Abstract
Materia Medica is a Latin term, relating to the history of pharmacy. It describes the sources (vegetable, animal and mineral), nature, preparation, and properties of substances or mixtures of substances, which were used as remedies for the treatment of diseases. Bourgelat authored the first veterinary Materia Medica book. This review describes the evolution and ultimate downfall of Materia Medica concepts and practices. Its survival for more than two millennia reflected the impact of religion and dogmas on therapy. The consignment of Materia Medica to history was signified by publication of the first modern book of veterinary pharmacology and therapeutics by Meyer Jones in 1953. Previously, the dominance of Materia Medica was linked to an hippiatry culture, which was shared with farriers and quacks. The Pasteurian and pharmacological revolutions of the second half of the nineteenth century led to its gradual abandonment. This review explains why the existence of authentically active substances, such as opioid analgesics, cardiotonics and general anesthetics either were not used for those actions or were badly prescribed, in part because of historical precedence and in part from lack of pathophysiological knowledge to justify rational use. The modern concept of dosage, in particular inter-species differences, was not understood. There were also major dogmas, supporting false indications, such as failure to recognize pain as a symptom to be treated, whereas inflammation was only a disease symptom involving excess of activity of the blood system, which had to be vigorously addressed by bleeding and purging. This review covers a well-defined period, ranging from Bourgelat, who wrote the first book of Materia Medica for veterinary studies to the first edition of Meyer Jones textbook in 1953, which marked the end of Materia Medica and the beginning of pharmacology in veterinary medicine.
Highlights
The discipline of veterinary pharmacology, and its clinical application in veterinary therapeutics, did not devolve from Materia Medica
This review describes why, when and how this occurred in veterinary medicine, together with some excursions into the human field
Bourgelat published his book on veterinary Materia Medica [1]
Summary
The discipline of veterinary pharmacology, and its clinical application in veterinary therapeutics, did not devolve from Materia Medica. In his foreword to the first edition (1833) of his Materia Medica book, Hertwig [46] stressed that he commenced writing only after performing no less than 1,500 experiments on the effects of administered drugs, to confirm or reject earlier claims He stated that for his own treatments, as Director of the hospital of the school of veterinary medicine in Berlin (1830–1840) he regularly needed no more than 30 of the available drugs. Like most veterinary pharmacologists at the end of the nineteenth century, he discusses the importance of the experimental approach in the field of physiology and therapeutics as the sole means for establishing a science-based discipline He recommended the use of pure active principles, in preference to extracts or raw materials. The European Medicines Agency reported that “the principle of an adaptogenic action needs further clarification and studies” and the term “adaptogen” cannot be used for marketing in the EU
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