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The documented history of plants used for medicine began in 1500 BC in China, India and Africa. The scientific method broke the close connection between plants and their medicinal properties when natural compounds where synthesized through chemistry. Although the average person may not realize the source of the medicines they depend on, the pharmaceutical companies know that plants are their primary source. Plants used for medicine are continuing to be discovered and added to those that have become almost commonly known.
The ancient healers wrote down what plants to use to cure particular ailments for the benefit of future generations. They simply accepted that the plants did what they did. The 1820 issue of the American Pharmacopoeia contained listing of all the drugs of the day. Plant-based drugs accounted for 70% of those listed. When the 1960 edition was published that number was down to 5.3%.
Today pharmaceutical giants spend millions every year to find plants to use for modern medicines. They search the rain forests of South America, the jungles of Africa and the mountains of the Far East for the indigenous tribes that hold knowledge of the medicinal value of the plants in their areas. The fields of anthropology and botany have been merged into a specialized field called ethnobotany and a practice called the natural products discovery process. The ethnobotanist learns what part, how it is prepared, what conditions it is good for, and the kind of healing properties a plant has from the tribesmen. The sample and the information gathered provided to chemists to be analyzed and synthesized is key to the mass production of 'modern' medicines in developed countries around the world.
Some plants used for medicine for years are foxglove for digitalis, willow bark for aspirin, vinca minor for vasicine, Pacific yew for paclitaxel and docetaxel, bitter orange for rutin, and cinchona genus trees for quinine to just name a few. Some medicines still use the actual plant as a base. Many plants have been the source of the blueprint for the synthetic compounds used to make drugs. Digitalis and heart medicine have become almost synonymous in the modern world. Aspirin is used for pain relief by millions. Vasicine is a cerebral stimulant. The anticancer drug Taxol is the brand name for paclitaxel while docetaxel is used in Taxotere which is still under investigation for the treatment of carcinomas, malignant melanoma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Rutin is used to treat capillary fragility in the elderly. And everyone knows quinine was the wonder drug for malaria but it also kills parasites, reduces fever and reduces spasms. In 2000, there were over 120 plants used for medicine for their distinct chemical substances.
The connection between plants used for medicine and the drugs that are the end product may be obscured by the white capsules and medicine bottles handed to us over the pharmacy counter, but it is still very strong. New careers are being built on rediscovering and uncovering the vast number of plants used for medicine by native peoples around the world.
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Author Bio Box: Patricia Wainwright
Get all the facts about health and nutrition and organic gardening at GreenThumbArticles.com!
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