Introduction - Uppsala Monitoring Centre

1000 BC– Ayurvedic 14 medicine flourished in Northern India during
800 AD the time of Buddha (around 520 BC), and in this period the Ayurvedic
practitioners were commonly using mercuric-sulphur combinationbased
medicines. They used also drugs of vegetable origin (fruits,
leaves, bark, and roots), drugs of animal origin, and minerals such as
gold, copper and iron. In the ‘Charaka Samhita’ ,which is believed to
have arisen around 400–200 BC, 2000 such drugs are included. A
few such ancient drugs are still in use in modern medicine in their
refined form, the well-known examples being quinine from cinchona
bark, reserpine from rauwolfia and bromhexine from Adathoda
vascica. Ayurveda’s popularity declined between the 10 th and 12 th
centuries.
http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=hstat1.section.95686.
Accessed 23 rd August 2009).
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association found significant amounts of toxic heavy metals such as
lead, mercury and arsenic in 20% of Ayurvedic preparations that had
been made in South Asia for sale in America. If taken according to
the manufacturers’ instructions 20% of remedies could have resulted
in heavy metal intakes above published regulatory standards. Similar
studies have been performed in India, and have confirmed these
results. In response to the study, some practitioners of Ayurveda
claimed that heavy metals are integral to some formulations and
have been used for centuries. ‘There is no point in doing trials as
they have been used safely and have mention in our ancient texts.’
Chemical analysis of some modern antiarthritic medicines from
Ayurveda has led to a finding that synthetic anti-inflammatory drugs
like phenylbutazone, indomethacin and/or corticosteroids have been
added (Saper et al., 2004).
Start of Roman Age
753 BC The official date for the founding of Rome was 21 st April 753 BC
c600 BC King Assurbanipal of Sumeria, Assyria (668–626 BC) ordered the
compilation of the first known materia medica, containing 250 herbal
drugs. Examination of clay tablets in his library identified 120 mineral
drugs and 250 vegetable drugs including asafoetida, calamus,
cannabis, castor, crocus, galbanum, glycyrrhiza, hellebore,
14 Ayurvedic = ayur = life, veda = knowledge