[Franciscus Sylvius: A Life for Clinic, Research, Teaching And a Little Gin]. / Franciscus Sylvius: Ein Leben für Klinik, Forschung, Lehre und ein bisschen Gin.

Franciscus Sylvius, latinized from Franz de le Boë (*15 March 1614 in Hanau; † 14 November 1672 in Leiden), was a Hessian-Dutch physician, anatomist, and natural scientist of Flemish descent. He was an important clinician and iatrochemist, and is considered the founder of scientifically oriented medicine and clinical chemistry. Sylvius introduced the concept of affinity and dealt with digestive processes and body fluids. He was one of the leading exponents of the concept of blood circulation developed by William Harvey. As the person responsible for practical medicine in Leiden, Sylvius established bedside teaching as part of the medical curriculum, and he introduced his students to clinical medicine in an experimental way, both contrary to the rules of the time. He was also interested in pharmacology, herbalism and botany. For heartburn and digestive disorders, Sylvius mixed juniper berries, herbs and alcohol to create a medicine. According to legend, Sylvius marketed this medicine as Genever, for which the name Gin was later adopted in the British Isles, but not only used for medical purposes. Accordingly, the city of birth of Sylvius today calls itself a "birthplace of gin".

Historical Persistence of Alcohol-Induced Mortality in the Russian Federations: Legacy of Early Industrialization.

AIMS: The study aims to investigate insofar regional differences in alcohol-induced mortality in Russia, which emerged during the early industrialization of the country, persisted over a prolonged period of time (from late nineteenth to early twenty-first century), surviving fundamental political and social changes Russia experienced. METHODS: Multivariate regression models with historical and contemporary data on alcohol-induced mortality in Russian regions were estimated to document the persistence of spatial patterns of mortality, as well as to identify the possible mediating variables. Numerous robustness checks were used to corroborate the results. RESULTS: Alcohol-induced male mortality in Russian regions in 1880s-1890s is significantly and strongly correlated with male mortality due to accidental alcohol poisoning in Russian regions in 2010-2012. For female mortality, no robust correlation was established. The results for male mortality do not change if one controls for a variety of other determinants of alcohol-induced mortality and are not driven by outlier regions. Consumption of strong alcohol (in particular vodka) appears to be the mediator variable explaining this persistence. CONCLUSIONS: Hazardous drinking behavioral patterns, once they emerge and crystalize during the periods of fragmentation of the traditional society and the early onsets of modernization and urbanization, can be extremely persistent. Even highly intrusive policy interventions at a later stage (like those of the Soviet government) may turn out to be insufficient to change the path-dependent outcomes.

The origins of specialized pottery and diverse alcohol fermentation techniques in Early Neolithic China.

In China, pottery containers first appeared about 20000 cal. BP, and became diverse in form during the Early Neolithic (9000-7000 cal. BP), signaling the emergence of functionally specialized vessels. China is also well-known for its early development of alcohol production. However, few studies have focused on the connections between the two technologies. Based on the analysis of residues (starch, phytolith, and fungus) adhering to pottery from two Early Neolithic sites in north China, here we demonstrate that three material changes occurring in the Early Neolithic signal innovation of specialized alcoholic making known in north China: (i) the spread of cereal domestication (millet and rice), (ii) the emergence of dedicated pottery types, particularly globular jars as liquid storage vessels, and (iii) the development of cereal-based alcohol production with at least two fermentation methods: the use of cereal malts and the use of moldy grain and herbs (qu and caoqu) as starters. The latter method was arguably a unique invention initiated in China, and our findings account for the earliest known examples of this technique. The major ingredients include broomcorn millet, Triticeae grasses, Job's tears, rice, beans, snake gourd root, ginger, possible yam and lily, and other plants, some probably with medicinal properties (e.g., ginger). Alcoholic beverages made with these methods were named li, jiu, and chang in ancient texts, first recorded in the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions (ca. 3200 cal. BP); our findings have revealed a much deeper history of these diverse fermentation technologies in China.

Introduction: Alcohol and Alcoholism.

This article discusses alcohol use throughout history. The discovery and cultivation of wine and beer and distillation of spirits are explored. The article spans prehistory, Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Europe, and the Americas; and the religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Also explored are the history and distillation of rum, gin, and champagne. Effects of alcohol use on society are discussed.

[Alcoholism at the end of 1980-s and beginning of 2010-s]. / Alkogolizm v kontse 1980-kh i nachale 2010-kh godov.

AIM: To study the 20-years' clinical alteration and alcoholism basing on the changes in its clinical symptoms and course. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 527 alcoholics with formed alcohol withdrawal syndrome: 181 alcoholics were examined in 1988-1990 (Group 1) and 346 alcoholics in 2011-2012 (Group 2). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In Group 1, vodka consumption dominated at all stages of alcoholism. Group 2 included 172 alcoholics with the domination of vodka consumption and 174 alcoholics with mixed consumption. It was shown that in comparison with Group 1 (1988-1990 patients) patients from Group 2 (2011-2012) had slower and mild development of alcoholism, especially those in the mixed consumption group. The authors suggest that the change of the clinical pattern in Group 2 was due to the change in the composition of consumed alcoholic beverages.

