Herbal Medicines to Pharmaceuticals – by Jessica Lane
Scientific discovery exploded onto the scene during the nineteenth century.  Victorian Britain set about exploring the world and everything in it.  Chemistry was born from alchemy and became a science instead of a mystical art.

The advent of modern chemistry made it possible for the first time to isolate active components in medicinal herbs.  What excited chemists was that the substances that were extracted from the plant material displayed characteristics that were distinctly different from the original plants.  The study of isolates made it possible for chemists to take a further step and begin to synthesize many of the active ingredients within a laboratory.

Morphine was first identified in 1803 by a twenty year old German apothecary’s assistant by the name of Adam Serturner.  He was fascinated with the effects of poppy opium and eventually set a goal of isolating and extracting its sleep inducing constituent.  He set up experiments in the back room of his workplace and with nothing more ordinary than glass flasks, tubes and flames, Serturner was able to extract the white crystals of opium and went on to demonstrate their narcotic effect on a mouse, four dogs and four young men, of which he was one.  He called this new substance morphine, after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams.  Serturner also discovered that morphine was an alkaloid and he thus laid the cornerstone for alkaloidal chemistry which allows doctors to prescribe drugs in precise doses.  The alkaloids are the most potent chemicals known to mankind.

Some of the more commonly known alkaloids are nicotine, atropine and of course morphine.  They are usually addictive and can be recognized by their chemical names ending in the suffix “ine”.  Alkaloids can be deadly poisons when used at certain levels but small amounts of these substances are also contained in many safe and gentle herbs including violets and valerian.  In these particular plants, the alkaloids do not become active on their own but act in a supportive role to the general effectiveness of the whole plant.  Many pharmaceutical drugs are derived from plant alkaloids and pharmacologists tend to like them and look for them in new plants with the hope of discovering new medicines.

Other chemists soon followed in Serturner’s footsteps and in 1818, Josef Pelletier of France along with a colleague, Caventou, isolated strychnine from the seeds of the Strychnos nux vomica tree, as well as chlorophyll from green leaves.  In 1819 Ferdinand Runge of Germany isolated caffeine and Pelletier followed in 1820 with the isolation of quinine from cinchona bark.  Other achievements soon followed; aconitine from monkshood and atropine from deadly nightshade.  All but one of these, caffeine, are alkaloids. In 1852 there was another major breakthrough when the laboratories of the Bayer Company in Germany created the world’s first synthetic drug.  One of the active ingredients in willow bark was synthesized to become the most widely known drug in the world. The new synthetic was very irritating to the stomach and was modified in 1899 to cause less irritation and acetyl-salicylic acid was officially launched as Aspirin™.

In North America the practice of herbalism became almost forgotten as the love affair with chemistry blossomed.  Herbalism continued in Europe and elsewhere in the world and still makes up a significant part of medical treatments in those countries.  Almost 2/3rds of the world’s population depends on herbal medicines as their first line of defence against illness. 

While academic medical schools in North America received generous financial support from wealthy industrialists and financiers, herbal colleges were excluded.  Scientific medicine took over from natural healing and herbal medicine all but disappeared from public consciousness. In England, herbal medicine had originally been protected by the royal decree of Henry VIII, so different British schools of herbal healing were able to form their own strong association and are still influential today under the name of National Institute of Medical Herbalists.  In fact, Britain is one of the few countries in the world today that offer extensive training for Medical Herbalists as recognized profession. Herbalists are permitted to diagnose and treat patients in Britain, sending patients along to a physician only if deemed necessary.  British Medical Herbalists also practice in hospitals.

In Germany and Switzerland, herbal traditions were kept alive by some of the greatest naturopaths and healers who gained the respect of both the public and physicians.

It is thanks to these remarkable men and women that doctors in Germany and Switzerland still prescribe herbal remedies, and pharmacies carry both pharmaceutical drugs as well as herbal medicines.  However, it is unfortunate that with the growth of the pharmaceutical industry into one of the largest industries in the world that herbal remedies are slowly being replaced with more and more pharmaceutical drugs.  Due to the fact that natural substances cannot be patented, herbal remedies offer little monetary incentive to the large pharmaceutical houses and stand in direct competition with drugs that have cost millions of dollars to bring to market.  Due to this market competition the pharmaceutical industry has been quite aggressive in some countries and have lobbied to remove herbal products from the market all together, claiming that they are unsafe due to the fact that doses cannot be precisely calibrated the same way a synthesized drug can.  What is ignored in this argument is the perfect package that Nature has created, harmoniously blending within the same plant substances that offset negative effects of other constituents.

The next article will cover the revival of herbal medicine in North America and the preservation of traditional herbal practices worldwide. Health and happiness to you and your precious animal companions.  Jessica Lane

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