Curiously Incensed

It seems like a long time ago that I was doing research on medicines and drugs as part of a course I was teaching. I came across some interesting information on the origins of the word cannabis. All sources seem to agree that it was the Greeks who first used the word in the form kannabis but that it seems to be descended from or related to words such as the Assyrian qunubu, Hebrew qanneb and so on (transliterations vary).

All this seemed oddly familiar to me. The Sanskrit cana (and its derivatives) eventually became the English 'cane', and via hana-, became 'hemp'. It's also related to 'canvas', which was originally made from hemp. And right smack in the middle of the Book of Exodus, in Exodus 30:22-25, I came across this passage:

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, 500 shekels of cassia — all according to the sanctuary shekel — and a hin of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.

The emphasized phrase 'fragrant cane' is the standard English translation of the Hebrew kaneh bosm. The King James Version substitutes 'calamus' instead, but I don't see how you can make incense from that.

Verses 30-33 of that chapter continue with:

"Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. Say to the Israelites, 'This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. Do not pour it on men's bodies and do not make any oil with the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. Whoever makes perfume [or 'compounds material'] like it and whoever puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from his people.' "

It sounds like an early instance of drug control by centralised authority. However, it should be noted that until the last century, the use of the plant Cannabis sativa was a widespread phenomenon. The plant is the second most nutritious crop after soya beans, and it grows almost anywhere, even in Siberia. Every part of the plant is useful as a food or material product. Of course, some have recreational uses for it too.

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Note: I do not endorse, and would actually caution against, the indiscriminate bodily intake of any kinds of pharmaceutical compounds without adequate medical controls or advice. This post should not be taken as an endorsement of consumption or overconsumption of intoxicating or hallucinogenic chemicals, whether they are phenylethylamine derivatives (including opiates and ergot derivatives), cannabinols or very small molecules such as ethanol.

Watching the Clox

This is actually Day Three of my cloxacillin odyssey. I am quietly amused every time I try a new drug, attempt to predict its effects on my body, which has an alarming genetic payload of internal problems, and get it right. It helps that I've always been interested in chemistry, and pharmacology in particular, from a very young age.

When I was in primary school, my grandfather used to (well, this is what they'd call it nowadays) 'dispense pharmaceuticals' from a little dispensary called the United Pharmacy along North Bridge Road. I used to walk there after school, little boy with a hefty schoolbag, and deposit myself behind the counter. I'd generally get underfoot, attempt to avoid dangerous collisions, and try to figure out what was in those odd porcelain and glass jars lined up in impressive ornate rows on every wall.

Grandfather always was one for education, so he'd let me explore the dusty, plant-colonised areas of the rooms upstairs, read anything I found, examine the long-dead X-ray machine in the side room, and in general learn stuff I couldn't have learnt anywhere else. His Hainanese factotum, Ah Siew, looked every inch the sage as he interpreted, carried out various odd tasks, and conveyed instructions.

But the drugs were the important part of my life. My grandaunts used to produce them, grinding out odd powders and pressing tablets, mixing up strange-looking potions from arcane ingredients, making up whatever was directed from the airy chamber from whence Grandfather handed down instructions in a language that seemed wholly unnatural.

It was this that led me to explore the interactions between organic materials — this, following Grandfather on his daily rounds, and wandering around the open-air wards at the hospital which was Eldest Uncle's domain. Yet, it was never the practice of medicine, but the art of making medicines, that intrigued me most.

And so now, decades later, I look at my drugs, figure out their molecular structures, predict their effects, and am childishly happy when I am right. Cloxacillin, with its big fat chlorophenyl-oxazole defensive sidechain, is a penicillin designed to defeat naughty bacteria which would normally be able to destroy penicillins. But that very defence is what makes it mild and slow, like a warrior armed with a shield that is too large. Nevertheless, it is helping to deny the enemy its footing in my upper right arm, while not seriously messing with my guts.

Why is it so important for me to know all that? It's because when you feel not quite yourself (as some people do after losing their gustatory virginity to caffeine), it helps to have expectations of future sensation and the ability to explain what's happening to yourself. Knowledge is not only power, but sometimes a tower of strength in times of uncertainty.

That's why teachers should always go through examination rubrics (the administrative basis) and curriculum underpinnings (the academic basis) before getting too far into the intricacies of the course they are teaching. If students don't know where you're going, they might not follow you all the way. Best then to provide a map of some sort, so they can catch up if lost, or find their own way around.

Cough

I have learnt a lot about coughing over the last few days. Most coughs are triggered by a receptor that links to the vagus nerve. That receptor responds to hydrogen ions, capsaicin (the lovely stuff that is the main 'hot' component in peppers), and other vanilloids. You eat acidic, spicy food, you cough. Even fruit juice will trigger it. Ha.

It isn't always clear that you should suppress a cough if the cough is beneficial. Most of the time, it's just doing its job – expelling irritants at something like the speed of sound. If you try to suppress it physically (say, by keeping your mouth shut and closing your nose) the blast effect can be painful.

However, you can try to suppress it chemically if that helps your social life, or if you have some other fundamental reason for not wanting to cough. Dextromethorphan is normally the drug of choice. It's found in cough syrups and cough-suppression lozenges such as Robitussin. Codeine is often used too, but codeine is easily converted to undesirable drugs such as morphine and heroin in the lab.

Some people have mentioned 'psychological coughing', a cough which is triggered by psychological stressors or some other subconscious phenomenon. The surprising thing is that it's normally the other way round – if the cough is treated the psychological problems tend to fade thereafter.

Coughing is the most common symptom observed by doctors. It's good to know about the cough. The only problem really is figuring out why it is spelt this way. Etymological explanations such as this might explain the spelling, but not the pronunciation. Although the arcane exponents of consonantal shift theory might beg to explain it, they continue to beg in vain. *cough*