Aa history Lovers 2010 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page
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IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 6614. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Belladonna treatment From: corafinch . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/31/2010 6:38:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII --- In AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com, Glenn Chesnut > > What exactly was the belladonna treatment used on Bill W. at Towns Hospital, when he came in for initial detoxing? Bill Pittman, in "AA, The Way it Began," seems to have been the first to answer
this question by reprinting the formulas from Dr. Alexander Lambert's article in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Sept 25, 1909, about the "belladonna cure." The problem of course is that 25 years had elapsed by the time Bill was treated at Town's. Lambert dissociated himself from Towns in the
1920s, noting that patients tended to relapse quickly, and there seemed to be too many deaths during the detox stage. So it isn't surprising that Silkworth described things differently in 1937 (in
the same article excerpted in the last "Moral Psychology" post). Silkworth was
using alcohol along with sedatives in the first few days in those at risk for
DT's. It would be a good guess that this group included Bill. He was also using
orthocolloidal iodine and orthocolloidal gold. That sounds like something he might have picked up from the Keeley Cure, which also included an oral mixture containing belladonna. I don't think Silkworth mentioned belladonna, but he also didn't say what sedatives he was using. If the ingredients in the formulas seem inconsistent, keep in mind that hyoscine
is the same as atropine, and hyoscyamine is the same as scopalamine. Hyoscyamus, however, is also the name of a plant, common name henbane, containing scopalamine. Scopalamine is more sedating than atropine and although plain belladonna tincture has both alkaloids, the predominant effect is from the atropine. So Town's mixture would have been more sedating and less excitatory than pure belladonna. A tincture is more dilute than a fluidextract, and although some reprints do no make this clear, Lambert called for belladonna diluted in 85% zanthoxylum, mixed in a 2 to 1 ration with the hyoscyamus fluidextract. A confusing detail is Lambert's use of the term "alkaloid of hydrast" as though it were synonymous with zanthoxylum. Hydrastis (goldenseal) is a separate plant from Zanthoxylum (prickly ash). However, they do have a major alkaloid, berberine, in common. Bill Pittman quoted a reference implying that the reason for the zanthoxylum had
to do with gastrointestinal effects. I think it may be more likely that it was
used for its cardiovascular effects. Berberine lowers blood pressure by reducing
peripheral resistance, and also lowers the heart rate. Both of these effects would have been important in alcohol withdrawal, and there were few effective antihypertensives at the time. I don't know why doctors thought is was helpful to make people vomit, but I have
seen mention of it as valuable in 1930s-era article on alcohol withdrawal. Cleaning out the GI tract from both ends was supposed to get rid of unspecified "toxins," and along with all the sedatives would make people so exhausted that they slept. > > Pass It On (p. 101) makes no mention of xanthoxylum (prickly ash) or hyoscyamus (henbane) being included in the mixture. > > It says instead that alcoholics were given belladonna and castor oil (a powerful laxative). > > Someone who remembered Towns Hospital < alcoholics were "purged and puked." The purging was most probably the effect of the liberal does of castor oil that the patients were given, together with belladonna. The belladonna treatment at Towns had been developed by Dr. Sam Lambert, a reputable New York physician, but it was the chief of staff, Dr. Silkworth, who would in time to come have the most impact on the treatment of alcoholism.>> The Dr. Lambert at Town's was Alexander. His brother Samuel was also a doctor
but with a different approach. Alexander Lambert was opposed to alcohol use in general and supported Prohibition. Dr. Samuel Lambert was opposed to Prohibition and believed that alcohol use by the non-alcoholic was health-promoting. > > - - - - > > http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/6565 > noted that some internet references claimed that Bill W. was given a mixture
of belladonna (deadly nightshade), xanthoxylum (prickly ash), and hyoscyamus (henbane). > > But it has not been verified that Dr. Silkworth was using anything other than belladonna by itself. >
From: john wikelius . . . . . . . . . . . . 6/11/2010 8:15:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Hope you are as ready as we are to celebrate A.A.s 75th Anniversary! This email
is a friendly reminder about the unlimited access to an encrypted, anonymity-protected Internet broadcast of the 2010 International Convention Opening Flag Ceremony that will be made available through G.S.O.s A.A. Web site
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