IN SEARCH OF NATURE’S SECRET
Posted on November 14th, 2009 in Alternative Medicine Ancient_Art, Treatment
Ephedra
Chinese peasants gain relief from a cold or cough by sipping a tea made from tough, green twigs of the shrub ephedra. They have done so for at least 5000 years, wihout the benefit of clinical trials and with little insight into the biochemistry of the plant’s active ingredients, ephedrine.
Halfway around the globe, sniffling Americans consume a purified version of the same ingredient in their over-the-counter cold and flu remedies. By reading the insert that comes with their foil-lined bubble-packs, they may learn that ephedrine stimulates the central nervous system, raises blood-pressure, and dilates the tiny air sacs deep withing the lungs. But few have a clue that their patented pill has botanical origins.
With our fixation on tablets and caplets, syrups and shots, we often forget that the Earth is a living apothecary, and that its residents have for millenia engaged in a painstaking apprenticeship aimed at mastering the secrets of its stockroom shelves.
Prescriptions inscribed upon bakery clay tablets and Egyptian papyrus document humanity’s early preoccupation with naturally occuring drugs. Countless numbers of our ancestors died nibbling on poisonous mushrooms or neurotoxic shellfish in their search for medicine. Informed at first by trial, error, and observation of animals – many of which appear to be remarkable savvy in their recognition of plants with antibiotic, purgative, or other properties – human gradually have evolved to the point where pharmaceutical drugs are virtually a staple of life in industrialized countries.
Marine Plankton
Yet for all their sophistication, the modern drugs so common today in developed world are not far removed from the plants that were relied on by our ancestors – and are relied on still in much of the world. Many antibiotics are produced by soil-dwelling microorganisms; blood-thinning anticoagulants come from marine plankton; and the bark of willow trees produces sailcylic acid, a precursor of common aspirin with similar pain-relieving properties.
Willow Tree
Thousand of plant and animal species may harbor compounds with some medicinal value. Unfortunately, many of them are on the verge of extinction before ever having divulged their critical secrets. With modern technologies capable of screening 40.000 raw compounds every year for their potential value in fighting cancer, AIDS, or other diseases, researchers are working feverishly to identify these organisms before it’s too late.
And even as some scientist race to learn what they can from disappearing species, others are creating entirely new ones. Biologists are learning how to harness the power of living cells by genetically engineering them to produce drugs that are more potent and more specific than anything found in nature. There is some fear that these gene-altered microorganisms, plants, and animals – untrained in the etiquette of ecological restraint – could someday become environmental bullies, disrupting the Earth’s delicate biological balance. It’s too soon to tell, but the early returns on the potential benefits of genetic manipulation are encouraging.
Already. Scientist have tinkered with tobacco plants, coercing them to make monoclonal antibodies with vast therapeutic and diagnotisc potential. And experimental, gene-altered sheep and mice now produce in their milk therapeutic enzymes and hormones not usually found there. Once scientist perfect the technologies for extracting designer drugs from engineering tobacco leaves and milk, the hope to raise these plants and animals as living biofactories to produce medicines more cheaply than can be achieved in the laboratory.
Ultimately, gene therapist hope to implant genetically engineered cells within our bodies, eliminating the need for some traditional drugs. Hemophiliacs, for example, who lack of blood-clotting protein called factor VIII and who today must receive periodic infusions of this compound, might get permanent implants of factor VIII – producing cells that would secrete, withing their bodies, the lacking protein in therapeutic quantities.
Despite the humbling fact that almost nothing is known about how medicines perform their physical and spiritual alchemy, we have moved successfully from plants to chemicals to gene-altered animals in our quest for drugs. But even the most creative drug designer acknowledges the value of Mother Nature’s arboretum as a starting points from which to create new compounds. With record numbers of plants becoming extinct every year, it is crucial to preserve at least some tissues or seeds from as many of these as possible – if not to grow them again, then at least to decode their hidden genetic messages, which may someday spell the cures for diseases that are ye to arrive. And in the long run, perhaps we will recognize that even these exquisitely encoded biological secrets represent only the veneer behind which lies the true essence of medicine – that enigmatic mediator between health and disease.
(By Rick Weiss, The Power to Heal, 1990)
 Rosy Periwinkle | Vinca rosea, also called as Madagascar Periwinkle. The research on the plant was very satisfactory as many of the properties hoped to be gained by the researchers was displayed by the plant, for example, the researchers found that the herb contained at least two anti-cancer alkaloids - the compounds vincristine and vinblastine - these two compounds were found to be capable of inhibiting the growth of tumors in the human body. Vincristine has proven to be of greater effectiveness when used in the treatment of childhood leukemia in affected children. Vinblastine was found to be effective in the treatment of testicular cancer and the condition known as Hodgkin's disease. Side effects which are similar to those induced by many chemical medications used during chemotherapy, were found to be inducible by these two alkaloids - taking the alkaloids induced nausea and hair loss in patients. |
 Dendrobates azureus | Its common name is poison dart frog, native to the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. Three very toxic species of poison dart frogs from Colombia and South America are utilized by Indians to poison the tips of blowgun darts. Frog's toxins are diverse that's why they have raised the interest of biochemists as a "natural pharmacy". The alkaloid epibatidine, a painkiller 200 times more potent than morphine, is found in some species of poison dart frogs. Other chemicals isolated from the skin of frogs may offer resistance to HIV infection. Arrow and dart poisons are under active investigation for their potential as therapeutic drugs that will stimulate the heart and brain, control pain, and relieve muscle spasms. |
 Sea cucumber | Also called as Gamat. According to analysis by principles of traditional Chinese medicine, the sea cucumber nourishes the blood and vital essence (jing), tonifies kidney qi (treats disorders of the kidney system, including reproductive organs), and moistens dryness (especially of the intestines). It has a salty quality and warming nature. Common medicinal uses of sea cucumber in China include treating: weakness, impotence, debility of the aged, constipation due to intestinal dryness, and frequent urination. |
 Carrot Root Wild | Latin Daucus carota. Anthelmintic, carminative, diuretic, stimulant. Carrot soup makes an effective remedy for diarrhea and is easily digestible for tohse suffering from stomach and intestinal problems. Carrot is also useful for preventing putrefaction in the intestine and for gastro-intestinal catarrh. The carrot's content of potassium salts accounts for its diuretic action, and it contains an essential oil that is effective agains roundworms. Super source of vitamin C and beta-carotene. A powerful anticancer, artery protecting, immune boosting, infection fighting antioxidant.The roots of Daucus carota subsp. sativus, are a source of orange dye, a coffee substitute, and a syrup. The seeds are a folk remedy for "morning after" treatment; their essence is used in liqueurs and perfumery. The roots kill bacteria and lower blood pressure. A herb tea acts as a diuretic and urinary antiseptic. |
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