From Plant To Pill... Discovering The Real Treasures Coming From The Amazon Rain Forest...

drdave (56)in #nature • 7 years ago

For over 500 years people have been seeking the riches of the Amazon rain forest. Christopher Columbus was the first to arrive in 1498 to explore the northern most coastlines of South America. As word of his discovery eventually spread to Europe, Spanish Conquistadores led by Francisco Pizarro wasted no time setting sail for the new world - intent on finding treasure and conquering new lands for Spain. Throughout the 1500's and 1600’s, explorers and treasure seekers flood to South America to claim its riches. Initially establishing Gran Colombia (Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador), followed by Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. Very few of the native peoples customs, traditions, and cultures survived, unfortunately taking with them what the world would eventually realize to be the true wealth contained within the Amazon rain forest – the accumulated knowledge of medicinal and therapeutic plants used by medicine men and shamans for 1000’s of years.

The biodiversity of the Amazon basin is well known, its flora and fauna have long been prized as a food source and much of the European continent and Asia depend on its various crops. Over the last five centuries the rainforests of the world (not just the Amazon) have given us many of the fruits and vegetables now consumed in the western world - oranges, grapefruits, lemons, avocados, coconuts, bananas, guavas, pineapples, tomatoes, mangos, corn, potatoes, sugar cane, yams, rice, and squash. Of the 3000 or more species of fruits found in the worlds rainforests, less than 200 are consumed in the western (so called civilized) world.

Unfortunately in the modern political and economic environment, rainforest land is mistakenly valued only for its timber, mining, and fossil fuel resources, by corporations and shortsighted governments. Over half of the worlds ten million species of plants and animals come from tropical rainforests and at the current rate of loss, most rainforest lands will be gone within forty years – one and a half acres of rainforest land is lost every second. As the rainforest gradually disappears, so too does the possibility of discovering potentially valuable drugs derived from the hundreds of rainforest species being lost to deforestation every day.

At present there are 125 different drugs with active ingredients derived directly from rainforest plants. These drugs are used to treat everything from anxiety to infertility and every conceivable ailment in between. In recent years rainforest plant derived drugs have been developed to treat diabetes, cancer, alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, HIV/AIDS, and many more. Most notably, the US National Cancer Institute has identified over 2000 rainforest plant species to have ingredients “active against cancer cells”, and there are likely thousands of rainforest plants waiting to be discovered and added to the list of pharmacopeia.

Millions of dollars have been invested by government agencies and pharmaceutical companies in an effort to discover, catalog, analyze, and test the various plant species coming out of the jungles – as the list of potentially useful compounds continues to grow, so too does the question, how many possible cures are we loosing every day, and how many miracle drugs have we already lost? However much we may desire immediate results from the exploration of the Amazon, it is unfortunately not feasible to expect a plethora of rain forest cures and remedies to start pouring out of the jungles overnight. The discovery of so many plants that contain beneficial compounds, and the rapid advances in genomics, is making the time it takes to go from from plant to pill increasingly faster – but there is still a long way to go.

Perhaps in the not too distant future, cures for many of the worlds most deadly diseases will be developed and we will owe it all to an ugly yellow vine, or small blue flower, or the root bark from a tree no one ever bothered to pay attention to before – or perhaps the cure for cancer is inside an obscure fungus that used to grow in the lower Amazon basin, but no longer exists.

Alternative medicine, bringing with it all the risks and benefits, has clearly established itself in the lives and bodies of many people around the world – and what we call “alternative medicine” in America, is typically called conventional medicine in many other countries.

The following are just a few of the plants and herbal remedies the rain forest has provided for us. These are the same plants that big pharmaceutical companies are attempting to develop into treatments and life saving cures – ironically they are the same plants drug companies discourage the use of (calling them pseudoscience) and would probably prefer you did not know about.

1- Cinchona, the entire modern era of ethnobotany inside the worlds rainforests began with Cinchona, it is the only source of natural quinine – the first cure for malaria, has antiviral and antipyretic properties, is also used to stimulate the appetite, treat headaches, colds, and leg cramps.

2- Jaborandi, perhaps the only true diaphoretic currently known to exist, can be consumed cold and is devoid of side effects unless consumed in large quanities.

3- Yerba Mate, renowned for its stimulant and nutritive effects (high nutritional value), used to treat hay fever, asthma, improve digestion, enhance the appetite, combat fatigue, as a cardiotonic, and as a immunotonic.

4- Wasai Tree Root, the root is ground up and prescribed as a diuretic.

5- Lapacho, is probably the most known and widely used rain forest remedy available in the US. Most notably used to treat cancer (specifically leukemia), alleviate pain from chemotherapy and arthritis, has well documented anti-oxidant properties, and has shown to be effective inhibitor of viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi, and infection. Considered to be one of the great tonic herbs.

6- Guarana, widely used as a stimulant.

7- Cordoncillo, used as an anesthetic (internal and topical), chewing on the leaves causes numbness in the mouth and soothes upset stomach, external topical - used by rubbing it on a wound to for the same numbing properties.

8- Boldo, used by indigenous people to treat liver ailments and gallstones, has been recommended by western doctors as a diuretic, and laxative.

9- Tawari Tree Bark, has multiple anti cancer properties, used to treat infection, cancerous cells, tumors, and inflammation.

10- Sodo, can be used as a treatment for addiction of nicotine, alcoholism.

11- Pusangade Motelo, is used to treat anxiety and has a calming effect, a good alternative to mass produced psychotropic medications.

12- Cola De Raton, (Rats Tail) is used to aid in digestion and to calm upset stomach.

13- Canellila, traditionally used to increase the likelihood of conception, often used to treat women with ovarian cysts and tumors.

14- Suma, (Brazilian Ginseng), also known as “Para Toda” has anti-cancer properties, used as an aphrodisiac, healing tonic, energizer, also believed to enhance the immune system.