Riddle John M
Department of History, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695-8108, USA.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2002;505:89-94. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4757-5235-9_8.
To trace the history of a natural product and its use, it is necessary to identify to correct plant among around a half-million species. One must also know how and when harvest the plant and the morphology of location and extraction. Within the same species plant chemistry varies, depending upon climatic and soil conditions, stage of maturity and even diurnal factors. To all of these variations must be added the diagnostic ability of physicians and native healers (to distinguish between Hippocratically-trained Western physicians and whose knowledge is less formally taught). Seldom was a disease identified as we Know it today, but the constellations of symptoms described, when studied carefully within the framework historical setting of the culture, can be related to modern medicine. It is essential to study the historical contemporary usage data in the language in which those accounts were writTen. Translators are often philologists who are not sensitive to medical nuances. Modern readers of translated historical documents often are unaware of the precision the authors delivered in describing medical afflictions and their treatments. Natural product drugs are truly products of human knowledge. Because so many modern pharmaceuticals are manufactured synthetically we forget that once either the compound or its affinity had a home in a natural product. Over 2,500 years ago man first used a drug obtained from white willow bark, which was aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid. Today's scientists continue to be bewildered by just what aspirin's mechanisms of action are, discovering new modes of action, and how they relate to medical diagnostics. Whatever the science of aspirin, an intelligent person today takes it just as our ancestors did fo millennia. Throughout time, explanations continue to vary just as purpose of administration do as well. Nevertheless, aspirin is perceived as being beneficial. Historical in-use data can also be a factor in judging a drug's safety, since the records of its use provide observations made by intelligent persons over generations of employment Many historical "drugs" have crossed the line from drug to food. A number of them are now common items on our tables: coffee, tea, sugar, lemon, chocolate, pepper, to name a few The example of coffee affords useful insight. It was first employed as a drug (like tobacco), its botany and chemistry are well known, it has been in widespread use for centuries with diverse ethnic populations in a variety of preparations and amounts consumed. Still we are unsure about coffee's effect on health, the latest assertion being that the caffeine it contains may delay the onset of Alzheimer's. In contrast, the mercury drugs were in widespread use for a long period of time by many populations and that fact indicates that the toxic tolerance in humans is probably higher than as currently proscribed. The past contains important data for the scientific investigator. Like any field of research, historical investigation requires specialized knowledge, but much of that knowledge is readily accessible and employable. Rediscovery through examination of historical contemporaneous use data can be efficient and relatively easy compared to the travails of original research in pursuit of a discovery only to learn later that our ancestors had already made that discovery through trial and error in human usage. If we had started a search from the clues provided by history, presumably our discoveries would have been earlier, and we would have benefitted. As it is. we learn history but not science or else we learn science, not history. Both taken together the learning can be enhanced.
要追溯一种天然产物及其用途的历史，有必要从大约50万种植物中识别出正确的植物。还必须知道如何以及何时采收这种植物，以及其生长地点和提取部位的形态。即使是同一物种，其植物化学成分也会因气候、土壤条件、成熟阶段甚至昼夜因素而有所不同。除了这些差异之外，医生和当地治疗师的诊断能力（区分接受希波克拉底式训练的西方医生和知识传授较不正规的医生）也必须考虑在内。很少有疾病像我们今天所认识的那样被明确界定，但仔细研究文化历史背景下所描述的症状组合，就可以与现代医学联系起来。研究这些记载所使用语言中的历史当代用法数据至关重要。翻译人员往往是语言学家，对医学细微差别不敏感。翻译历史文献的现代读者常常意识不到作者在描述疾病及其治疗方法时所具有的精确性。天然产物药物是人类知识的真正产物。由于许多现代药物是合成制造的，我们忘记了曾经这种化合物或其亲和力存在于一种天然产物中。2500多年前，人类首次使用从白柳树皮中提取的药物，即阿司匹林或乙酰水杨酸。如今的科学家仍然对阿司匹林的作用机制感到困惑，不断发现新的作用方式，以及它们与医学诊断的关系。无论阿司匹林的科学原理如何，如今聪明人服用它的方式和我们的祖先几千年来服用它的方式一样。一直以来，解释不断变化，用药目的也各不相同。然而，阿司匹林被认为是有益的。历史使用数据也可以作为判断药物安全性的一个因素，因为其使用记录提供了几代明智之人在使用过程中的观察结果。许多历史上的“药物”已经从药物变成了食物。其中一些现在是我们餐桌上的常见物品：咖啡、茶、糖、柠檬、巧克力、胡椒等等。咖啡的例子提供了有益的见解。它最初被用作药物（和烟草一样），其植物学和化学性质广为人知，几个世纪以来一直在不同种族人群中广泛使用，使用方式多样，消费量也各不相同。然而，我们仍然不确定咖啡对健康的影响，最新的说法是它所含的咖啡因可能会延迟阿尔茨海默病的发病。相比之下，汞类药物在很长一段时间内被许多人群广泛使用，这一事实表明人类对其毒性的耐受性可能比目前规定的要高。过去为科学研究者提供了重要数据。与任何研究领域一样，历史研究需要专业知识，但其中许多知识很容易获取和应用。与为了追求一项发现而进行原始研究的艰辛努力相比，通过审视历史当代使用数据进行重新发现可能既高效又相对容易，因为后来我们才知道我们的祖先已经通过人类使用中的反复试验做出了那个发现。如果我们从历史提供的线索开始搜索，大概我们的发现会更早，而且我们会从中受益。实际上，我们要么学习历史而不学习科学，要么学习科学而不学习历史。将两者结合起来，学习效果会更好。
