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Mate.
IARC Monogr Eval Carcinog Risks Hum. 1991; 51: 273-87
[NO ABSTRACT] Mate' is a popular stimulant herbal tea in South America.

AGURELL,S: HOLMSTEDT,B: LINDGREN,JE: SCHULTES,RE
Alkaloids in Certain Species of Virola and Other South American Plants of Ethnopharmacologic Interest.
Acta Chem Scand 23:903-916 (1969)

America Indigena. Ano XLVI. Num. 1. Volumen XLVI. Enero-Marzo. 1986. Instituto Indigenista Interamericano. Mexico, D.F. 257 pages, with 13 pages of close-up photos. velobound in Ethnobotany and Shamanism in South America. [box v4]

ARDILA A; MORENO C
Scopolamine intoxication as a model of transient global amnesia.
Brain Cogn. 1991 Mar; 15(2): 236-45
In Colombia (South America) during recent decades the administration of scopolamine, extracted from plants belonging to the Datura or Brugmansia genus, has become an important neurologic and toxicologic phenomenon. These extracts have been popularly known as 'Burundanga.' Chemical characteristics and clinical features of scopolamine intoxication are described. Anterograde amnesia and submissive behavior found in patients intoxicated with scopolamine are analyzed. Burundanga intoxication is related to other toxic phenomena found in different countries and similitudes with transient global amnesia are emphasized.

BAILEY
Desmanthus
Standard Encyclopedia of Horticulture; Vol 2 (1914) R635.9
DESMANTHUS (name refers to flowers being in bundles). Synonymous with Acuan. Leguminosae. About 10 herbs or shrubs in subtropical North America and 1 in the tropics of the Old World, a few of the American species reaching well north in the U.S., probably not regularly cultivated, but now and then transferred to the garden for the effect of their bipinnate leaves and small greenish white flowers, in axillary peduncled heads or spikes. The genus is one of the Mimosa tribe, and the flowers are not papilionaceous: petals 5, distinct or very nearly so; calyx bell-shaped, 5-toothed; stamens 5 or 10, distinct, usually exserted: pod flat, narrow, straight or curved, several-seeded. D. illinoensis, MacM. (Mimosa illinoensis, Michx. Acuan illinoensis, Kuntze), occurs in prairies and river borders from Indiana west and south: 1-5 ft. nearly glabrous, perennial erect herb: leaflets. 20-30 pairs, obtusish. D. leptolobus, Torr. & Grey, occurs on prairies from Kansas to Texas: leaflets. mostly fewer and acute, and peduncles much shorter (1 inch or less long).

Bischof, Henning.
The Origins of Pottery in South America -- Recent Radiocarbon dates from Southwest Ecuador.
40th ICA 1:269-280. (1972)

Browman, David A. & Schwarz, Ronald A. (eds).
Spirits, Shamans, and Stars: Perspectives from South America.
The Hague: Mouton Publishers. (1979)

CHRISTENSON, SUSAN J
STASH library bibliographic search: Methaqualone.
Journal of Psychedelic Drugs; 1972 Win Vol. 5(2) 205-211
!!!! [THIS ABSTRACT MAY NOT MATCH TITLE !!!!] Presents a brief history of cocaine from the time of the Incas in South America to the 1970s in the US. The cocaine black market and high dose use in the US are described and discussed. Methods of administration (snorting or injection), subjective effects, cocaine and other drug combinations, and side effects are outlined. 2 distinct pharmacological actions of cocaine are distinguished: local anesthesia and CNS stimulation. Treatment of cocaine toxicity is described.

