-
Lupines, Manganese, and Devil-Sickness: An Anglo-Saxon Medical Response to Epilepsy
- Bulletin of the History of Medicine
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 75, Number 1, Spring 2001
- pp. 91-101
- 10.1353/bhm.2001.0009
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP
Abstract
The most frequently prescribed herb for "devil-sickness" in the vernacular medical books from Anglo-Saxon England, the lupine, is exceptionally high in manganese. Since manganese depletion has been linked with recurring seizures in both clinical and experimental studies, it is possible that lupine administration responded to the particular pathophysiology of epilepsy. Lupine is not prescribed for seizures in classical Mediterranean medical sources, implying that the Northern European peoples (if not the Anglo-Saxons themselves) discovered whatever anticonvulsive properties the herb may exhibit.
collapse
You are not currently authenticated.
If you would like to authenticate using a different subscribed institution or have your own login and password to Project MUSE
Authenticate
- Purchase/rental options available:
