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Roman-era shipwreck reveals ancient medical secrets
Telegraph ^ | 09 Jul 2011 | Nick Squires

Posted on 07/09/2011 2:48:31 PM PDT by george76

A first-aid kit found on a 2,000-year-old shipwreck has provided a remarkable insight into the medicines concocted by ancient physicians to cure sailors of dysentery and other ailments.

A wooden chest discovered on board the vessel contained pills made of ground-up vegetables, herbs and plants such as celery, onions, carrots, cabbage, alfalfa and chestnuts – all ingredients referred to in classical medical texts.

The tablets, which were so well sealed that they miraculously survived being under water for more than two millennia, also contain extracts of parsley, nasturtium, radish, yarrow and hibiscus.

They were found in 136 tin-lined wooden vials on a 50ft-long trading ship which was wrecked around 130 BC off the coast of Tuscany. Scientists believe they would have been used to treat gastrointestinal complaints suffered by sailors such as dysentery and diarrhoea.

...

the discovery showed that medical knowledge contained in ancient Greek texts, and later in the writings of Roman scholars such as Pliny, was being put into practise in the Roman Empire.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: ancientgreeks; ancientnavigation; ancientphysicians; antimicrobials; antiodixants; bloodpressure; doggieping; garlic; gastrointestinal; godsgravesglyphs; hawthorneberry; immunehealth; liver; medicalknowledge; medication; medicines; milkthistle; physicians; romanempire; romans; shipwreck; tumeric
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To: melissa_in_ga

Turmeric has a lot more going for it, it’s good for joint aches and pains, it’s an excellent anti-inflammatory. It’s had some documented, clinical trial success with certain cancers used in high doses, too. It’s especially effective as a poultice on an inflamed elbow or other joint, but it’s very messy and will dye everything, including your skin, yellow, lol. So, you’d have to be desperate to use it that way.


21 posted on 07/09/2011 3:39:34 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: melissa_in_ga

That’s interesting, so I looked it up. The source said it can be taken safely by those on BP medication (that’s me). I think I’ll try it. Thanks!


22 posted on 07/09/2011 3:39:59 PM PDT by bcsco
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To: RegulatorCountry

Upstairs bath is tile, but we have a bath rug down. The laundry is downstairs with a tile floor, and there’s a bath down there as well. But it’s not really livable space so we don’t congregate there. This is a small bungalow.


23 posted on 07/09/2011 3:42:57 PM PDT by bcsco
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To: RegulatorCountry

So true.


24 posted on 07/09/2011 3:45:09 PM PDT by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis (Want to make $$$? It's easy! Use FR as a platform to pimp your blog for hits!!!)
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To: bcsco

I have had a lot of dogs and there are certain things I teach them. First, how to tie out. If you move you will have to have a dog on a leash at some point in their life.
Next, I use a plastic bag with empty soda cans to throw at the dog if I see them getting in the trash (never use it if you don’t catch them right away). The puppy needs chew toys and the house puppy proofed until they get threw that stage. If you’re not home confinement is best. Also, I always have a dog door so they can come and go. My dogs are really good and a big part of my life. Good luck.


25 posted on 07/09/2011 3:51:56 PM PDT by Cowgirl
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To: Cowgirl

I’ve had dogs all my life. But this is the first small one in many decades. We have chew toys galore. He uses them, but is always ready to take something left on a night stand, table between chairs, or anywhere he can get to. We’ve essentially taken care of that problem. How he got the phone case is beyond me. I know I saw it on the dresser this morning. Maybe I brushed against it and it fell to the floor. I don’t know.

This home is puppy proofed about as much as can be. All that’s readily available to him are those toys. He doesn’t go after furniture, wood, or anything like that. It’s just the small stuff. And he doesn’t like being outside. We’ll take him out (beyond the normal duty runs) and within 5 minutes he wants back inside. But we can’t let him out of our sight. No way, no how.


26 posted on 07/09/2011 3:58:34 PM PDT by bcsco
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To: george76

Our F.D.A. will have something to say about this!


27 posted on 07/09/2011 4:20:39 PM PDT by Minutemen ("It's a Religion of Peace")
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To: SamiGirl

My dogs love their veggies: carrots, peas, almost anything but lettuce. Iceberg lettuce is out of the question.


