Herbal Remedy for Nerve Gas

Just sharing this info from another source. I might come in handy.

Herbal Remedy for Nerve Gas

Normally when a nerve is injured, it sends a message via a neurotransmitter chemical called acetylcholine. When the message is received by the next nerve, the acetylcholine molecule is deactivated by an enzyme called acetylcholineestera se. Nerve gases attack this enzyme--they inhibit it. The nerve gas sarin inhibits it permanently, which means each molecule of acetylcholineestera se it touches will never again be available to deactivate the neurotransmitter. The result of the inhibition is that acetylcholine accumulates in the nerves, and it continues working, like a persistent salesman who keeps knocking on your door.

With the nerve system rendered ineffective, the victim loses control of his bodily functions. An acute dose produces unconsciousness within seconds. Then convulsions start, and death follows within a few minutes. If you are exposed to a lethal dose, your only hope of survival is an immediate injection of atropine sulfate, followed by evacuation, decontamination, and intensive treatment in a hospital. Atropine acts as a shield around the nerve receptors, so the excessive amounts of neurotransmitter can not overcome the nerve system.

Atropine Injector

However, for each person who receives a lethal dose of the nerve gas, there will be several others who receive sub-lethal doses. They will still suffer from the effects of the toxin, but they may not qualify for admission to hospitals, which may be overwhelmed with more serious injuries. Also, the medicines needed to treat nerve gas injuries will be in short supply.

Another factor is that atropine itself is poisonous, at dosage levels not much different than what is required to treat the nerve gas exposure. This is because it affects the heart. It also can cause delirium and hallucinations. In the first Gulf War, Iraq launched some Scud missiles at Israel. There were a number of admissions to hospitals as a result. Nearly all of these were the result of Israelis injecting themselves with atropine.

Ideally, each person would stockpile medicines necessary for the treatment of exposure to war gases. That won't happen of course--especially since some items may require a prescription. A second option would be for civil defense authorities to stockpile the necessary medicines and materials. Is anyone confident that this is being done, and that the materiel would be available to everyone? More likely there would be limited supplies, available only to government officials, VIPs, and the military.

The rest of us must find other solutions. Atropine can be extracted from the Belladonna (Thornapple) plant, as well as some others such as Stramonium (Jimson). These are very poisonous plants, but methods of safely extracting the active ingredients and titrating dosages were worked centuries ago.

Henbane

However, another plant provides a substance that should provide better treatment against nerve gas effects. Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is a weed that grows throughout America, although it is found more frequently in the East and in areas that do not have severe winters. Seeds for henbane are readily available from mail order suppliers.

Henbane is a poisonous plant. If you grow it, it may poison birds, livestock, pets, and children. When taken as a medicine, a given dosage may affect people in different ways. Some people may be hypersensitive. It may interact dangerously with other medicines. The effective dose is dangerously close to a lethal dose. Therefore a great amount of care must be taken in preparation and use of this herbal remedy.

Henbane seeds are not easy to germinate--they require high humidity. The plant is biennial (lives 2 years). It can be harvested in the first year of growth, but second year plants provide a better yield. All parts of the plant contain the active ingredients. The seeds contain more than other parts, but should not be used medicinally. Dried leaves are used as a source for the medicine. They are harvested after the flowers appear. Harvesting at other times results in unpredictable amounts of active ingredients.

The main ingredients of the medicine are hyoscyamine and hyoscine. Hyoscine is just another name for scopolamine. Medicinally, the ingredients work in complementary ways. Hyoscyamine is anticholinergic, antispasmodic and analgesic. In other words, it acts in a manner similar to atropine, with perhaps more effect on peripheral nerves and less on central nerves. Scopolamine is also anticholinergic, but it has a sedative and calming effect. As a result, extract of Hyocyamus (henbane) is unlikely to cause the delirium associated with atropine. It helps the patient sleep. However, excessive doses will depress respiration, so care must be taken to detect apnea (stopped breathing while asleep). This is especially true if it is given together with a narcotic. It should not be used in combination with neuroleptic medication (e.g. chlorpromazine) which also depresses respiration.

Preparation of henbane extract involves two separate procedures. First the active ingredients are extracted. Then the extract is assayed to determine its strength, and it is diluted to a standard concentration.