DE LIMA EG; DA COSTA PI; LAURE CJ
South American rattlesnake venom: its hemolytic power.
Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 1989 Oct Dec; 22(4): 171-5
The hemolytic power of rattlesnake venom (Crotalus durissus terrificus) was studied. A high percentage of sample with negative hemolytic power was detected when sheep red blood cells were used. A large number of venoms with hemolytic power, though with a low hemolysis percentage, were detected when liquid, recently extracted venom was used. When crystallized venom was used under the same experimental conditions, a higher percentage of positivity for hemolysis was obtained. When the results obtained on agar plates were compared to those obtained in test tubes, a large number of animals with a higher percentage of hemolysis were detected, though this value was not proportional to the number of animals showing positive plate hemolysis. When the hemolytic power of these venoms was tested on human red blood cells, a large percentage of animals with venoms having a low hemolytic power was also detected. Hemolytic power was much greater when human red blood cells were tested with crystallized venom. The preparation of red blood cells also had an important effect and the use of red blood cells from defibrinated blood is recommended. We conclude that rattlesnake venom has hemolytic power that increases when the venom is crystallized. Red blood cells should be properly prepared for the lysis reactions. We suggest that the lytic power of the venom is related to venom concentration and to the purity of its fractions.

DE RIOS, MARLENE D; FELDMAN, DANIEL J
Southern Californian Mexican American drinking patterns: Some preliminary observations.
Journal of Psychedelic Drugs; 1977 Apr-Jun Vol 9(2) 151-158
Interviewed mental health workers, bartenders, and alcoholic patients to determine drinking patterns. Notable variations were found in the drinking patterns and life-styles of different groups of Mexican Americans, and all were different from those of Anglo and Black Americans. The general problem of all alcoholics is that to them the benefits of drinking are more satisfying than the benefits of sobriety.

Discover, December 1992
Plants - Oh, Wilbur
Stipa robusta, "Sleepy Grass" to its friends, is a tough plant. Not only does it survive in the rugged terrain of the southwestern Rocky Mountains, but it has also evolved a unique defense against animals that graze on its feathery plumes. It harbors a fungus called Acremonium, which produces a powerful poison that can knock a horse cold for up to a week. The fungus gets passed on to future generations through the plant's seeds. "The fungus gets a home and gets fed, and the grass gets protection from critters that want to eat it," says Indiana University biologist Keith Clay. "So it's a mutually beneficial association, not a disease." In pastures where every other type of vegetation has been nibbled to the ground, one can easily spot the sleepy grass - tall, proud, and untouched.
Clay and his co-workers Richard Petroski and Richard Powell from the US Department of Agriculture have now isolated the chemical that gives the sleepy grass fungus its potent punch. It is an alkaloid called lysergic acid amide. Alkaloids are the poisons in hundreds of poisonous plants, and lysergic acid amide has been found before in a few of them, but never in such high concentrations as in sleepy grass.
Lysergic acid amide is a potent sedative in humans as well; Central American Indians are said to quiet crying infants by feeding them a single sleepy-grass seed. In fact, in the 1950s American pharmaceutical manufacturers (who didn't know about the sleepy grass connection) considered marketing the compound as a prescription sleeping aid. Bu the idea ran aground on a public relations problem. Lysergic Acid amide has a close chemical relative called lysergic acid diethylamide, which is more commonly known as LSD. "When the pharmaceutical industry discovered the compound's link to LSD and all the problems associated with that," says Clay, "they essentially dropped it."

EISWIRTH, NANCY A; SMITH, DAVID E; WESSON, DONALD R
Current perspectives on cocaine use in America.
Journal of Psychedelic Drugs; 1972 Win Vol. 5(2) 153-157
Presents a brief history of cocaine from the time of the Incas in South America to the 1970s in the US. The cocaine black market and high dose use in the US are described and discussed. Methods of administration (snorting or injection), subjective effects, cocaine and other drug combinations, and side effects are outlined. 2 distinct pharmacological actions of cocaine are distinguished: local anesthesia and CNS stimulation. Treatment of cocaine toxicity is described.

