meaning gold and from théraps, to serve or care for, which comes from
therapeúein meaning to treat medically. I mentioned previously that gold has
been used since time immemorial, but not only for cults and goldsmithing,
but also in the treatment of various diseases. The earliest records of the use
of gold date back to thousands of years before Christ (^) [ 73 ]. The "potable
gold" of the alchemists was an elixir of life, which was supposed to have
many virtues and healing properties. In more recent times, attempts were
made to use gold salts in the treatment of various diseases, including asthma,
leprosy, syphilis and tuberculosis, without any notable success. Currently,
gold salts have very limited therapeutic utility in the treatment of rheumatoid
arthritis and certain rare skin diseases, such as discoid lupus. Colloidal
radioactive gold, due to its distribution in the body and its short half-life, has
been used as a source of radiation in the treatment of cancer.
Gold salts have been used in the treatment of arthritis since 1930 in
Europe and 10 years later in the United States. In that decade, despite data in
the medical literature covering more than 5000 cases, scientists and
specialists found it difficult to evaluate the efficiency of gold therapeutics in
quantitative and qualitative terms because of the difficulty of measuring the
bioavailability of gold salts in the body. There is no doubt that gold is not a
miracle drug (as well as its monetary value) and does not possess the many
miraculous virtues that were once attributed to it. In view of today's
discoveries which completely demystify the sacred, it can nevertheless be
considered beneficial for many individuals suffering from a painful and
prolonged illness. (^) [ 74 ]
According to the gold salts and their names I mention them as an
informative supplement, but with no desire to promote self-medication, as
the use of these medicines is the responsibility of the prescribing physician.
Aurothioglucose (^) [ 75 ] is an anti-arthritic drug active intramuscularly, used