Herbal and natural medicine is becoming increasingly popular in 21st century culture. It may be surprising to some that many of these herbal treatments and medicines have been around for centuries and are the basis for both commercially prepared medications, as well as the chemical manufacture of new pharmaceutical compounds (Phaneuf, 2005). One of these compounds, which has influenced chemistry and medicine for centuries is willow bark, which contains the chemical salicin (Boon, 2009). Its origins and discovery, as well as the historical culture, have influenced its incorporation as the common pharmaceutical preparation known as aspirin.
Historical writings of Hippocrates (460 BC-377 BC) refer to the use of a white powder made from the bark and leaves of willow trees for pain relief and fevers (Bellis). Native American lore also reports the chewing of willow bark and preparation of willow water for ailments such as toothache and headache (Phaneuf, 2005). In the 1700’s Edmund Stone, While trying to find a substitute for cinchona bark used for treating malaria, began experimenting with white willow bark and found it to be highly effective in treating pain and fevers (White Willow Bark). In 1826, a highly impure version of salicin was reported by Brugnatelli and Fontana (Bellis). Johann Buchner, in 1828, in the search for the active ingredient in willow bark, isolated yellow, needle-like crystals which he named salicin (Bellis). Soon after, Henri Leroux improved the extraction procedure, and in 1838, Raffaele Pira was able to split salicin into a sugar and an aromatic compound (Bellis). He converted this aromatic compound by hydrolysis and oxidation to the compound known now as salicylic acid (Bellis). In 1899, the German scienti...
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...LBA BARK EXTRACT EINECS ELINCS No 282-029-0 CAS 084082-82-6 Salicin 138-52-3.MDidea-Extracts Professional.S038. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://mdidea.com/products/herbextract/salicin/data02.html
Image References http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Salix_alba_leaves.jpg/220px-Salix_alba_leaves.jpg http://www.pollenlibrary.com/library_images/species_maps/Salix-alba.png http://www.ideafinder.com/images/inventors/hoffmann.jpg http://www.ideafinder.com/images/inventions/aspirin.gif http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Salicin-perspective-2D-skeletal.png/800px-Salicin-perspective-2D-skeletal.png http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Salicylic-acid-skeletal.svg/256px-Salicylic-acid-skeletal.svg.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Aspirin-skeletal.svg/336px-Aspirin-skeletal.svg.png
While identifying new medicinal clues from the plant Salvia leucantha (Figure 1), Aoyagi et al. successfully isolated Salvileucalin B in 2008.1 Plants of the Salvia type have a very rich history in medicine. The name Salvia actually originates from the Latin word salvare, which means ‘to heal’. This isolated molecule exerts cytoxic activity against A594 (human lung adenocarcinoma) and HT-29 (human colon adenocarcinoma) cells with IC50 values of 5.23 and 1.88 µg/mL, respectively.1 Salvileucalin B is a unique member of the clerodane family because it contains an attractive carbon framework. The structure of this molecule is shown in Figure 2 below:
Innovated by the fact that ancient people use willow bark to ease pain, the first chemically pure and stable acetylsalicylic acid was synthesized by a German chemist called Felix Hoffmann, in 1897 (Bayer AG, 2011). Aspirin was firstly taken by his father in order to reduce his arthritis pain. Aspirin successfully eased the pain. After two years’ laboratory experiment, aspirin as a product was first launched by Bayer AG in 1899 (Bayer AG, 2011). The coming world war accidentally boosted the demand of aspirin.
White willow relieves pain more slowly than aspirin, but smaller doses are required and its effects can last longer suggest the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMM). White willow bark may be useful for treating the following conditions: Headache, low back pain and osteoarthritis.
Homeopathy medicine is a self-healing alternative medicine developed in 1790 by German physician and chemist Samuel Hahnemann. Homeopathy medicine aims to treat the whole body and not just the symptoms. Homeopathy medicine was very popular throughout the united states during the early 1900 but began to die out after the civil war. Homeopathy medicine is approximately 200 years old, though it is believed to have originated in 400 B.C through Hippocrates. However, Samuel Hahnemann gave this medical practice a name in the late 1700s and developed three principles for Homeopathy medicine that still stands today. Homeopathy medicine was developed in the late 1700s, which saw a period of unhygienic and brutal medical techniques. Samuel a physician
Each year, people spend billions of dollars on pharmaceutical drugs, but what if there was an option that was cheaper and natural? Herbal medicine has been around for thousands of years and shows no sign of stopping. Many are familiar with Aloe Vera, a plant commonly used to treat burns, but it can also be used to speed the healing process of cuts. Herbal remedies have been around for a long time and have saved lives, like little Teddy’s life in No Witchcraft for Sale.
With the advancement in the world civilization and the passing of the world into the modern world, there is also a progression in the medical field and man has identified many new medicines and developed many of the old medicines into more efficient medical ointments and also has established several new methods of treatment and alleviation of the hu...
