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| On 10/02/2005 Stephanie M. from Springfield, MO wrote: |
Fascinating website-- my father and I were looking for information on "asthma cigarettes" and I wound up reading every page on this site. :) I do have a question for you-- my grandmother had severe asthma problems when she was a child, and she remembered being given "green cigarettes" to smoke. (This would have been in northcentral Missouri, between 1929-1945ish) Was Stramonium the only active ingredient used in the 'cigarette' treatment? Would they have mixed it with tobacco for a child? What was the youngest age they would have prescribed it to? When did they figure out that wasn't such a great idea, and when did they stop using it (the "smoking" treatment, that is)?
I thought Jimson Weed/Datura was a strong hallucinogen.(?) Did the asthma treatments have that side effect? If not, how did they prepare the treatment to avoid it?
(Just a few more questions, and then I'll stop pestering you, I promise.) What did they use for acute asthma situations (asthma attacks) once they took the smoking treatment off the market? When did the use of epinephrine (or EpiPens) and Ventolin (or albuterol-type) inhalers become popular? Has albuterol always been available in some form? What's the history of epinephrine?
Thanks in advance for your answers!
-- Stephanie,
You had some great questions. The asthma cigarettes were used up until the 1950's or early 1960's. They were prescribed to anyone with breathing problems.
Stramonium is an anticholinergic drug. It is similar to Atrovent which is still used today as an inhaler. It causes drying and some bronchodilation.
The side effects of this form of treatment like hallucinations are low since the smallest dose was used. But often people would get a dry mouth and temporary reddish skin from the cigarettes.
Accute asthma was treated with ephedra. The plant was boiled and the steam inhaled or was given orally as an extract. Epinephrine was used as early as the the 1920's. Ephedrine was used much earlier than that. Most drug companies at the turn of the 20th century had a version of ephedrine in their product line-up. Epinephrine was isolated from the adrenal gland.
I hope I answered your questions. |
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