Eliade, Mircea.
South American High Gods, Part I.
History of Religions 8(2):338-354. (1968)

Eliade, Mircea.
South American High Gods, Part II.
History of Religions 10(3):234-266. (1971)

Eliade, Mircea.
The dragon and the shaman: Notes on a South American mythology.
In: Eric J. Sharpe & John R. Hinnells (eds.), Man and His Salvation: Studies in memory of S. G. F. Brandon. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1973, 99-105. (1973)

EMBODEN WILLIAM
Peganum harmala, Syrian Rue
Narcotic Plants
Syrian rue is a name used to describe a woody perennial shrub found growing in dry areas of the Mediterranean, in northern India, Mongolia, and Manchuria. Known to botanists as Peganum harmala of the family Zygophyllaceae, it is famous for its use in producing the dye called 'Turkish Red,' which is obtained from the abundant seed. It is used to produce color characteristic of all the Iranian and Turkish carpets. Dioscorides spoke of this plant in his famous codex (Codex Vindobonensis) of the first century. The written history of this plant extends over a thousand years. In Egypt the oil from this seed is sold as 'zit-el-harmel' and has the reputation of being an aphrodisiac. Medicinal uses extend to its use in treating diseases of the eyes, as a vermifuge, soporific, lactogogue, etc. The seed is widely known as a narcotic, and analyses reveal harmaline, harmalol, and harmine. Harmine is now in use in research on mental disease, encephalitis, and inflammation of the brain. Small doses are stimulating to the brain and reportedly are therapeutic, but in excess harmine depresses the central nervous system. During the Second World War, Nazi 'scientists' used harmaline to advantage as a truth serum. In reality there is no truth serum, but an alteration in thresholds of consciousness may make a person loquacious. A crude preparation of the seed is more effective than any extract because of the presence of related indoles. The Douvans of Bokhara used to inhale the smoke of burning Peganum harmala seed and became quite exuberant, much in the manner of the people of South America using caapi, which has the same class of chemicals. This is one of the few clues as to possible historical uses in a shamanic context, and at this time no one has done any thorough research on it.

EVERETT
Desfontainia spinosa
The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture; rSB317.58
DESFONTAINIA (desfont-ainia): One of the handsomest of temperate South American flowering shrubs. the only cultivated Desfontainia is one of possibly five species of the Andes of Chile and Peru. It belongs in the logania family, Loganiaceae. Its name, often spelled Desfontainea, commemorates the French botanist Rene Louiche Desfontaines, who died in 1833. Hardy only in mild climates, such as that of California, Desfontainia spinosa when out of bloom looks much like an evergreen English holly (Ilex aquifolium), but is immediately distinguishable because its leaves are opposite instead of alternate. The shrub is bushy and attains a maximum height of about 10 feet, but is often smaller. It has pale, glossy branches and broad-elliptic to ovate, lustrous, spiny leaves 1 inch to 2 1/2 inches long. The flowers, which come in summer and fall, are quite astonishing on such a holly-like plant. They are in terminal clusters and because of their shape and striking colors have a decided fire-cracker or decorative candy appearance. They are tubular-funnel-shaped, about 1 1/2 inches long, bright crimson-scarlet, and tipped with five small yellow corolla lobes (petals). Each has a five-lobed, green calyx with its margins fringed with hairs. There are five stamens. The fruits are egg-shaped, many-seeded berries. GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE USES: This choice evergreen is admirable for displaying prominently in shrub borders, foundation plantings, and other landscape settings, and as an individual specimen. When well placed and thriving it is a splendid addition to almost any garden. For its best satisfaction it needs a little broken shade as protection from the hottest sun, and deep, moderately fertile, encouraging soil, never excessively dry. CULTIVATION: Desfontainias can be raised from cuttings, about 3 inches long, taken in summer and rooted under mist or in a greenhouse propagating bed, but the best results are had from seeds sown in sandy peaty soil kept moderately moist. The seedlings should be shaded lightly from strong sun. Established specimens are grateful for an organic mulch maintained around them and for watering thoroughly and regularly during dry weather. They need no pruning, except the occasional shortening of an unruly shoot to keep them shapely, and any cutting necessary to limit their size. Spring is the season to attend to this.