One of the major aspects of biodiversity is its assessment, which is nominated by its resources. Much concentration in drug plants was evinced during the early period of civilization. The use of plants for remedial purpose various human ailments and has prominently figured in ancient manuscripts such as ‘The Rigvedas’,‘The Bible’, ‘The Iliad’, ‘The Odyssey’, ‘The Sushrutsamhita’ and ‘The History of Herodotus’. The ancient Chinese were by means of drug plants more than six centuries ago. They were the pioneers in using plants as a valuable source of medicine.
In the ancient and medieval time, antipyretic agents were only found in willow bark and in cinchona bark [2]. Willow bark was used as a pain reliever [3]. People were advised to chew on the bark in order to relieve pain and fever [3]. Cinchona bark was used for increasing appetite, however people also used it for common cold and fever [4]. When the cinchona tree started to decrease in the 1880s, people started to look for other alternatives [2]. During the 1880s, antipyretics agents were developed, which were acetanilide and phenacetin [2]. These properties of acetaminophen were discovered by accident [2]. It occurred when the molecule acetanilide was added to a patient’s prescription [2]. By this time, this drug had been synthesized via the reduction of p-nitorphenol [2]. However the drug acetaminophen was still not used medically for another 20 years [2]. In 1893, acetaminophen was found in the urine sample of an individual who had taken phenacetin [2]. This drug was concentrated into an odorless, white, crystalline compound that was found to have a bitter taste [2]. Acetaminophen was discovered to be a metabolite of acetanilide, however the discovery was ignored at that time [2]. It was later on that acetaminophen was found to have pain and fever relieving properties
Using plants for medical purposes is an idea that has been around throughout history. Many different types of peoples, cultures, and religions use what is found in nature to cure their ailments, prevent illness, or prolong beauty. Many of these peoples use symbols, creams, or even watch the stars to achieve these actions all over the world. We see symbols of herbalism even as far back as the Garden of Eden. The bible states,
The use of natural products as medicine has been practiced for thousands of years. Natural products can be very diverse and yield the best medicinal results because they may produce fewer side effects. Natural products are used as the starting products by pharmaceutical companies when trying to create new, modernized medicines. Making medicine out of natural products has had a lasting effect on organic chemistry because it paved the path for modern, medicinal research on pharmaceuticals and for the development of new, synthetic medicines synthesized in a laboratory setting.
In recent years, the exposure of pill-peddling pharmaceutical companies and the dangers- such as the various toxins and the risk of dependence- that their manufactured drugs pose on the body has turned more and more people of the western world back to basics for their health care. Richard L. Nahin from the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine states that according to the institute’s latest research, "It's clear that millions of Americans every year are turning to complementary and alternative medicine."
Modern medicine has eradicated diseases such as smallpox, polio, and malaria in many parts of the world, preventing many deaths. Yet, with many emerging alternative practices, the American society is slowly becoming more reliant on alternative medicines with little scientific evidence. However, one alternative practice, homeopathy, is slowly becoming accepted by many physicians. Now that homeopathy is sanctioned by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), many physicians and scientists believe that this practice is as effective as allopathic medicine. Even with the acceptance by the FDA, there are still low amounts of prescription medicine based on homeopathy and many homeopathic remedies are not used in hospitals. This creates a question: If many physicians suggest the use of homeopathic medicines, does that actually mean it works; can they be equivalently compared to allopathic medicines? Although homeopathic medicines are considered as alternative medicines, approval by the Federal Drug Administration allows homeopathic medicine to be used in equivalence to over-the-counter allopathic medicine.
Since the birth of mankind there has been a close relationship between life, disease and plants. Ancient men started studying the diseases and treatments. There is no evidence till today that the prehistoric man had used synthetic drugs for their ailments, but proofs are there for the usage of things they could easily get for these kinds of problem. The common thing what they can procure easily for these ailments were from plants and animals. They found out that majority of flora were useful as food and others were of medicinally useful or of poisonous nature. By their own experience the knowledge on these plants were transferred from generations to generations and these forms as a basement of folk medicine. Thus the history of herbal medicine
Herbal products are medicinal agents obtained from the plants. It’s all started 100 years ago by ancient people. Since synthetic medicine are not yet invented by that time, ancient people had invented medicine out of the plants. Through generations the original herbal medicine had been modified due to the new knowledge discovered and technologies invented.
When you are sick you take medicine, but there are many remedies for the same problems. The use of herbal remedies traces back to the Chinese in the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well by a compiled book in China written back more than 2,000 years ago (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). Modern medicine has roots that are more recent in the development and production of synthesize drugs (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). The old generations took herbal remedies to improve their health, but now as time and people, progressed modern medicine comes on top. Herbal and modern medicines have good and bad points, but one has qualities that are more effective.