[Traditional medicine and the present: the therapy of gout]

The authors describe the history of treatment of gout by using colchicine (colchicum; the active substance of Colchicum autumnale). The references to this plant and its effects (incl. several recipes for the preparation of remedies) in the gout treatment date back already from the antiquity, but the indisputable evidence of its use in the therapy of the disease in question comes only from the 6th century AD, by Alexander of Tralles. At present, colchicine became an officially preferred drug. Some other examples of medicines of plant origin (e.g. verbena), which were used already by ancient civilizations and are often chosen for therapy even today. The potential of medicinal drugs hasnt been completely exhausted yet.