Editing Creosote (section)

=====Medical=====
Even before creosote as a chemical compound was discovered, it was the chief active component of medicinal remedies in different cultures around the world.

In antiquity, pitches and resins were used commonly as medicines. [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] mentions a variety of tar-like substances being used as medicine, including ''cedria'' and ''pissinum''.<ref name=cormack58/> ''Cedria'' was the pitch and resin of the cedar tree, being equivalent to the oil of tar and pyroligneous acid which are used in the first stage of distilling creosote.<ref name=parr383/><ref name=pliny8/> He recommends cedria to ease the pain in a toothache, as an injection in the ear in case of hardness of hearing, to kill parasitic worms, as a preventive for infusion, as a treatment for [[phthiriasis]] and [[wikt:porrigo|porrigo]], as an antidote for the poison of the [[sea hare]], as a liniment for [[elephantiasis]], and as an ointment to treat [[ulcer]]s both on the skin and in the lungs.<ref name=pliny8/> He further speaks of cedria being used as the embalming agent for preparing mummies.<ref name=cormack58/> ''Pissinum'' was a tar water that was made by boiling cedria, spreading wool fleeces over the vessels to catch the steam, and then wringing them out.<ref name=berkeley9/><ref name=pliny290/>

[[File:John Smibert - Bishop George Berkeley - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Portrait of [[George Berkeley|Bishop Berkeley]] by [[John Smybert]], 1727]]
The ''Pharmacopée de Lyon'', published in 1778, says that cedar tree oil is believed to cure vomiting and help medicate tumors and ulcers.<ref name=cormack59/><ref name=vitet427/> Physicians contemporary to the discovery of creosote recommended ointments and pills made from tar or pitch to treat skin diseases.<ref name=cormack59/> [[Tar water]] had been used as a folk remedy since the Middle Ages to treat affections like dyspepsia. [[George Berkeley|Bishop Berkeley]] wrote several works on the medical virtues of tar water, including a philosophical work in 1744 titled ''Siris: a chain of philosophical reflexions and inquiries concerning the virtues of tar water, and divers other subjects connected together and arising one from another'', and a poem where he praised its virtues.<ref name=cd300/> Pyroligneous acid was also used at the time in a medicinal water called ''Aqua Binelli'' (Binelli's water),<ref name=cormack59/> a compound which its inventor, the Italian Fedele Binelli, claimed to have [[Hemostasis|hemostatic]] properties in his research published in 1797.{{sfn|Tsiamis |Sgantzou |Popoti |Papavramidou |2020}} These claims have since been disproven.{{sfn|Tsiamis |Sgantzou |Popoti |Papavramidou |2020}}{{sfn|Simon|1833}}{{sfn|Dunglison|1846|pp=64–65}}

Given this history, and the antiseptic properties known to creosote, it became popular among physicians in the 19th century. A dilution of creosote in water was sold in pharmacies as ''Aqua creosoti'', as suggested by the previous use of pyroligneous acid. It was prescribed to quell the irritability of the stomach and bowels and detoxify, treat ulcers and abscesses, neutralize bad odors, and stimulate the mucous tissues of the mouth and throat.<ref name=king617/><ref name=taylor207/> Creosote in general was listed as an [[irritation|irritant]], [[styptic]], [[antiseptic]], [[narcotic]], and [[diuretic]], and in small doses when taken internally as a [[sedative]] and [[anaesthetic]]. It was used to treat ulcers, and as a way to sterilize the tooth and deaden the pain in case of a tooth-ache.<ref name=king617/>

Creosote was suggested as a treatment for tuberculosis by Reichenbach as early as 1833. Following Reichenbach, it was argued for by [[John Elliotson]] and Sir [[John Rose Cormack]].<ref name=king617/> Elliotson, inspired by the use of creosote to arrest vomiting during an outbreak of [[cholera]], suggested its use for tuberculosis through inhalation. He also suggested it for epilepsy, neuralgia, diabetes, and chronic [[glanders]].<ref name=whittaker77/> The idea of using it for tuberculosis failed to be accepted. Use for this purpose was dropped, until the idea was revived in 1876 by British doctor [[G. Anderson Imlay]], who suggested it be applied locally by spray to the bronchial mucous membrane.<ref name=king617/><ref name=imlay514/><ref name=dobbell315/> This was followed up in 1877 when it was argued for in a clinical paper by [[Charles-Joseph Bouchard|Charles Bouchard]] and [[Henri Gimbert]].<ref name=kinnicut514/> Germ theory had been established by [[Louis Pasteur|Pasteur]] in 1860, and Bouchard, arguing that a [[bacillus]] was responsible for the disease, sought to rehabilitate creosote for its use as an antiseptic to treat it. He began a series of trials with Gimbert to convince the scientific community, and claimed a promising cure rate.<ref name=contrepois211/> A number of publications in Germany confirmed his results in the following years.<ref name=kinnicut514/>

Later, a period of experimentation with different techniques and chemicals using creosote in treating tuberculosis lasted until about 1910, when radiation therapy seemed more promising. Guaiacol, instead of a full creosote solution, was suggested by [[Hermann Sahli]] in 1887. He argued it had the active chemical of creosote and had the advantage of being of definite composition and having a less unpleasant taste and odor.<ref name=kinnicut515/> A number of solutions of both creosote and guaiacol appeared on the market, such as ''phosphotal'' and ''guaicophosphal'', phosphites of creosote and guaiacol; ''eosot'' and ''geosot'', valerinates of creosote and guaicol; ''phosot'' and ''taphosot'', phosphate and tannophospate of creosote; and ''creosotal'' and ''tanosal'', tannates of creosote.<ref name=coblentz/> Creosote and eucalyptus oil were also a remedy used together, administered through a vaporizor and inhaler. Since then, more effective and safer treatments for tuberculosis have been developed.

In the 1940s, Canadian-based [[Eldon Boyd]] experimented with guaiacol and a recent synthetic modification—glycerol guaiacolate ([[guaifenesin]])—on animals. His data showed that both drugs were effective in increasing secretions into the airways in laboratory animals, when high-enough doses were given.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}