FERNEX M; JAQUET C; MITTELHOLZER ML; REBER R; STURCHLER D
Neue Medikamente fur die Behandlung der Malaria tropica. [Current drugs for the treatment of tropical malaria]
Schweiz Rundsch Med Prax. 1991 Jan 22; 80(4): 67-71
The occurrence in the early 60's of stable resistance to chloroquine among Plasmodium falciparum strains in the Amazonas and on the Thai-Cambodian border has been a shock for all malariologists. This led to the search for new antimalarials without cross resistance with chloroquine. For each new drug, one of the major concerns was to define how rapidly parasites would develop resistance to this compound. Drug combinations were taken into consideration so as to achieve a delay in the appearance of resistance. The decision to test a triple combination has led to the development of Fansimef, a fixed combination with tablets containing 250 mg mefloquine, 500 mg sulfadoxine and 25 mg pyrimethamine. A very relevant delay in the development of resistance was found both in-vivo--in the P. berghei model--and in-vitro using P. falciparum. Fansimef has also been under investigations for malaria. Controlled clinical trials were performed in Africa, South America and South East Asia. The documentation for this new indication will be submitted to registration authorities in 1991. A preference alternative to continuous chemoprophylaxis is stand-by malaria treatment for travellers to regions where the malaria risk is relatively low. Stand-by treatment is under investigations in France and in Switzerland. In the search for alternative remedies against drug resistant P. falciparum malaria our attention was directed to Yingzhaosu, a new sesquiterpene peroxide of plant origin from traditional Chinese medicine. A short and convenient synthesis of this ring system gave access to a variety of structural analogues of Yingzhaosu. ...

GAYOTTO LC
Hepatitis delta in South America and especially in the Amazon region.
Prog Clin Biol Res. 1991; 364: 123-35
[NO ABSTRACT]

GESSNER, PETER K
Psychotomimetic Drugs
Psychotomimetic Drugs; Ed.:Efron. Raven Press (1970) pg 105 RM315.P77
... we obtained a measure of the potency of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine. We found it to be somewhat more active in this test system than either N,N-dimethyltryptamine or N,N-diethyltryptamine, tryptamines shown to be hallucinogenic in man by Szara (1957), and somewhat less active than LSD. ... We synthesized in addition to the 5-methoxy, the 4-, 6- and 7-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamines, and tryptamines with substituents other than dimethyl on the side chain nitrogen. On testing the relative potency of these compounds [...] we found the 5-methoxy-N,N-diethyltryptamine to be significantly more potent than the 5-methoxy-N,N-diemethyltryptamine or the 4-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, the activity of the latter compound approaching that of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine. The 6- and 7-MeO-DMT's, on the other hand, proved to be significantly less potent than 4-MeO-DMT. 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine proved to be significantly more potent than psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) or N,N-diethyltryptamine. ... we compared not only a number of substituted tryptamines, but also compounds isosteric to these, in which the ring nitrogen of the indole moiety was substituted for by a methylene bridge or by a sulfur atom. ... DISCUSSION: ... Dr Gessner: ... Incidentally, while I am on the subject, after Dr Holmstedt showed that 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine was a major component of the hallucinogenic 'epena' snuff, there have been various statements in the literature that it is hallucinogenic in man. I wonder if anybody knows whether it has actually been given as the pure compound to man and whether under those conditions it proves hallucinogenic. If so, it would be interesting to put it on the record. Dr Shulgin: We have it in clinical trial now. It is much more active than dimethyltryptamine. It is much less active than LSD and it is only active parenterally, as is the case with DMT. This is about all I can say. Dr. Snyder: How does it compare with psilocin? Dr Shulgin: It is more active than psilocin, but I can't say how much with any confidence. Dr. Gessner: This is all in accord with our data. Dr. Shulgin: We used 5 to 10 mg of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine; perhaps even a lower dose can be used. Dr. Holmstedt: I have not tested the pure compound, but I have tested in the field the epena the South American Indians use, and that takes effect very quickly, within 30 seconds if you inhale it. I took back with me the same material and analysed it. It contained 11 percent alkaloids, out of which about 10 percent were 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine.

GRISI L
Parasitic zoonoses: selective review of some diseases in South America.
Ann Parasitol Hum Comp. 1990; 65 Suppl 1: 79-82
Selected parasitic zoonoses which occurs in South America are discussed with emphasis on epidemiology, diagnosis and control of echinococcosis, taeniosis/cysticerosis and lagochilascariosis.

