Mistletoe has had a certain mystique about it since ancient times, probably on account of the curious way it grows.聽 The plant is a 鈥渉emiparasite,鈥� meaning that it can either grow in soil, or, more commonly, it can spring from the branch of a tree.聽 Ladies probably stood under the branch in awe, admiring the pretty flowers, giving gentlemen an opportunity to take a little liberty with the fair sex.
The original mistletoe,聽Viscum album, (different from the ornamental North American version) got its name from the Anglo-Saxon word 鈥渕istel鈥� for 鈥渄ung鈥� and 鈥渢an鈥� for 鈥渢wig.鈥澛� Dung-on-a twig really is an excellent description of the plant鈥檚 origin.聽 Mistletoe would often appear on a branch where birds left their droppings which contained mistletoe berry seeds that had passed through their digestive tract.聽 Interestingly, birds are not bothered by the seeds which are highly toxic to humans.聽 The main culprits are 鈥渧iscotoxins,鈥� small proteins than can destroy cells.聽
Any substance that has such effects on human health arouses scientific curiosity.聽 Pharmaceutical history is peppered with attempts to use small doses of poisons to wipe out a disease without wiping out the patient.聽 Arsenic, mercury, strychnine and belladonna are obvious examples.聽 So it should come as no surprise that various mistletoe preparations also appeared in drug compendia.聽 Until the 1920s, these remedies were dismissed by the scientific community as mere placebos.聽 But then researchers discovered that mistletoe also harbors some complex compounds called lectins that can bind to cells and induce biochemical changes.聽 Attention now focused on the possibility that these substances at the right concentration might selectively destroy cancer cells.聽
Early on there was encouragement from laboratory studies and animal trials that showed a slowing of the growth of certain tumors in response to mistletoe extracts.聽 This was enough for the producers of herbal products to get their bandwagons rolling and load them up with mistletoe extracts with intriguing names like Iscador, Eurixor or Helixor.聽 Unfortunately, human trials have not born out the early optimism and there is no evidence from properly controlled trials that such products have a beneficial effect on cancer.聽 There is, however, plenty of evidence that they don鈥檛.聽 It seems that mistletoe鈥檚 magic is limited to enticing people to express their affections for each other.聽 And that鈥檚 nothing to scoff at.
Now on to The Three Wise Men and their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.聽 Gold, because of its scarcity, was obviously valuable.聽 But what are we to make of frankincense and myrrh?聽 Why should these substances have been considered to be gifts worthy of the Christ child?聽 Both frankincense and myrrh are natural exudates of certain trees found in the Middle East.聽 When the bark is injured, a sap containing a variety of natural fungicides and bactericides oozes out and prevents the entry of microorganisms into the trees' circulation.聽 The stuff eventually hardens into a resin which can be scraped off.
Thousands of years before the first Christmas, frankincense and myrrh had established places in religious ceremonies.聽 Their most appealing feature was the pleasant aromatic odor produced when the resins were ignited.聽 They were incorporated into "incense," a term derived from the Latin "incendere" meaning to set on fire.聽 Moses was given specific instructions for preparing incense from myrrh and cedarwood.聽 Perhaps the original idea was to send prayers to heaven through the sweet-smelling smoke.聽 Incense was the original "perfume"; the word deriving from the Latin for "through smoke."
The ancient Egyptians used frankincense and myrrh in the process of mummification, as well as for treating wounds and skin sores.聽 The antimicrobial properties of the resins would seem to justify these applications.聽 Harder to justify would be the use of incense to drive off demons, a common practice in ancient Egypt and in early Christian churches.聽 Maybe the demons they were worried about were the unpleasant odors noted when people with less than perfect hygiene gathered.聽 Incense nicely solved this problem.聽 Most of the frankincense and myrrh gathered today is still used for the same purpose it was used thousands of years ago, namely as incense in religious ceremonies.
There have been a number of attempted medical applications of frankincense and myrrh.聽 Hippocrates in the 5th century BC recommended the use of myrrh as a vaginal suppository to increase sexual excitement.聽 Ancient Ayurvedic texts prescribed myrrh to prolong life and lose weight.聽 The Chinese used it for mouth infections.聽 The English navy tried it as a treatment against scurvy.聽 Today, it still finds a use in some cough drops and throat lozenges.聽 So, if you want to give someone a real Christmassy gift, how about some Tungshueh throat pills with 15% frankincense and 10% myrrh?聽 And if you only want to enjoy the smell, "Timeless" perfume by Avon contains frankincense and "Le Jardin" by Max Factor has myrrh.聽 So, have a very myrrhy Christmas.
