Joy
Are there natural remedies for most diseases and ailments?
I want to become a medicinal chemist; however, I would like to create medicines through plants. Thus, I would like to know if anyone has discovered any plants that have healing properties. #scientist #medicine #botany
2 answers
Rachel Dobrozsi
Rachel’s Answer
https://aanmc.org/naturopathic-schools/
Hi Rachel, that's a super useful link but it doesn't help address the student's question. Are there natural remedies for most things?
Gurpreet Lally, Admin
Ian Pohl
Ian’s Answer
The simple answer is yes/no. There are a lot of things that have been synthesized from plants that we use in medicine now. Think Opioids ; they have been around a long time and have been used for a lot of aliments. Opiods are synthesized from the plant Papaver somniferum. This is not exclusive to this plant, Native american tribes in my area have been using local plants like Cuscuta californica as a laxative among other things. You can trace a lot of traditional medicines you use to synthesizing and creating the active ingredients, from plants, in a lab to make it more available to the public.
A good idea would be to start at the beginning. If you have any local native american tribes around your house you can visit their cultural centers and see if they have any texts; you can then use these texts to lead your research onto the chemical pathways and properties associated with the plants.
Ian recommends the following next steps: