A comparison of medicinal plant use in Sardinia and Sicily-De Materia Medica revisited?

AIM OF THE STUDY: Written records of oral medical traditions have had significant impact on the development of medicine and the pharmacopoeias. Modern ethnobotanical studies in Europe and the Mediterranean region, however, have so far largely overlooked the richness and accuracy of historic sources and ignored their probable influence on the development of today's local traditional medicines. Here, we explore the common fundament of traditional knowledge for the medicinal plant uses in Sardinia and Sicily by comparing the selection of medicinal species and specific uses with those of Dioscorides' De Materia Medica. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We use (i) a quantification of citations for medicinal species mentioned in ethnobotanical studies conducted in Sardinia and Sicily (ii) a comparison of the flora and medicinal flora with a chi(2)-test (iii) a binomial approach recently introduced into ethnobotany (iv) a comparison of the most frequently used species with the indications cited in Dioscorides' De Materia Medica (v) and a crosscheck of all mentioned species with their appearance in Berendes' translation of De Materia Medica. RESULTS: We identified a core group of 170 medicinal species used on either islands, which accumulate 74% of all citations and are best represented in De Materia Medica. The 15 most frequently used species of both islands demonstrate intriguing parallels for indications with Dioscorides' work. CONCLUSION: The ethnopharmacopoeia of Sicily and Sardinia are shallow stereotypes of the different editions of De Materia Medica and talking of oral tradition in this respect is a contradiction. The medicinal species of Sardinia and Sicily are largely widespread and common species, including many weeds, which are not facing threat of extinction. Therefore, using traditional medicinal practices as an argument for conservation biology or vice versa is not scientifically sound.

[The Italian contributions to the history of salicylates]. / Il contributo italiano alla storia dei salicilati.

It is well-known that the modern history of salicylates began in 1899 when the compound acetylsalicylic acid was registered and introduced commercially as "aspirin" by the Bayer Company of Germany. As a matter of fact, however, remedies made from willow bark had been used to treat fever and rheumatic complaints at least since 1763, when Edward Stone described their efficacy against malarian fever. A number of Italian scientists made significant contributions during the long period of research leading up to the synthesis of acetylsalicylic acid and its widespread use in rheumatic diseases. In this paper we will review the contributions of some of these researchers, beginning with Bartolomeo Rigatelli, who in 1824 used a willow bark extract as a therapeutic agent, denominating it "salino amarissimo antifebbrile" (very bitter antipyretic salt). In the same year, Francesco Fontana described this natural compound, giving it the name "salicina" (salicin). Two other Italian chemists added considerably to current knowledge of the salicylates: Raffaele Piria in 1838, while working as a research fellow in Paris, extracted the chemical compound salicylic acid, and Cesare Bertagnini in 1855 published a detailed description of the classic adverse event associated with salicylate overdoses--tinnitus--which he studied by deliberately ingesting excessive doses himself. Bertagnini and above all Piria also played conspicuous roles in the history of Italy during the period of the Italian Risorgimento, participating as volunteers in the crucial battle of Curtatone and Montanara during the first Italian War of Independence.

Use of alternative-complementary-medicine (CAM) in Calabrian children.

OBJECTIVE: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has not been widely studied among children in Italy. ISTAT-2005 survey showed a prevalence of 10% concerning children treated with CAM. The lack of data about the use of CAM in pediatrics in the South of Italy aimed us to conduct an epidemiological inquiry in Calabria. METHODS: The study has been conducted from 2009 and 2011 at the Pediatric Units of: University "Magna Graecia"-Catanzaro (CZ), Pugliese-Ciaccio Hospital-Catanzaro (CZ), Annunziata Hospital-Cosenza (CS), Jazzolino Hospital- ViboValentia (VV), Riuniti Hospitals-Reggio Calabria (RC) and San Giovanni di Dio Hospital-Crotone (KR). All information was collected through a questionnaire proposed to children's parents admitted to these hospitals as out-patients or in-patients. RESULTS: 1387 parents were approached to complete the questionnaire. 21(1,5%) refused to answer. A total of 1366 questionnaire was analyzed: 378 at CZ , 450 at CS, 131 at KR, 201 at VV and 206 at RC, with a response rate of 98,5%. In total, the percentage of children using CAM varied from 18% in Crotone to 38% in Cosenza. The parents who used CAM for their children were older and with a higher education. Phytotherapy was preferred to homeopathy. The gastrointestinal pathologies and upper respiratory tract are those ones for which frequently parents recur to CAM. Of note we have not to disregard their use " to strengthen" the immune system. In most of cases CAM have been prescribed by pediatrician. CONCLUSIONS: Our study remarks that the use of CAM is increased dramatically among the calabrian children in the last years as well as in other countries. Pediatricians need to improve their knowledge about CAM in order to better manage the parental attitude.

Some plants described by Dioscorides for the treatment of renal diseases.

The original De Materia Medica of Dioscorides has been lost, but several copies remain. Unlike the original, these contain an alphabetical listing of plants and color plates. The source for the plants described in this paper is a 16th century translation into vernacular Italian and the Codex Neapolitanus. In all, 12 plants listed by Dioscorides for treatment of renal diseases can be positively identified.