Heine-Geldern, Robert von & Ekholm, Gordon F.
Significant Parallels in the Symbolic Arts of Southern Asia and Middle America.
29th ICA 2:299-309. (1944)

Heine-Geldern, Robert von.
Traces of Indian and Southeast Asiatic Hindu-Buddhist Influences in Mesoamerica.
35th ICA 1:47-54. (1964)

HOBUS RM
Living in two worlds: a Lakota transcultural nursing experience.
J Transcult Nurs. 1990 Summer; 2(1): 33-6
Nursing is an applied discipline. Its major concern is with the improvement of nursing care. We deal, today, with the idea that improved nursing care can be given through heightened cultural sensitivity. The author relates a case study in which she was challenged to provide the roles of nurse-collaborator and nurse-educator to a Native American family in a reservation setting, in South Dakota. The rewards proved beyond expectation.

Hodgin, Deanna
Seeking cures in the jungle. (rain forests as sources of medicinal plants for the pharmaceutical industry)
Insight. v7 Oct 7 '91 p30(2)
Shaman Pharmaceuticals focuses its biotechnological research on developing drugs from medicinal plants found in rain forests in South America, Asia and Africa. Company president Lisa Conte advocates the role ethnobotany in the pharmaceutical industry.

JUNIPER; ROBBINS; JOEL
The Carnivorous Plants. Part IV: Phytochemical Aspects
The Carnivorous Plants; 1989 Academic Press, ISBN 0-12-392170-8
NEPENTHES: Linnaeus gave the plant it's present name in 1753, in allusion to the story in Homer's Odyssey where Helen mixed wine with the drug 'Nepenthe' (Greek. literally 'No Mind') so that by drinking it man might be freed from care and grief. The shape of the pitchers in some species resembles the Greek rhincton or drinking horn. [Genera & distribution of pitcher plants] Heliamphora: British Guiana, Venezuela, Brazil. Darlingtonia: Northern California, Southern Oregon. Sarracenia: North America. Cephalotus: Western Australia. Nepenthes: Madagascar, Borneo, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Queensland Australia, Malaysia. AMINES: Histamine has been detected in the leaf tissues of a number of genera (Werle 1955). In both Nepenthes and Drosera the level appears to be higher in those parts of the leaf associated with the traps, though the level is variable. In these cases, as well as in Sarracenia and Pinguicula, the concentration is in the range 2-13 ug/g fresh weight. Acetylcholine-like compounds were also detected in Nepenthes (Morrisey 1963)... ALKALOIDS: Alkaloids, while not unknown, are relatively uncommon amongst the carnivorous plants. In view of their requirements for nitrogen in the molecules it is perhaps not suprising that these plants, living in nitrogen-limited environments, use other types of compounds as protective agents. Porcher (1849) was unable to detect morphine, nicotine or quinine in either Sarracenia flava or S. minor although Shepard (in Porcher 1849) reported a new alkaloid, possibly related to chinchonine. Sarracenia purpurea plants yielded veratrine (Hetet 1879), which possibly was Sheperd's alkaloid. Bjorklund (1864) isolated coniine from roots of S. purpurea but not leaves, though Lambert(1902) subsequently identified coniine as a volatile base produced by fresh leaves of this species. Romeo et al. (1977) could not, however isolate any alkaloid from all 10 species of Sarracenia but Mody et al. (1976) using large amounts of S. flava leaves (4.5 kg), showed that the unknown (1.9% total oil) C8H17N extracted by Miles et al.(1975) is again coniine. The other unknown C5H11NO (0.5%) may also be an alkaloid, but awaits identification. Recent work has not been able to confirm the presence of veratrine in Sarracenia. The variability in these reports may indicate seasonal and/or regional differences in alkaloid production, possibly related to carnivorous activity. Pinguicula vulgaris does not appear to contain any alkaloids (Christen 1961): nor does Nepenthes rafflesiana (Cannon et al. 1980).

