Chemistry

Medicinal Chemistry: Fusion of Traditional Medicine

A new paradigm has emerged for drug development and patient care. It is fusion of traditional and modern medicine or system or reductionist thinking. The difference between something personalized and participatory medicine. The truth is that modern medicine is desperately short of new treatments. It takes years for a new drug to get through the research and development pipeline to manufacture and the cost is enormous. Estimates suggest up to 80 per cent of the population has tried a therapy such as acupuncture or homeopathy and a survey conducted earlier this year found that 74 per cent of us medical students believe that western medicine would benefit by integrating traditional or alternative therapies and practices.  Example –Artemisinin, which is extracted from Artemisia Annua or Chinese sweet wormwood, is the basis for the most effective malaria drugs the world has ever seen. But making traditional medicine truly mainstream incorporating its knowledge into modern healthcare and ensuring it meets modern safety and efficacy standards is no easy task and is far from complete. There are many examples of traditional remedies used by people. Willow bark was used to treat headaches and fever. Quinine was used to treat malaria.