Panacea (medicine)
A mythical cure-all sought by alchemists and later a term for quackery.
A panacea is a supposed remedy claimed to cure all diseases or prolong life indefinitely, named after the Greek goddess of universal remedy, Panacea. Medieval alchemists sought it in connection with the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone, and the term later came to be used negatively for overused or quack solutions.
Quick Facts
- Earliest known examples
- Ancient Greek and Roman scholars described plants called panacea or panaces
Facts from the source article.
History
Ancient Greek and Roman writers recorded several plants they called panacea or panaces, among them species of Opopanax, Centaurea, Levisticum officinale, Achillea millefolium, and Echinophora tenuifolia. The Cahuilla people of California's Colorado Desert used the red sap of the elephant tree, Bursera microphylla, as a universal remedy. In traditional Chinese medicine, ginseng was widely employed as a cure-all, which is why its Latin genus name is Panax, meaning panacea. During the medieval period, most European physicians followed the Galenic system, believing disease resulted from an imbalance of the four bodily humors. Their quest for a panacea sought a substance that could correct any imbalance by blending many humoral qualities, though the word panacea itself was rarely used then. A popular medieval cure-all was theriac, a treacle sometimes made with over fifty ingredients, including viper flesh, used against infectious diseases like the bubonic plague. Another was balsam, or balm, a resin valued for healing wounds, giving off a strong vitalizing scent, and preserving corpses. Hildegard of Bingen wrote that balm restored the moisture needed for life, which she called viriditas. Alchemist Roger Bacon linked the search for a panacea to the goal of turning base metals into gold. One medieval recipe called for crushed gemstones and gold powder, distilled with many other medical components for eight days.
Claims and restrictions
Legislation covering claims of cure-all preparations varies by jurisdiction. In Australia, the criteria for registering drugs and therapeutic goods, including advertising and labelling guidelines, are outlined in the Therapeutic Goods Act, Regulations, and Orders; other aspects like substance scheduling are subject to State or Territory laws. The United States passed its first Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, which required labelling of alcohol, narcotics, and stimulants in medicines and curbed misleading claims, but did not ban those ingredients. In 1936 the statute was revised to ban them, leading to ever more drastic reductions in medications available without a physician's prescription. Morris Fishbein, editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association in the early 20th century, built his career on exposing quacks. In the United States, the dietary supplement Seasilver, sold via multi-level marketing, was promoted with the false claim of curing 650 diseases, resulting in prosecution and fining of its owners.
More in Objects in Greek Mythology
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