Herbs and plantsPoison lettuce — “poor man’s opium” instead of cough medicine?
Sources: 2 · Article: 4 249 characters
Poison lettuce was used as a remedy for respiratory diseases, insomnia and neurosis.
- Its preparations were also used to calm people, help them sleep, relieve coughs and pain, and as a substitute for opium.
- Lactucarium was given for epilepsy, asthma, spasmodic cough and whooping cough, palpitations, dropsy, and inflammation of the pleura and pericardium.
- It was also used to dilate the pupils.
What the authors write
Henryk Różański
Poison lettuce was used to treat respiratory diseases, insomnia and neurosis.
„An ancient remedy used to treat respiratory diseases, insomnia and neurosis is poison lettuce (German: Gift-Lattich; French: Laitue vireuse; Italian: Lattuga velenosa) — Lactuca virosa L., from the daisy family, Compositae (=Asteraceae). This plant is native to the Mediterranean region.”Starożytnym lekiem stosowanym w terapii chorób układu oddechowego, bezsenności i nerwicy jest sałata jadowita (niem. Gift-Lattich; fr. Laitue vireuse; ital. Lattuga velenosa) – Lactuca virosa L. z rodziny złożonych – Compositae (=Asteraceae). Roślina ta pochodzi z rejonu Morza Śródziemnego.
Henryk Różański
Lactucarium was used as a sedative, a sleep aid and a cough suppressant, as well as to dilate the pupils and as a substitute for opium.
„It was used as a sedative, a sleep aid, a cough suppressant and to dilate the pupils (as eye drops made from 1 g of the plant material per 100 g of water). It was also used as a substitute for opium. The comparison of lactucarium to opium originated in accounts (1855) by Baron Ernst von Bibra (1806–1878), who experimented with poison lettuce preparations.”Stosowano jako środek uspokajający, nasenny, przeciwkaszlowy, rozszerzający źrenice (woda na oczy sporządzona z 1 g surowca na 100 g wody). Ponadto jako namiastka opium. Porównanie Lactucarium do opium wzięło się z opisów (1855 r.) barona Ernst’a von Bibra (1806-1878), który to eksperymentował z preparatami sałaty jadowitej.
Henryk Różański
Lactucarium was given for epilepsy, asthma, spasmodic cough and whooping cough, palpitations, dropsy, and inflammation of the pleura and pericardium.
„Lactucarium was given for epilepsy, asthma, spasmodic cough and whooping cough, palpitations, dropsy, and inflammation of the pleura and pericardium. The official dosage of lactucarium was 300 mg three times a day. It was still widely described in most pharmacology textbooks in the 1950s.”Lactucarium podawano w padaczce, astmie, konwulsyjnym kaszlu i kokluszu, przy palpitacjach serca, puchlinie wodnej, zapaleniu opłucnej i osierdzia. Oficjalne dawki Lactucarium wynosiły 300 mg 3 razy dziennie. Jeszcze w latach 50. XX wieku była szeroko opisywana w większości podręczników farmakologii.
Henryk Różański
Poison lettuce relieves pain because it slows the breakdown of enkephalins.
„This is why it relieves pain. Poison lettuce causes enkephalins to build up (accumulate). Enkephalins are pentapeptides that bind to receptors in the nigrostriatal and limbic systems (opium alkaloids also bind to these receptors). Enkephalins relieve pain, but under normal conditions they are quickly broken down by enkephalinases, carboxypeptidases and aminopeptidases.”Dlatego działa przeciwbólowo. Sałata jadowita powoduje nagromadzenie (kumulację) enkefalin. Enkefaliny to pentapeptydy, które łączą się z receptorami w układzie nigroneostriatalnym i limbicznym (wiążą się z nimi również alkaloidy opium). Enkefaliny działają przeciwbólowo, niestety w normalnych warunkach są szybko rozkładane przez enkefalinazy, karboksypeptydazy i aminopeptydazy.
Research from PubMed · Europe PMC
We selected 1 studies with the best, positive results. This is a selection, not a full review of all research.
Total number of studies on this topic in PubMed: 4.
In the 19th century, poison lettuce and its dried milky juice were used as sedatives and painkillers.
Aim of the study: Mentions of lettuce Lactuca sp. that have appeared since antiquity contained similar information on its curative properties, but such properties were ascribed to different species or varieties.
Results: However, such studies failed to produce the expected results, and the component responsible for the curative properties of lettuce was not identified. Medical practice thus had to restrict itself to the uses of the desiccated lactescent juice and extracts obtained from it. The possibility of obtaining lactucarium from plants cultivated in Poland caused Polish pharmacists and physicians to take an interest in the substance and launch their own research on lettuce and the lactescent juice obtained from it. Results of research on lettuce were published in 19th-century journals by, among others, Jan Fryderyk Wolfgang, Florian Sawiczewski and Józef Orkisz.
Money for the studynot stated
Do the authors have ties to companies?not stated
Did a manufacturer help with the study?unknown
Type of studyother
“Not stated” does not mean nobody paid — the database does not always record it.
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