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Cocaine or Erythroxylum
coca is a native of the Andes Mountain.
Cocaine is its active alkaloid and for centuries, the
natives of Peru
and Bolivia chew the leaves for its stimulating effects.
Niemann of
Germany was the first person to isolate cocaine in 1859.
The ability
of cocaine to decrease sensation was noted by a Peruvian
doctor
Moreno Y Maiz in 1868 but it was another 16 years before
its
application as a local anaesthesia for eye surgery was
discovered
by Carl Koller in 1848.
Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective, is a chronic
cocaine user
who liked to keep his wits occupied in between cases.
Coca-Cola
invented by John Pemberton in 1868 contained extracts
from coca
leaves and was marketed as a remedy for headache and
a stimulant.
Cocaine was later removed from the drink in 1906.
Cocaine is not longer used as for ophthalmic operation
because of
its stimulatory and often toxic effects. In ophthalmology,
it is now
used to diagnose Horner's syndrome and in dacryocysto-
rhinostomy (DCR) for epiphora. In Horner's syndrome,
1% cocaine
fails to dilate Horner's pupil. Cocaine paste is applied
to the nasal
mucosa to induce vasoconstriction during DCR to reduce
blood
loss. |
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