Panacea (medicine)

A panacea is any supposed remedy that is claimed (for example) to cure all <a href="/facts/Disease/55eeQlGL">diseases</a> and <a href="/facts/Immortality/nDAb6CKo">prolong life indefinitely</a>. Named after the Greek goddess of universal remedy <a href="/facts/Panacea/CoVWDbYT">Panacea</a>, it was in the past sought by <a href="/facts/Alchemy/CEx0U1Em">alchemists</a> in connection with the <a href="/facts/Elixir_of_life/3fyzaRsh">elixir of life</a> and the <a href="/facts/Philosopher%27s_stone/QA0SE7VS">philosopher's stone</a>, a mythical substance that would enable the <a href="/facts/Chrysopoeia/bNAzlDqf">transmutation</a> of common <a href="/facts/Metal/PT8hNX6R">metals</a> into <a href="/facts/Gold/1znknojp">gold</a>.
Through the 18th and 19th centuries, many "patent medicines" were claimed to be panaceas, and they became very big business.
The term "panacea" is used in a negative way to describe the overuse of any one solution to solve many different problems, especially in medicine. The word has acquired connotations of <a href="/facts/Snake_oil/mGozkeMX">snake oil</a> and <a href="/facts/Quackery/CA5N20JR">quackery</a>.
A panacea (or panaceum) is also a literary term to represent any solution to solve all problems related to a particular issue.

Panacea (medicine) open-in-new

Panacea (medicine)