Abstract
The European mistletoe Viscum album L. has attracted special interest in folklore and ethnomedicine throughout the centuries. The Celtic druids used it already in their ceremonies more than 2000 years ago. Later on it was thought to be potent against epilepsy “since the mistletoe did not fall down – neither would the patient” and this belief was carried on through the middle ages. In the 16th century mistletoe was commonly used against the falling sickness as well as against illnesses of the blood circulation, heart failure, dropsy, asthma and nervous diseases [1, 2].
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Samtleben, R., Hajto, T., Hostanska, K., Wagner, H. (1999). Mistletoe lectins as immunostimulants (chemistry, pharmacology and clinic). In: Wagner, H. (eds) Immunomodulatory Agents from Plants. Progress in Inflammation Research. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8763-2_9
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