Spirits and liqueurs in European traditional medicine: Their history and ethnobotany in Tuscany and Bologna (Italy).

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE AND BACKGROUND: Fermented drinks, often alcoholic, are relevant in many nutritional, medicinal, social, ritual and religious aspects of numerous traditional societies. The use of alcoholic drinks of herbal extracts is documented in classical pharmacy since the 1st century CE and it is often recorded in ethnobotanical studies in Europe, particularly in Italy, where are used for a wide range of medicinal purposes. Formulations and uses represent a singular tradition which responds to a wide range of environmental and cultural factors. AIMS: This research has two overarching aims To determine how long ancient uses, recipes and formulas for medicinal liqueurs from the pharmacopoeias and herbals of the 18th century persisted in later periods and their role in present ethnobotanical knowledge in areas of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna (Italy). To trace other possible relationships among ancient and recent recipes of alcoholic beverages, from both popular and 'classic' (learned) sources in N-C Italy and neighboring areas. METHODS: The review of herbals and classical pharmacopoeias, and ethnobotanical field work in Alta Valle del Reno (Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, Italy) were followed of a systematic study of ingredients and medicinal uses with multivariate analysis techniques. RESULTS: The multivariate analysis clearly shows six different styles of preparing medicinal alcoholic beverages: 1. The medicinal wine formulae by Dioscorides (1st century CE). 2. The pharmacopoeias of Florence and Bologna in the 18th century CE. 3. The formularies of Santa Maria Novella and Castiglione (19th and early 20th centuries CE). 4. The ethnobotanical data from Appennino Tosco-Emiliano; home-made formulations based almost exclusively on the use of local resources. 5. Traditional recipes from NE Italy and Austria. 6. Traditional recipes from NW Italy, Emilia, and Provence (France). A total of 54 ingredients (29 fruits) from 48 species are used in different combinations and proportions in Alta Valle del Reno (Italy) to produce fermented beverages, liqueurs, distilled spirits and aromatized wines. Among these, 37 ingredients (33 species) are used as medicinal remedies. 15 ingredients (14 species) are also used to prepare specific medicinal liqueurs. Most are addressed to the treatment of diseases of the digestive system, dyspepsia in particular, followed by diseases of the respiratory system symptoms, not elsewhere classified and diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, fundamentally of allergic origin. CONCLUSIONS: Although medicinal wines, liqueurs and spirits are recorded in numerous classical herbals and pharmacopoeias in Italy and other countries of Europe these show in terms of formulations and ingredients little influence in the ethnobotanical formulations recorded in Alta Valle del Reno (Italy), they apparently play no role in present ethnobotanical knowledge in Appennino Tosco-Emiliano and similarly in other areas of Italy, France and Austria. No (or very poor) persistence was found of ancient uses, recipes and formulas for medicinal liqueurs from pharmacopoeias and herbals of the 16th century CE in later periods in the formulas in use in the pharmacies of Tuscany. Popular recipes are strongly dependent on the availability of local wild and cultivated plants. Overall, Alta Valle del Reno ethnobotanical formulations of medicinal wines and spirits are extremely simple involving from one single ingredient to a few, which are locally produced or collected and selected among relevant medicinal resources used for a wide range of diseases in form of non-alcoholic aqueous extracts. Fruits gathered in the forests are the main ingredients which in this aspect show similarities with those from Tyrol (Austria). Medicinal liqueurs and wines are in analyzed ethnobotanical data mainly employed as digestives.

Pulque production from fermented agave sap as a dietary supplement in Prehispanic Mesoamerica.

Although in modern societies fermented beverages are associated with socializing, celebration, and ritual, in ancient times they were also importa`nt sources of essential nutrients and potable water. In Mesoamerica, pulque, an alcoholic beverage produced from the fermented sap of several species of maguey plants (Agavaceae; Fig. 1) is hypothesized to have been used as a dietary supplement and risk-buffering food in ancient Teotihuacan (150 B.C. to A.D. 650). Although direct archaeological evidence of pulque production is lacking, organic residue analysis of pottery vessels offers a new avenue of investigation. However, the chemical components of alcoholic beverages are water-soluble, greatly limiting their survival over archaeological timescales compared with hydrophobic lipids widely preserved in food residues. Hence, we apply a novel lipid biomarker approach that considers detection of bacteriohopanoids derived from the ethanol-producing bacterium Zymomonas mobilis for identifying pulque production/consumption in pottery vessels. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry selected ion monitoring (m/z 191) of lipid extracts of >300 potsherds revealed characteristic bacteriohopanoid distributions in a subset of 14 potsherds. This hopanoid biomarker approach offers a new means of identifying commonly occurring bacterially fermented alcoholic beverages worldwide, including palm wine, beer, cider, perry, and other plant sap- or fruit-derived beverages [Swings J, De Ley J (1977) Bacteriol Rev 41(1):1-46].

