What is ipecac?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
December 31, 2002
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Suggested Reading—>Click here.
In 1672, Cephaelis ipecacuanha (Brotera) A. Richard [sef ay' lis ip' e ka' ku ana] was first introduced to Europe. Jesuit missionaries knew of this Brazilian rainforest plant much earlier. In 1601, Manoel Tristaon had written of its value in treating the bloudie fluxe (dysentery). Before the 1700s, dysentery was frequently fatal to adults and almost always fatal to children as toxemia and dehydration took their toll on the body. ("Cephaelis Ipecacuanha", John Uri Lloyd, The Western Druggist, 1897)
Ipecac, first known as radix antidysenterica or the root that cures dysentery, was not an immediate success. Dosages given were too large, the cure itself is toxic. In 1680, J.A. Helvetius, a doctor, obtained 150 pounds of the root
and made himself wealthy doling out the root to the aristocracy. If one was not rich, then one could die of dysentery. Antoine d'Aquin, physician to King Louis XIV, encouraged the king to buy Helvetius's secret ingredient. The king paid Helvetius 1000 louis d'or and made the secret ingredient public property.
Even as late as 1869, William Cook, M.D., did not recommend it. The roots were sold in pharmacies and dosages were a 'best guess'. In The Physiomedical Dispensatory, he wrote, "[It] leaves the patient somewhat suffocated and pale. Children become sleepy and dull under its action, and have respiration interfered with, and pneumonia decidedly made worse by depression of the lungs. The extremities and cheeks become cold and pale, the pulse falls, and becomes almost imperceptible; and the nervous center may be so depressed as to sink into coma."
Today, refined ipecac is in many medicine chests in households with small children. The active alkaloid, emetine, causes vomiting and is given (under poison-hotline instructions) when a non-caustic poison has been ingested. The drug is effective in treating amoebic dysentery, malaria, schistosomiasis, and Leishmaniasis.
The Missouri Botanical Garden has posted a herbarium illustration of Cephaelis ipecacuanha taken from Kohler's Medizinal Pflanzen. To view the drawing, click on the link:
Click here to view the drawing
Note the odd knotty roots which are collected for the drug.
Series: | 1 | | 2 | | 3 |
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
How was ipecac discovered? What's in a Name? - January 10, 2003
Why is ipecac production vital? Plants that Changed History - January 7, 2003
How did arsenic poisoning lead to Key limes? Plants that Changed History - February 18, 2003
How did settlers use wax myrtle? Herbal Folklore - October 27, 2003
How did dowsers use witch hazel? Herbal Folklore - March 8, 2004
What is khaki? Herbal Folklore - May 26, 2003
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