Las Tres Mitades de Ino Moxo: y otros brujos de la Amazonia. Cesar Calvo. Proceso Editores, Iquitos, Peru. 1981. 380 pages. velobound in Ethnobotany and Shamanism in South America. [box v4]

MC KENNA,DJ: TOWERS,GHN: ABBOTT,FS:
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors in South American Hallucinogenic Plants Part 2. Constituents of Orally-active Myristicaceous Hallucinogens.
J Ethnopharmacol 122:179-211 (1984)

Meggers, Betty J.
North and South American Cultural Connections and Convergences.
In: Jesse D. Jennings & Edward Norbeck (eds.), Prehistoric Man in the New World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964, 489-510. (1964)

Morell, Virginia
Jungle Rx; a new breed of botanist is rushing to learn what the last of the witch doctors know: how to cure people with plants
International Wildlife v14 p18-21+ May/June 1984
SUBJECTS: Botany, Medical Indians of South America/Plants and plant lore

Morgan, Adrian
Father Christmas flies on toadstools
New Scientist, 25-Dec-1986/1-JAN-1987 Vol 112 pg 45
The first travellers in Siberia were shocked by a custom of many of the tribes. The urine of those intoxicated by fly agaric toadstools was collected in bowls or skin bags, to be drunk later. The poorer classes, who could not devote time to gathering the mushroom, drank the urine of the better-off for a little light relief. Reindeer, which live off lichens in winter, also have a taste for the fly agaric. When Georg Steller, and explorer, visited Kamchatka in 1739 he noted that reindeer were sometimes intoxicated. And the Koryak people, not wanting to miss out on the fun, tie up the animals until their condition subsides. Then they kill them. All who eat the flesh become intoxicated. Johnathan Ott, an American author, suggested in 1976 that use of the fly agaric in the midwinter festivals of deepest Siberia may have inspired some of the imagery of Santa Claus. The winter dwelling, or yurt, had a smokehole in the roof, supported by a birch pole. At the midwinter festivals, the shaman would enter the yurt through the smokehole, perform his ceremonies and ascend the birch pole and leave. Santa Claus is roben in red and white, the colours of the fly agaric. He enters through the chimney, and he has reindeer. Santa Claus also flies, an accomplishment that he shares with a shaman. In central Europe fly agaric is linked with chimney sweeps, who have adopted it as their emblem, perhaps echoing the Siberian ritual. The fly agaric has appeared on Christmas cards in central Europe for a long time. In Kocevje, in southern Yugoslavia, people believe that on Christmas night, Wotan, the king of the gods, rides through the woods on a white horse, pursued by devils. The red-and-white flecks of foam from the horse's mouth fall to the ground and grow into next year's crop of fly agaric.

Nordenskiold, Erland.
Origin of the Indian Civilizations in South America.
Goteborg: Elanders Boktryckeri Aktiebolag. [Photocopy] (1931)

O'DOWD BF; ROTHHAMMER F; ISRAEL Y
Genotyping of mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase locus of Native American Indians.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1990 Aug; 14(4): 531-3
Using the polymerase chain reaction to amplify genomic DNA from hair roots, we have examined the mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) genotypes of 28 individuals from the South American Mapuche Indians. We have determined that individuals from this population previously reported to lack (ALDH2) activity do not show the presence of the inactive (ALDH2(2] allele frequently found in Orientals.

OKTEN A; MOCAN H; KOKSAL I; YAZICI A
Karadeniz'de sporadik Kala-azar yoresi. [Sporadic kala-azar in the Black Sea region]
Mikrobiyol Bul. 1990 Oct; 24(4): 361-7
Visceral leishmaniasis is a disease, also called kala-azar, caused by species of Leishmania, which is known as intracellular parasite. Disease show a broad spectrum on the clinical symptoms. This infection is seen classically in Mediterranean countries, in same Asian countries between 30th-48th north parallels and in South America. In Mediterranean countries the parasite causing the visceral Leishmaniasis is Leishmania donovani. Turkey is also a Mediterranean country taking place between 36th-42nd north parallels.