Breeding research on sake yeasts in Japan: history, recent technological advances, and future perspectives.

Sake is an alcoholic beverage of Japan, with a tradition lasting more than 1,300 years; it is produced from rice and water by fermenting with the koji mold Aspergillus oryzae and sake yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Breeding research on sake yeasts was originally developed in Japan by incorporating microbiological and genetic research methodologies adopted in other scientific areas. Since the advent of a genetic paradigm, isolation of yeast mutants has been a dominant approach for the breeding of favorable sake yeasts. These sake yeasts include (a) those that do not form foams (produced by isolating a mutant that does not stick to foams, thus decreasing the cost of sake production); (b) those that do not produce urea, which leads to the formation of ethyl carbamate, a possible carcinogen (isolated by positive selection in a canavanine-, arginine-, and ornithine-containing medium); (c) those that produce an increased amount of ethyl caproate, an apple-like flavor (produced by isolating a mutant resistant to cerulenin, an inhibitor of fatty-acid synthesis); and (d) those that produce a decreased amount of pyruvate (produced by isolating a mutant resistant to an inhibitor of mitochondrial transport, thus decreasing the amount of diacetyl). Given that sake yeasts perform sexual reproduction, sporulation and mating are potent approaches for their breeding. Recently, the genome sequences of sake yeasts have been determined and made publicly accessible. By utilizing this information, the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for the brewing characteristics of sake yeasts have been identified, which paves a way to DNA marker-assisted selection of the mated strains. Genetic engineering technologies for experimental yeast strains have recently been established by academic groups, and these technologies have also been applied to the breeding of sake yeasts. Sake yeasts whose genomes have been modified with these technologies correspond to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). However, technologies that enable the elimination of extraneous DNA sequences from the genome of sake yeast have been developed. Sake yeasts genetically modified with these technologies are called self-cloning yeasts and do not contain extraneous DNA sequences. These yeasts were exempted from the Japanese government's guidelines for genetically modified food. Protoplast fusion has also been utilized to breed favorable sake yeasts. Future directions for the breeding of sake yeasts are also proposed in this review. The reviewed research provides perspectives for the breeding of brewery yeasts in other fermentation industries.

Swedish alcohol consumption on the threshold of modernity: legislation, attitudes and national economy c. 1775-1855.

AIMS: We aimed to map the context of the large increase in vodka consumption in Sweden during the transition from early modern to modern times (c. 1775-1855). What were the attitudes to alcohol among the groups that dominated society, and how did these attitudes relate to contemporary legislation and socio-economic change? METHODS: Qualitative analysis of diaries and memoirs. Information was also collected from legislation, writings of the temperance movement and previous research. FINDINGS: During the period studied, attitudes to alcohol among the socio-economic elite were positive if the drinker was a person of standing, whereas drinking among the working population was scorned and, from the 1830s onwards, a cause for concern. Legislation was characterized by frequent and radical changes. Consumption levels are difficult to estimate: in the 1820s, agricultural overproduction, liberal legislation and improved distilling methods probably resulted in a major consumption increase. In 1846-53, permissive licensing laws and the industrialization of distilling similarly led to very high consumption levels. CONCLUSIONS: In Sweden in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the social elite appears to have used alcohol as a tool in their negotiations with the working population but later, as the spread of wage labour and cheap vodka coincided with Sweden's largest ever population growth, the view that popular drinking must be checked gained support in leading circles.

Regulations with plenty of loopholes--the doctors' prescription rights during the era of prohibition 1916-1926.

BACKGROUND: In Norway, the sale of distilled spirits was prohibited from 1916 to 1926, and fortified wines were banned from 1917 to 1923. This period is often referred to as The Prohibition. The consumption of alcohol declined somewhat, but at a high price: Increased smuggling, moonshining and abuse of prescriptions. The latter was caused by the doctors' exclusive right to prescribe alcohol, which some doctors abused for the sake of personal gain. KNOWLEDGE BASIS: The article is based on a review of the records of the Storting's deliberations concerning prescription practices in the period 1916-1926, as well as articles on alcohol issues in the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association from the same period. RESULTS: With the aid of increasingly strict regulations, the authorities sought to stem the activities of the so-called «whisky doctors¼. The restrictions and controls imposed on their prescribing rights turned out not to be very effective, however, since the doctors' rights were firmly established. In combination with weaknesses in the legislative base, this hampered the criminal prosecution of doctors who wrote prescriptions in a big way. The abuse reached its climax in 1923. It was only with the enactment of the Prescription Act which came into force on 1 March 1924 that the authorities finally succeeded in gaining control of the abuse of prescriptions. The sale of spirits on prescription subsequently dropped sharply. INTERPRETATION: The prescription of spirits had gradually spiralled out of control, and the repeated control measures enacted by the authorities proved insufficient. When the Prescription Act was finally adopted after three attempts in the Storting, time was in reality up for the prohibition.