Day 4: Did You Know?
Flying foxes… Heard of them? They are a species of bats that can grow to a whopping six feet across. Ugh! How'd you like those hanging around the attic? Don't worry – unless you live in Guam and have been fixing them for supper, which some have and in turn? Well, becase the 'foxes' eat cycad seeds and becasue those cycad seeds contain a neurotoxing, many of those fox eating Guam feasters have developed PD.
Did you know that in 1875, there was a French neurologist by the name of Henri Huchard? Did you know Henri had a patient that had all of the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease? Did you know that patient was a mere three years old? Oui oui – yes- it's true.
And did you know that Nicolas Culpepper, an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer claimed that worms were useful in the treatment of PD symptoms? Anyone want to try a little Alfredo sauce with their worms?
And – speaking of physicians and such, in medieval Damascus in the 9th century there was a Syriac Christian physician named Yahya Ibn Sarafyun, who collect and put together in an abridged form the opinions of the Greek and Arabic physicians concerning diseases and their treatment. One of these opinions was his, which was that he believed that a formulation that he himself had devised would treat PD. The formulation? Frankincense, myrrh and – you guessed it – gold frogs!
And then there's James Parkinson, the man who Parkinson's disease is named after – but he never knew it.
PD is labeled an 'old' person's disease – a disease whose chances of getting hold of you as you age are greater – but did you know that those who live longest (namely those in the 110+ yrs.) almost wholly escape this monster? Crazy!
The 'Evil Eye' is known as a 'sickness' transmitted by a child of Bombay's Parsi people, who is jealous, envious, or covetous. It is 'treated' by burning poisonous Aspand seeds. Which is worse? A child's jealousy or the ritual to treat said condition, which in turn can produce PD in those breathing in the toxin of tyranny?
No comments:
Post a Comment