Symptoms of an influenza viral infection were described by Hippocrates 2400 years ago. In recent recorded history there have been pandemics such as the 1918-1920 Spanish Flu and the more recent 2009 Swine Flu. These influenza pandemics killed millions of people worldwide. In recent modern […]

So, I ask myself, “since I have heard that Vitamin D helps with the immune system- how does it work to bolster the immune system?” Here is what I found out. Vitamin D is either formed in the skin or ingested. It is carried to […]

History records that in the 17th century the Peruvians (South America) used the extract of the bark of the Cinchona tree to fight fever and chills. In 1633 this extract was introduced in Europe for the same treatment and used to treat malaria. Quinine was […]

This is an abstract of an article by Karen M. Starko in Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 49, Issue 9, 15 November 2009, Pages 1405–1410. It attributes some of the fatalities to the massive doses of aspirin that were used at that time (8 grams to […]

Diphenhydramine was discovered in 1943 by George Rieveschl, a former professor at the University of Cincinnati. In 1946, it became the first prescription antihistamine approved by the U.S. FDA In the 1960s diphenhydramine was found to inhibit the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin. This discovery […]

Diltiazem is a calcium channel blocker. It is known in the USA under the trade names of Cardizem, Dilacor, Taztia, Tiazac, and other brand names. It is used to treat angina, hypertension, acute, MI, supraventricular arrhythmias, and hyperthyroidism. It has been used off-label to be […]

Calcium channel blockers are used in medicine to treat: – Hypertension – Control heart rate – Prevent cerebral vasospasm – Angina They were first discovered by a German pharmacologist, Albrecht Fleckenstein, in 1964. He reported that prenylamine and verapamil blocked the excitation-contraction coupling. This led […]

Did you know…? That LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) was derived from the ergot fungi. Wikipedia has a full article about the details of this.  Very interesting check it out here:  Wikipedia link. “LSD was first synthesized on November 16, 1938 by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann […]

Did you know that chloramphenicol, discovered in 1947, was the first antibiotic to be synthesized? I found this in an article that Wikipedia has. Check it out.