28 posted on 07/09/2011 4:21:12 PM PDT by Clara Lou
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To: bcsco

My sister had a dog like that and she finally had to give it back to my brother after several years. It just didn’t suit the family. If he’s just a puppy it should change at some point. She was in the city and it was definitely a country dog.


29 posted on 07/09/2011 4:30:03 PM PDT by Cowgirl
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To: george76

save for later reading


30 posted on 07/09/2011 4:31:20 PM PDT by submarinerswife (Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, while expecting different results~Einstein)
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To: bcsco; RegulatorCountry

A ten month old puppy isn’t teething. He would have completed the teething process a few months ago. It’s normal for puppies and young dogs to continue chewing on things long after teething, but not from pain or anything that frozen washcloths or carrots will help. Like a human baby, the pup is learning and curiously exploring the world...with his mouth. Some will also continue chewing up things because they’re bored, and in need of more physical exercise and mental stimulation. It’s still a behavioral phase that most dogs will outgrow. In the meantime, if you’re unable to take him for more walks or playtime, confinement when he’s unsupervised may be the best short-term alternative. Good luck!


31 posted on 07/09/2011 4:43:20 PM PDT by lonevoice (Life is short. Make fun of it.)
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To: george76

Were there dogs on Roman galleys?


32 posted on 07/09/2011 4:44:57 PM PDT by bunkerhill7
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To: bcsco

You’re lucky: my son put too long a drop=leash on his Shepherd pup’s run line — and she chewed down an entire stand of beautiful small maple trees in our yard...


33 posted on 07/09/2011 4:56:58 PM PDT by TXnMA (There is no Constitutional right to NOT be offended.)
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To: bcsco
I can’t wait for my puppy to get out of the puppy stage and stop chewing everything up.

Small items are easily replaced. Our Great Dane "puppy" shredded the front arm of a tufted chair earlier this year and then began to sink his huge teeth into the front of the sofa. Both items are beyond repair and need to be replaced. Don't have the money right now, so we have excluded inviting guests for a while.

34 posted on 07/09/2011 4:59:16 PM PDT by NYer ("Be kind to every person you meet. For every person is fighting a great battle." St. Ephraim)
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To: george76
A wooden chest discovered on board the vessel contained pills made of ground-up vegetables, herbs and plants such as celery, onions, carrots, cabbage, alfalfa and chestnuts – all ingredients referred to in classical medical texts.

. . . and cook books.

35 posted on 07/09/2011 5:14:25 PM PDT by Pollster1 (Natural born citizen of the USA, with the birth certificate to prove it)
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To: Pollster1

Are they sure this box wasn’t located in the galley. right above the stove?


36 posted on 07/09/2011 5:50:20 PM PDT by tarawa
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To: george76

These people had canned goods and vitamin pills.

We always assume people in ancient history were ignorant and helpless. I guess it makes us feel superior.


37 posted on 07/10/2011 4:59:57 AM PDT by RoadTest (Organized religion is no substitute for the relationship the living God wants with you.)
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To: RegulatorCountry
As a people, we really need to get past viewing herbal remedies as some sort of weird, exotic thing or as crackpot quackery.

Blame it on the "Trusted Ones" in the white coats. There's no money in herbs for the docs and hospitals. They could care less. Herbal supplement providers don't send hot former cheerleaders to your office to bounce around and leave you free samples of their newest concoction.

38 posted on 07/10/2011 5:42:13 AM PDT by numberonepal (Palin/Cain 2012)
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To: george76

the discovery showed that medical knowledge contained in ancient Greek texts, and later in the writings of Roman scholars such as Pliny, was being put into practise in the
modern age.

hahaha.

Ok, every house should have a small vial of Oil of Clove,
it absolutely works for tooth ache. I have one at home
and one in my camping gear, nothing spoils a camping
trip like a tooth ache. just a small bit on a piece
of cotton or bit of rag and put on the gum or in the
cavity will numb the pain very well for quite some time
and it tasts like clove too.


39 posted on 07/10/2011 12:41:38 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: bcsco
I can’t wait for my puppy to get out of the puppy stage and stop chewing everything up.
.....
I’m fed up.

I hope you can have patience, and that he turns out to be a good dog.

My Sniffles chewed up my daughter's new Easter shoes, my pistol holster, my new work boots, the cover of an expensive leather-bound picture album, etc. But she turned out to be the best dog I ever had. I still miss her...

40 posted on 07/11/2011 11:24:13 AM PDT by Max in Utah (A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.)
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