[MR] Ancient/modern cure for cancer from Wormwood

[Christofe DuBois]

Interesting:

I have two old cuielleres d'absinthe which I picked up while in France...  I
was told that the major problem with absinthe was the lead poisoning...

Many people would consume absinthe by placing sugar on a slotted spoon, then
pouring the absinthe through the sugar and then eating the sugar.  The
absinthe which drained throught the sugar and spoon was collected in a
container, and then used again.  Problem was that the spoons were made of
lead, which would erode from the strength of the alcohol, so the absinthe,
being used over and over, would contain increasing levels of lead...

The two cueilleres I have are made of lead and have definite signs of
erosion through the slots...

-Christofe DuBois
Owner, THE HUNT
http://www.scahunt.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig Levin" <clevin at ripco.com>
To: "Merry Rose" <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2001 9:04 AM
Subject: Re: [MR] Ancient/modern cure for cancer from Wormwood


> Magdalena:
>
> > Sorry to contradict, but
> >
> > ...although harmless in small and/or inconsistent
> > dosages, Wormwood is a)mildly hallucinogenic/euphoric
> > in large doses and b)causes permanent nerve damage
> > when taken regularly and c)can result in death if you
> > do both (large doses, regularly).  You can look this
> > up in pretty much any modern herbal.  You extract the
> > active ingredient in alcohol.  It is the basis for the
> > cordial absinthe which was notorious in the late 19th
> > century for addiction and health problems of this
> > nature.  I would not recommend that anyone take it on
> > a regular basis. I would not want to chose between
> > breast cancer and lingering dementia, personally.
>
> Some of the problems of absinthe may have been due to the fact
> that this was fairly high-proof stuff-its modern descendant,
> Pernod, is about 80 proof, but absinthe was a stronger item,
> easily in the 120 proof range. There's a nifty webpage about
> whether it was the herb or the alcohol that was mostly to blame:
>
> http://www.straightdope.com/columns/011026.html
>
> This by the (in)famous notes and queries columnist, Cecil Adams.
>
> Also, thujone, the chemical which has the interesting
> neurological f/x, may not be the chemical with the anti-cancer
> properties.
>
> Pedro
> --
> http://pages.ripco.net/~clevin/index.html
> clevin at rci.ripco.com
> Craig Levin Librarians Rule Oook!
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