Aristolochia Herbs and Iatrogenic Disease: The Case of Portland's Powders

Abstract

Aristolochia herbals have a 2500-year history of medicinal use. We focused this article on Portland's Powders, an 18^th-century British gout medicine containing Aristolochia herbs. The powders constitute an 18^th-century iteration of an herbal remedy, which was used, with variations, since at least the fifth century BCE. The use of Portland's Powders in Great Britain may appear to be an unusual choice for investigating a public health problem currently widespread in Asia. Yet it exemplifies long-term medicinal use of Aristolochia herbs, reflecting our argument that aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN) is a historically persistent iatrogenic disease. Moreover, we provide compelling evidence that individuals taking Portland's Powders for gout would have ingested toxic quantities of aristolochic acid, which causes AAN and cancer. Several factors, including long history of use, latency of toxic effects, and lack of effective regulation, perpetuate usage of Aristolochia herbals to the present day.

Keywords: aristolochia; aristolochic acid; birthwort; gout; herbal medicine; iatrogenic.