Humans have come a long way as a species. Our modern technologies and medicines have extended our lifetimes to a significant degree since historic times, to say nothing of prehistoric eras. We have learned how to manipulate raw materials and the power of the Earth to create medicines and treatments that will help cure diseases and extend our lives. However, you might be surprised to learn just how well modern medicines work with natural remedies and nature’s bounty–and how much is still out there to discover.
How Medicines are Made
It isn’t easy to bring a medicine to market. It’s an expensive process, experts agree, because so much goes into it. Professionals must research and discover new medicines, then test them in extensive ways. It takes a while to bring a medicine to the point at which professionals can use it in a safe manner for trials, and longer still to satisfy the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which must approve medicines before they can be marketed as treatments or cures. The process for supplements is less rigorous, but still quite pricey.
All that testing may seem a bit laboratory-centric, and indeed it is–but that doesn’t mean that our modern medicine-making is divorced from our old natural-remedy roots.
Nature’s Medicine Cabinet
Modern medicines go through rigorous testing in laboratories, where they process active ingredients into pills and other things that may look, at first glance, “unnatural.” However, we can trace many of our most cutting-edge medicines back to plants, other natural substances, and even folk remedies.
Take aspirin, for instance. Though we recognized it in its processed form, it is derived from nature–the willow tree, to be exact.
Other supplements and medicines come from nature, too, and even those that are a few steps removed from nature often aim to make natural things more efficient. Take whey protein supplements like Humapro for example — whey is a concentrated byproduct of making cheese that’s formulated in a way that is perfect for supplements. It’s still natural stuff!
More to Discover
Don’t think for a moment that medicines of the past are the only ones that have their roots in natural remedies. It’s not just our most popular medicines of today that rely on natural substances. Some of tomorrow’s most important discoveries might await in the field, rather than in the laboratory.
Take essential tremor treatments, for instance. Essential tremors are a type of shaking that is caused by a neurological condition and often has roots in poor circulatory functions within the body. Treatment options exist but there is still work to do. There are many essential tremor natural remedies worth researching and we have great reason to hope that the next breakthrough comes from the world of naturalized medicines.
That’s just one example, of course, but it speaks to the truth about modern medicines. Creating medicine is no easy task, and modern medicines are more effective and well-tested than ever–but, to a large extent, we’re still relying on the same natural bounty that helped our ancestors begin to treat themselves countless generations ago.
Infographic provided by The Emmes Company, a clinical research organization