OPLER, MARVIN K
The character and history of the southern Ute peyote rite.
American Anthropologist; Vol 42, pp 463-478 (1940)
Compares the origin, practice and community acceptance of the peyote rite among the Ute in Towaoc and Ignacio areas of Colorado. A peyote healing ceremony in Ignacio is described. In Towaoc the use of peyote is accepted by the entire community and has incorporated more of the traditional Ute shamanic practices than in Ignacio. In Ignacio, the community is deeply divided over the issue of peyote use.

Peganum harmala: The Hallucinogenic Herb of the American Southwest. Albert Most. Venum Press. Denton, TX. second edition, first printing, summer 1985. paperback. 19 pages. [box 5m]

ROBERTS C; JAHN G; KOHL PK; KENNY GE
Tetracycline resistant mycoplasmas from Thailand and South America [letter]
Eur J Epidemiol. 1990 Dec; 6(4): 440-1
[NO ABSTRACT]

SCHULTES, RICHARD EVANS; HOFMANN A
Tetrapteris methystica
Plants of The Gods: Origins of hallucinogenic use. (1979) p 58
Tetrapteris methystica: Malphigiaceae. Tropical zones of South America, Mexico, West Indies. THe nomadic Maku' Indians of the Rio Tikie' in the northwestermost Amazonas of Brazil prepare an hallucinogenic drink from the bark of Tetrapteris methystica. Reports of the effects would suggest that beta-carboline alkaloids are present. Tetrapteris methystica is a scandent bush with black bark. The leaves are characeous, ovate, 2 1/4 - 3 3/8 inches (6-8.5 cm) long, 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) wide, bright green above, ashy green beneath. The inflorescence is few-flowered, shorter than the leaves. The sepals are thick, hairy without, ovate-lanceolate, with 8 black oval-shaped glands; the petals, spreading, membranaceous, yellow with red or brown in the center, elongate-orbicular, 1/2 inch (1 cm) wide. The fruit or samara is ovoid, 1/8 x 1/8 x 1/16 inch (4 x 4 x 2 mm), with brownish wings about 1/2 x 1/16 inch (10 x 2 mm).

SENAY EC
Drug abuse and public health. A global perspective.
Drug Saf. 1991; 6 Suppl 1: 1-65
During the past 20 years there has been a substantial increase in the data available on the prevalence and consequences of the use of drugs which are liable to abuse. The body of data is sufficiently scientific, comprehensive and global in scope to enable an overall profile of the use patterns of these drugs to be drawn in this review. The studies evaluated include those which surveyed populations of hundreds, thousands, or even more, covering a range of common drugs of abuse and using specified research methods. The data are summarised for North America, Europe, Asia and the West Pacific, Africa and South America. A complex picture has emerged, confounded by an array of factors, which this review does not address in detail, such as youth alienation, the changing role of women and the increasing sophistication of criminal networks. From a global perspective, the evidence reviewed from the various regions indicates that the use of drugs with liability for abuse is widespread and associated with public health and social problems of great magnitude. The major set of problems appears to be related to primary pattern drugs such as alcohol, nicotine, cannabis and the opioids. Cocaine may also be a worldwide threat in view of the problems it has created in some regions. Drug abuse usually starts in adolescence, and both sexes now appear to be involved where in the recent past it was predominantly men who were affected. The concurrent use of multiple substances is now becoming the modal pattern, and drug-related problems correlate with one another and with somatic, psychiatric and social pathology. Opioid use now tends to be via intravenous administration, and the doses of cannabis and cocaine base which are used are increasing. Substances with therapeutic effects on DSM-III-R diagnosable disorders, such as antidepressants and benzodiazepines, require careful consideration by policymakers because the risk:benefit ratio is different to that of primary-pattern intoxicants, especially taking into consideration the broad and proven therapeutic use of these substances and the need for their availability for patients and physicians. In conclusion, the data presented in this review indicate that the scientific description of trends and consequences of drug abuse is an indispensable first step in rational policy making. The review also identifies areas for further study and research.

