Shipwreck medicine

28 April 2011 last updated at 03: 05 GMT by Jane O'Brien BBC News, Washington Alain Touwaide looks at some of the old texts, which he had a rest is extracted has used in his ResearchDNA of 2,000-year-old plants of an Italian shipwreck, scientists could provide the key for new drugs.

The examples included carrots, parsley and wild onions in tone pills on board the merchant trade ship, which sank 120 BC get. It is believed that the plants by doctors were used in the treatment of illness under occupation.

Appeal time limits are described in ancient Greek texts, but this is the first time the medication itself have been discovered.

"Medicinal plants but not compound medicine to identified so that this really something new", says Alain Touwaide, Director of the Institute for conservation of the medical traditions, has the world's largest digital database of medical manuscripts.

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we extract the information from these texts, so scientists can see if she can make links to pharmacological discoveries "

end quote Director Alain Touwaide, Institute for the conservation of the medical traditions Prof Touwaide works with scientists at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum", which conducted the DNA analysis. They discovered traces of carrots, parsley, alfalfa, celery, wild onion, radish, yarrow and hibiscus contained in the old pills.

The pills, which researchers believe with vinegar or water to them more easily record diluted were preserved in Tin boxes and were the size of the coins.

"I wonder, if the texts only theoretical ideas without implementation," he says. "Now we know that they have been applied."

"Written evidence"

In may, conclusions are Prof Touwaide, based on the DNA results and officially presented his own study of medical texts, an international meeting of archaeologists, historians of medicines and other experts in Rome.

"Remarkable is that we have written evidence [from the ancient Greeks] for the errors, which plants have been used", said Alisa Machálek, a science writer for the national institutes of health, one of the world's leading research centres.

Researchers studied old texts with descriptions of the plants in the pills contained

"This research is interesting, especially for medical historians, because it confirms that what we eat affects our bodies."

Prof Touwaide hopes that his research is to develop the modern treatments.

He says "We extract the information from these texts using, so scientists can see if they can make links to pharmacological discoveries,".

"We re-use old medical information and jump out of the past in the future."

For example the Roman politician Cato recommended eating broccoli to stay healthy and Prof Touwaide with it found references to the Greek physician Galen in the 2nd century for the treatment of intestinal cancer.

Prof Touwaide says that modern research is now underway to connect found in broccoli, which today may isolate a source for the treatment of cancer.

"This is a huge field in chemistry and pharmaceutical science," says Ms. Machálek.

"Native American bark munching on willow pain - now we pop open a bottle and chew aspirin contains the similar connections." "Taxol, a cancer therapy, is derived from the bark of the Pacific yew."

Early Greek texts

To understand the importance of plants in the 2,000-year-old pills contained, Prof Touwaide studied a number of medical works, including the Hippocratic collection.

The collection is still one of the earliest sets of Greek writings and Hippocrates, is as the founder of Western medicine attributed.

It cross-references those findings with other works, such as such as the encyclopedia of natural substances, written in the first century of Dioskurides.

The dark spots above are microscopic small plant fragments found in embedded clay destroyed on board the ship

Dioscorides stated that "the big onion is sharper than the round onion." All bulbs are sharp and apt to cause flatulence. You stimulate the appetite. You are thirsty make. "Clean bowel."

"they are good for opening outlets for different secretions and hemorrhoids, and they as a suppository, pilled and dipped in olive oil" Dioskurides wrote.

A significant percentage of commercial medicines are derived from natural sources, but the active ingredient isolated, concentrated, standardized and was packaged in measured doses.

The shift to synthetic chemical drugs occurred in the 20th century, but after Mark Blumenthal, founder and Managing Director of the American Botanical Council, it found renewed interest in the medical benefits of the natural foods - including those in the pills.

He says "Many of the old plants have modern features,".

"It gives up a lot of marketing to go for so-called functional foods - foods with high levels of antioxidants, to improve the cardiovascular system or reduce the risk of cancer."

"Hibiscus tea is becoming increasingly popular and research shows that blood pressure lowers you." "Garlic and to some degree onions, continue to have heart cardiovascular benefits and reduce the build-up of plaque."

But Prof Touwaide says the traditional cures based on plants and minerals are in danger, forget.

He says the problem is that too few people study now classical Greek, Latin or Arabic and there are not enough experts to interpret the original texts.

Prof Touwaide is in 12 languages dominate and spent years collecting 15,000 books about plants and their uses his or her library.

He believes that such know old as part of the UNESCO world natural heritage should be protected.

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