The tale of Rauwolfia Serpentina and the contributions of Asian Psychiatry

Abstract

The historical significance of this herbal medicine for the Asian context cannot be overemphasized. A colorful, well researched history of this medicine was provided by Jain and Murthy (2009), a paper well worth a read. Rauwolfia has been used for centuries in Ayurveda for insanity, insomnia and snakebite. The earliest report of this herb in Ayurveda appears to be in Sushruta Samhita (5th century BC–2nd century AD). Rauwolfia had been sold as ‘‘paglon ki dawa’’ (medicine for insanity) in folk medicine for centuries. This herb had been used as an aid to meditation, reportedly even by Mahatma Gandhi. The first report in the medical literature of the use of rauwolfia was published in 1931 in an Indian Medical Journal by Gananath Sen and Karthick Chander Bose. They reported that this drug reduced blood pressure, and also improved ‘‘violent maniac symptoms’’. That same year, 1931, two Indian chemists, Siddiqui, and Siddiqui, first extracted several alkaloids including ajmaline and serpentine from Rauwolfia in 1931. In an extensive study published in the prestigious British Heart Journal (1949),