Ephedrine

WLMD ID: aknt & aknz

Ephedrine is a compound that occurs naturally in plants of the genus Ephedra. It can be synthesized, but is usually obtained from the plant Ephedra sinica. It has been used medicinally for thousands of years. Introduced to Western medicine in the 1920s, ephedrine is a central nervous system stimulant (stimulating the heart), a vasoconstrictor (increasing blood pressure), and a bronchodilator (easing difficult breathing).

In the 1930s, Dr. Paul M. Wood (1894-1963) conducted research with several central nervous system stimulants, including ephedrine. The examples seen here were collected by Dr. Wood.

Catalog Record: Ephedrine Catalog record unavailable.