I am
trying to make this post as casual as possible! So here it goes:
Before
entering this class, I knew the basic gist of what went into discovering a new
drug based on prior classes we have taken or just when doing research on my own.
However I did not know how much of drug discovery and the amount of common medications
we use (especially very important ones) were spontaneously found. Many
scientists back in the day discovered drugs by accident when treating a patient
for a completely different ailment, which is a great thing because that’s how
the first antibiotic (penicillin was discovered). I am actually very interested
in researching more about serendipitous drugs and what they originally were
used for and how they came to be a standard care of therapy for many diseases.
Another
thing I wanted to talk about was about herbal medicine. I have never been a fan
of using herbal medications or recommending them to others because I never
thought they were actually useful. But, the truth is I never really gave them a
chance. I assumed that if it did work
for people, it was ones that heard about it working from a friend and because
of the amazing placebo effect, it also worked from them as well. However after
thinking about it some more always be the case. For example, when
researching about Echinacea and the origins of it I found out it was originally
used by the Native Americans for multiple different reasons including for
snakebites, fever, and general pain. They had no expectation as to what this
herb would do for them but they just tried it out and it happened to help them
with these symptoms. So in conclusion, I have a better understanding of herbal
medications and though I do not believe they are the end-all be-all cure for
everything, I am at least more willing to give them a chance because maybe,
just maybe, they actually can be useful.
If you
have any opinions regarding either of these topics, whether you agree or
disagree or want to bring up a whole different point, please share!!
I wrote a comment to the post and it did not go through, but I wanted to say I agree it is pretty remarkable that drugs will be discovered in the hopes of curing one disease and end up being used for another disease. What I do not like is when the world of pharmaceuticals makes a disease or a demand for a new treatment for things we as humans do not need treatment... for example the FDA approval of Juvaderm Voluma. What is the world did the FDA approve this medication... we all age why is it a need to "defy gravity and lift the apples of your cheeks" -___-
ReplyDeletehttp://www.juvederm.com/what-is-juvederm/juvederm-voluma-xc.aspx
What I would really like to know is... what was this drug originally designed for? I m pretty sure the scientist who developed this drug did not scream in excitement "YES! We have a cure for the falling of the Apples of our Cheeks!!!!"