Taming the Poisonous

Mercury, Toxicity, and Safety in Tibetan Medical Practice

Barbara Gerke (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

388 Seiten

2021
Heidelberg University Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-96822-043-7 (ISBN)

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This rich ethnographic and socio-historical account uncovers how toxicity and safety are expressed transculturally in a globalizing world. For the first time, it unpacks the "pharmaceutical nexus" of mercury in Tibetan medicine (Sowa Rigpa) where, since the thirteenth century, it has mainly been used in the form of tsotel. Tsotel, an organometallic mercury sulfide compound, is added in small amounts to specific medicines to enhance the potency of other ingredients. In concordance with tantric Buddhist ideas, Tibetan medical practitioners confront and tame poisonous substances, and instead of avoiding or expelling them, transform them into potent medicines and elixirs. Recently, the UN Environment Programme's global ban on mercury, the Minamata convention, has sparked debates on the use of mercury in Asian medicines. As Asian medical traditions increasingly intersect with biomedical science and technology, what is at stake when Tibetan medical practitioners in India and Nepal, researchers, and regulators negotiate mercury's toxicity and safety? Who determines what is "toxic" and what is "safe," and how? What does this mean for the future of traditional Asian medical and pharmaceutical practices?

Erscheinungsdatum	13.04.2021
Reihe/Serie	Heidelberg Studies on Transculturality ; 7
Zusatzinfo	mit Abbildungen
Verlagsort	Heidelberg
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Gewicht	680 g
Themenwelt	Studium ► Querschnittsbereiche ► Geschichte / Ethik der Medizin
Schlagworte	Anthropologie • Asiatische Medizin • Quecksilber
ISBN-10	3-96822-043-9 / 3968220439
ISBN-13	978-3-96822-043-7 / 9783968220437
Zustand	Neuware