[Sca-cooks] allergies

Stefan li Rous StefanliRous at gmail.com
Thu Apr 17 17:17:21 PDT 2014


Thanks. My offhand comment was actually on seasonal allergies/hay fever. I wasn't actually thinking of food allergies which can be more serious. I was thinking of the former, in which you just feel terrible. How would Galen treat allergy symptoms with sulfur? Hopefully not by having the patient inhale burning sulphur. And how did he suggest using storax and oxymel for expectorants? I thought oxymels were drinks. Maybe I need to stock up on those drinks in spring.

I am feeling surprisingly better today. I don't know if it was the antibiotic prescribed, the expectorant suggested (never used Musinex before) or the use of my CPAP machine even when not sleeping. 

Bear, your range of knowledge never ceases to amaze me.

Stefan

On Apr 16, 2014, at 9:26 PM, Terry Decker <t.d.decker at att.net> wrote:

> Hippocrates is credited with the seminal description of asthma.  Galen described the symptoms and attributed the problem to bronchial obstructions caused by excessive phlegm in the lungs.  While Galen may not have known anything of allergens and allergies, he did treat allergy symptoms with sulpher. used squill (Scilla) for cough suppression, opoponax as a decongestant, and storax and oxymel as expectorants.
> 
> Bear
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> On Apr 16, 2014, at 8:54 PM, Stefan li Rous <stefanlirous at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Stefan
>> Any evidence of allergies in period? Or is this just a modern affliction? Sigh.
> 
> Allergy comes into use in the early 20th century. Hayfever is also late.
> 
> Asthma dates to the 14th century.
> 
> 1398   J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville (1495) vii. xxix. 244   Thre manere of Asmyes.
> 1578   H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball  776   The shortnesse of breath called asthma.
> 
> Johnnae

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****










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