Extraction

Making a Percolator

A percolator for herbs is not the same as a percolator for coffee. No heat is applied--it works by gravity. Michael Moore of the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine ( www.swsbm.com) has described a home made percolator. Begin with a large bottle of Perrier water. Drink the water and then remove the bottom. This is done by scoring a line around the bottle where you want the glass to break. Then tie a string around it at that point. Soak the string in a flammable fluid like alcohol and set it on fire. Extinguish the flame and touch the glass with an ice cube at the score line. Sand the edges of both parts of the bottle until they are smooth. The bottom can be used as a container of some sort. The top is our percolator. Turn the percolator upside down (neck down) and insert it into a wide mouth mason jar. This is the reason for choosing a Perrier bottle -- it fits in a mason jar, and also it has a screw cap which is helpful for regulating flow. Now insert a cone shaped coffee filter into the cone of the percolator. Wetting the paper slightly may help. Fill with moistened powder, packing each layer. Continue until you are close to the end, and then level off the compressed powder. Lay a disk shaped coffee filter (or cut a disk out of filter paper and use that) over the powder, and slowly pour the solvent onto that. Side note: You can use this method to make outstanding coffee. Use cold water, and let it steep at least 24 hours. Makes a coffee syrup containing all the volatile oils. Dilute with boiling water and serve.

The dried leaves are ground into powder until they pass through a 40 mesh sieve. Use 1 kg. of this powder.

Solvent: Herbalists call this mixture "menstruum". In this case it is three volumes of ethanol mixed with one volume of water (i.e. 75% alcohol). Your liquor store may have "Everclear", which can be used to make this solvent. Alternatively you could distill your own. In this case, run the alcohol through activated charcoal first. The charcoal should be rinsed with hot water before use. You'll need to use a little math to combine your alcohol with water to get a 75% alcohol mixture. However the exact percentage is not critical.

Pour enough solvent into the percolator that there is a layer of solvent over the powder. When the extract begins to drip from the bottom, apply the screw cap and let it steep for 48 hours. Then remove the cap. The extract should flow out at a rate of about one drop per second. If it flows too fast, apply the cap and use it to regulate the flow. Continue adding solvent until the powder is exhausted.

At this point you have the fluid extract. It can be assayed and then diluted to a standard strength of 65 milligrams per 100 milliliters. Alternatively, you can evaporate the solvent until the remainder has a granular texture. Then assay the strength and add powdered glucose until the concentration is a standard 0.25% hyoscamus alkaloids.

Dosage: When beginning any herbal medicine, use a beginning dosage well below the minimum dosage specified. Then carefully work up to the minimal dose over a period of days. (Of course, in the event of exposure to nerve gas, you may not have this sort of time to spare). Beware that reaction to plants can cause anaphylactic shock, a life-threatening condition. This usually develops sometime after first exposure to the plant, when antibodies have developed. Keeping the dosage minimal is your best protection.

The recommended dose of the standard fluid extract is 0.2 ml. to 0.6 ml.

Assay: The best way to assay your extract is to send it out to an analytical laboratory. The rates are usually quite reasonable. However the traditional assay method is included below for people who have the time and inclination to do this type of work. This is taken from U.S. Dispensatory by Remington et. al., dated 1918:

Assay (Henbane extract).--Proceed as directed under Fluid-extractum Belladonna Radicis, modifying the process there given by using 25 ml. of the Fluidextract of Hyoscyamus in place of 10 ml. of fluidextract of belladonna root, and before titrating treating the residue twice with 5 ml. of ether and evaporating to dryness each time. "Each ml. of tenth-normal sulphuric acid V.S. consumed corresponds to 28.92 milligrams of the total alkaloids of hyoscyamus."

"Assay (Fluid-extractum Belladonna Radicis).--Introduce 10 mils of Fluidextract of Belladonna Root into a separator and add 10 mils of distilled water and 2 mils of ammonia water. Completely extract the alkaloids by shaking out repeatedly with chloroform and then extract the alkaloids from the chloroform solution by shaking out repeatedly with weak sulphuric acid until the alkaloids are completely removed. Collect the acid washings in a separator, add ammonia water until the solution is decidedly alkaline to litmus, and completely extract the alkaloids by shaking out repeatedly with chloroform. Evaporate the combined chloroform washings to dryness, dissolve the alkaloids from the residue in exactly 5 mils of tenth-normal sulphuric acid V.S. and titrate the excess of acid with fiftieth-normal potassium hydroxide V.S., using cochineal 1.8. as indicator. "Each mil of tenth-normal sulphuric acid V.S. consumed corresponds to 28.92 milligrammes of the alkaloids of belladonna root."