En effet il dÃmontre àpartir de cas dâÃtudes dÃtaillÃs et de la comparaison Ãtablie entre les listages fournis par les autoritÃs antiques et mÃdiÃvales et ceux des pharmacopÃes modernes que nos ancÃÂtres avaient dÃcouvert et mis àbon escient lâutilisation de nombreux remÃdes dont se sert la mÃdecine àlâheure actuelle: des antiseptiques et analgÃsiques aux contraceptifs oraux et mÃÂme jusquâàla chimiothÃrapie pour le cancer. Sugge. Language: English