4 ms·

Being unable to trust my ability to translate and parse the linked document, what particular traditional chinese medicines mentioned are relevant to the west?

by bitzun 2y ago

kragen 2y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trametes_versicolor#Uses_and_research https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trametes_versicolor#Uses_and_r... andhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsutake#Uses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsutake#Uses are two of them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitine#Uses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitine#Uses is extracted from 川乌 or 草乌. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordycepin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordycepin is extracted from cordyceps sinensis. 蟾酥 is https://www.erowid.org/animals/toads/toads_health1.shtml https://www.erowid.org/animals/toads/toads_health1.shtml. 马钱子 is a commonly used rat poison and human users described it as 'the paleolithic in a bottle': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strychnine#Other_Uses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strychnine#Other_Uses (the only person i know who injected it regretted it) aside from pharmaceutically interesting compounds, 龙血竭 has been commonly used in the 'west' as a furniture polish for centuries
- vintagedave 2y ago
  > the only person i know who injected it regretted it Knowing of strychnine only as rat poison until today (I didn’t know about the uses in the Wikipedia page) may I ask — what happened to this person?
  - kragen 2y ago
    he's fine, but iirc he said it was the worst pain he'd ever felt. it used to be a common athletic doping drug the overall summary is that we're not talking about powdered rhino horn here. traditional 'western' medicine contains a mix of treatments that are ineffective (unicorn horn, usually bleeding), effective but dangerous (calomel, aconite, cocaine), and effective and safe (magnesia, willow bark). the same is true of traditional chinese medicine. the things listed here are all effective, perhaps too effective. i've had nightmares about cordycepin ever since i was a little kid studying organic chemistry
    - vintagedave 2y ago
      Thankyou :)
      - kragen 2y ago
        happy to help!

Being unable to trust my ability to translate and parse the linked document, what particular traditional chinese medicines mentioned are relevant to the west?

by bitzun 2y ago

Being unable to trust my ability to translate and parse the linked document, what particular traditional chinese medicines mentioned are relevant to the west?

kragen 2y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trametes_versicolor#Uses_and_research https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trametes_versicolor#Uses_and_r... andhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsutake#Uses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsutake#Uses are two of them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitine#Uses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitine#Uses is extracted from 川乌 or 草乌. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordycepin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordycepin is extracted from cordyceps sinensis. 蟾酥 is https://www.erowid.org/animals/toads/toads_health1.shtml https://www.erowid.org/animals/toads/toads_health1.shtml. 马钱子 is a commonly used rat poison and human users described it as 'the paleolithic in a bottle': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strychnine#Other_Uses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strychnine#Other_Uses (the only person i know who injected it regretted it) aside from pharmaceutically interesting compounds, 龙血竭 has been commonly used in the 'west' as a furniture polish for centuries

vintagedave 2y ago
> the only person i know who injected it regretted it Knowing of strychnine only as rat poison until today (I didn’t know about the uses in the Wikipedia page) may I ask — what happened to this person?
- kragen 2y ago
  he's fine, but iirc he said it was the worst pain he'd ever felt. it used to be a common athletic doping drug the overall summary is that we're not talking about powdered rhino horn here. traditional 'western' medicine contains a mix of treatments that are ineffective (unicorn horn, usually bleeding), effective but dangerous (calomel, aconite, cocaine), and effective and safe (magnesia, willow bark). the same is true of traditional chinese medicine. the things listed here are all effective, perhaps too effective. i've had nightmares about cordycepin ever since i was a little kid studying organic chemistry
  - vintagedave 2y ago
    Thankyou :)
    - kragen 2y ago
      happy to help!