Plants in society

This blog post is all about some of the plants that we come across in everyday life that we take for granted.

Don’t be fooled - the items being mentioned here are not inherently safe - they range from relatively benign to heavy duty dangerous. It’s just that social acceptance has allowed them to be incorporated into our lives with licences and a medical acceptance.

So here we go - a top ten of plant based items that are encountered in everyday life. 

1. Quinine

Quinine has been used for hundreds of years to treat malaria. It comes from a tree - the Cinchona - and stories abound as to the origin of quinine success but undoubtedly it was the military use of quinine to prevent malaria that brought it to the fore in our society. 

I have personally seen the effects of not taking quinine tablets to prevent malaria and it is truly sobering to see how quickly this disease acan kill. Even in 2020, malaria kills 3000 children in Africa - EVERY DAY!!

Unfortunately, quinine essentially tastes pretty unpleasant in its “raw” form. (Fast forward to nowadays with all the fantastic Fever Tree flavours that we are seeing and it’s all very different.) 

So how did the Army get people to take the quinine - simple - add in some gin. Does the trick every time!

Don’t be fooled by quinine though - it is a potent drug in tablet form (tonic water is safe though guys!) It is far less often used against malaria now as prevention but active treatment still holds a place - but it is a medication regularly requested by people wanting to treat their “Restless Legs Syndrome”. It works brilliantly but bear in mind that quinine is a drug that has significant side effects. 

I was going to put in a screenshot of the side effects of quinine from the British National Formulary - but decided against it - too long and more than a screen’s worth (40 entries with side effects on my BNF phone app). However, the list contains a few biggies - like…..convulsions / coma / death / pancytopenia (inability to produce platelets & white and red blood cells - a bit like leukaemia).