Shamanism and Art of the Eastern Tukanoan Indians: Columbian Northwest Amazon. G. Reichel Dolmatoff. E.J. Brill. 1987. 68 pages. velobound in Ethnobotany and Shamanism in South America. [box v4]

SIEVERS ML; NELSON RG; BENNETT PH
Adverse mortality experience of a southwestern American Indian community: overall death rates and underlying causes of death in Pima Indians.
J Clin Epidemiol. 1990; 43(11): 1231-42
As part of an ongoing epidemiologic study, the death rate and causes of death during 1975 through 1984 were determined in Pima Indians who resided in the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) in 1965 and later. Death certificates were available for 677 of the 681 deaths. In 78% of the deaths, the underlying cause recorded on the death certificate agreed with the cause determined after review of all available relevant records. The age- and sex-adjusted average annual death rate for the GRIC population (1639/100,000) was 1.9 times (95% CI 1.7-2.0) the 1980 rate for the U.S. all races (878/100,000). In Pima males, whose death rate was substantially higher than that of Pima females, the age-adjusted death rate was 2.3 times that in U.S. males, all races. Moreover among males 25-34 years of age, the Pima death rate was 6.6 times that for the U.S. all races. Diseases of the heart and malignant neoplasms caused 59% of U.S. deaths in 1980, but only 19% of GRIC deaths. By contrast, the age- and sex-adjusted mortality rate in the GRIC Pima was 5.9 times the rate of the U.S. all races for accidents, 6.5 times for cirrhosis, 7.4 times for homicide, 4.3 times for suicide, and 11.9 times for diabetes. Tuberculosis and coccidioidomycosis were important causes of death in the Pima, for whom infectious diseases was the tenth leading cause of death. The findings indicate that programs to improve the adverse mortality experience of the GRIC population should emphasize factors related to fatal accidents, alcoholic cirrhosis, homicide, suicide, diabetes mellitus, and infectious diseases. Young Pimas, especially the males, should be the primary focus of such preventive efforts. These findings and recommendations probably apply to many Native American populations.

The Genus Anadenanthera in Amerindian Cultures. Siri von Reis Altshul, Ph.D. Botanical Museum, Harvard University. Cambridge MA. 1972? 96 pages. velobound in Ethnobotany and Shamanism in South America. [box v4]

The Use of Some Specific Kinds of South American Indian Snuff and Related Paraphernalia. S. Henry Wassen. Goteborg, Sweden. 1965.

The Wilderness of Mind: Sacred Plants in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Marlene
Dobkin de Rios. Sage Publications. Beverly Hills, London. 1976. 79 pages. velobound in Ethnobotany and Shamanism in South America. [box v4]

Tobacco and Shamanism in South America. Johannes Wilbert. Yale University Press. Psychoactive Plants of the World Series. New Haven and London. 1987. $30. hardcover. 294 pages. [box 10m]

VICTORA CG; MUNOZ N; HORTA BL; RAMOS EO
Patterns of mate drinking in a Brazilian city.
Cancer Res. 1990 Nov 15; 50(22): 7112-5
Mate drinking, a hot infusion of Ilex paraguayensis commonly drunk in parts of South America, has been associated with increased risks of upper digestive cancers. In a population-based survey, we have studied the patterns of mate drinking in a sample of 1400 adults living in a southern Brazilian city. Approximately one third of the population drank mate less than once a month or not at all; another third drank mate at least once a month, but less than once a day; while the remaining third drank mate daily. Daily drinking was most common among individuals aged under 60, those who migrated from rural areas, and among cigarette smokers. Drinkers ingested on average about 1800 ml/day at a mean temperature of 69.5 degrees C. Individuals who had never attended school tended to ingest larger quantities. The temperature of the drink was higher for males and for drinkers of alcoholic beverages. This information may contribute to the design of preventive interventions, since a large proportion of upper digestive cancer cases in those regions might be due to mate drinking.

Yachaj Sami Yachachina. Alfonso Chango, edited by Norman and Sibby Whitten 1983. translated by Dahlia Miller 1991. six pages of Engllish and 47 pages in Spanish. Ediciones Abya-Yala. 1984. Quito, Ecuador. velobound in Ethnobotany and Shamanism in South America. [box v4]