Victorian Cure for Bronchitis
From U.K The Guardian, Tuesday 3 March 2009
Cherry Chappell has compiled a vast compendium of traditional homemade remedies. Here is a selection of the best - some sound sensible, while many are bewildering.
Bronchitis
A mustard plaster can be very effective in treating chest conditions, even if it does sound the stuff of Victorian nightmares.
"1 oz [25g] of dry mustard
Teaspoon of plain flour
Mix to a paste with vinegar. Spread on a rag or piece of muslin and make a sandwich of it: material/mustard paste/material. Keep on the chest no longer than 10 minutes, otherwise it will burn."
An alternative was to use liquorice, which has a long history as a medicinal plant. Mentioned by Roman writers, including the great healer Dioscorides, it was used in various parts of Europe during the Middle Ages and was cultivated in England. According to Mrs Grieve in her Modern Herbal, it could be used for coughs and chest complaints, notably bronchitis. She recommended making an infusion by boiling 1oz [25g] of peeled and bruised liquorice with 1 pint [600ml] of water for a few minutes.
The sweetness in liquorice comes from the compound glycyrrhizin, which is supposedly up to 50 times stronger than sugar and has been shown by recent Japanese studies to have anti-viral properties.
The Guardian Article
Cherry Chappell has compiled a vast compendium of traditional homemade remedies. Here is a selection of the best - some sound sensible, while many are bewildering.
Bronchitis
A mustard plaster can be very effective in treating chest conditions, even if it does sound the stuff of Victorian nightmares.
"1 oz [25g] of dry mustard
Teaspoon of plain flour
Mix to a paste with vinegar. Spread on a rag or piece of muslin and make a sandwich of it: material/mustard paste/material. Keep on the chest no longer than 10 minutes, otherwise it will burn."
An alternative was to use liquorice, which has a long history as a medicinal plant. Mentioned by Roman writers, including the great healer Dioscorides, it was used in various parts of Europe during the Middle Ages and was cultivated in England. According to Mrs Grieve in her Modern Herbal, it could be used for coughs and chest complaints, notably bronchitis. She recommended making an infusion by boiling 1oz [25g] of peeled and bruised liquorice with 1 pint [600ml] of water for a few minutes.
The sweetness in liquorice comes from the compound glycyrrhizin, which is supposedly up to 50 times stronger than sugar and has been shown by recent Japanese studies to have anti-viral properties.
The Guardian Article
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