Medicines, from rain forest

Balick MJ, Mendelsohn R. (1992). Assessing the economic value of traditional medicines from tropical rain forests. Conservation Biology, 6, 128-130. See also Svastad H, Dhillion SS. (2000). Responding to bioprospecting—from biodiversity in the south to medicines in the north. 

Some of the most promising places to search for suitable plants are in the tropical rain forests, although even plants in places such as Milton Keynes seem to have medicinal uses, for example willow tree bark. The willow tree was the original source of aspirin-like medicines in Britain. It cured the pains from various complaints. 

So the question should now be asked is there a future in the past The answer lies in two areas. The first is in the general context of today s trend. There is still an interest in traditional medicines in the Highlands by doctors and pharmacists as evidenced by the existence of the Scottish Society of Historical Medicine. There is also the impact of plant based medicines and self medication in Eastern Europe and Germany, which continues the Celtic tradition of preventative medicine. In addition, there is the role of Chinese and Ayurvedic medicines and traditions from the rain forests of South America. All of this is fuelled by the interest of consumers in self administered, health and body care using plant based materials. 

HI. TS Kam. PS Tan, and PY Hoong in Proceeding . Regional Conference on Medicinal Products from Tropical Rain Forest. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1991. 

The mixture of constituents [e.g., normacusine B (2), affinisine (8), Na-methylpericyclivine (41), voachalotine (64)] present in Peschiera van heur-ckii from the tropical rain forest in Bolivia is known for its alleged leishmani-cidal and bactericidal activity (37). Like many quaternary alkaloids, the major quaternary alkaloid from Strychnos angolensis, 11-methoxymacusine A (76), shows muscle-relaxant activity (187). The crude mixture of nine alkaloids present in Ervatamia yunnanensis is used in Chinese folk medicine for the treatment of hypertension (176). One of these alkaloids is a sarpagine derivative [voachalotine (64)]. 

For centuries, mankind has searched for the cure of illnesses in herbs. In that sense, approximately one third of drugs actually in use are from plant origin [1]. In the last decades, however, most of the drugs incorporated to the therapeutic arsenal come from synthetic sources. Nevertheless, in recent years a remarkable interest in the study of medicinal plants has appeared, mainly due to the concern about the destruction of rain forest habitats, with the risk of extinction of numerous species. Another fact is the loss of the knowledge related to the use of plant remedies by the people from native settlements, that is very common when they are incorporated to the urban life, and/or when their environmental conditions are seriously transformed. 

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