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GEOGRAPHY - Disease Debates > 5.A - nature has provided medicines for thousands of years > Flashcards

5.A - nature has provided medicines for thousands of years Flashcards

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1
Q

key idea

A
  • the key compounds for most medicines come from naturally occurring plants/animals
  • mostly found in the rainforest
  • these have to be “found”, synthesised and made into useable drugs.
  • this causes issues - who owns the drug, what if we cut the forests down before we discover them, can this help protect rainforests?
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2
Q

what is STEP ONE to take a medicinal plant to a widely accessible drug?

A
  • identify the plant. a useful plant needs identifying
  • bioprospecting = send people out to places to find these plants
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3
Q

what is STEP TWO to take a medicinal plant to a widely accessible drug?

A
  • get locals w/ knowledge about traditional medicines involved
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4
Q

what is STEP THREE to take a medicinal plant to a widely accessible drug?

A
  • isolate the useful bits = ALKALOIDS
  • experiments in lab. find the uses for it then manufacture the drug
  • involves testing on animals and people
  • bio-chemists. highly educated. need TNC pharmaceuticals to fund
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5
Q

what is STEP FOUR to take a medicinal plant to a widely accessible drug?

A
  • finished drug
  • sell the drug
  • individuals buy them
  • OR big companies/healthcare providers e.g. NHS buy them
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6
Q

what is the SOURCE of Salicin?

A

bark of white willow/other willow species

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7
Q

what is the SOURCE of Quinine?

A

dried bark of cinchonas evergreen tree

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8
Q

what is the SOURCE of morphine?

A

dried latex from seed pods of several species of opium poppy

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9
Q

what is the SOURCE of **artemisinin*?

A

artemisia annua

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10
Q

what are the GROWING CONDITIONS of Salicin?

A
  • widespread on river banks, flood plains and wetland throughout the temperate zone
  • thrives on a range of soils from light sands to heavy clay
  • soil pH from 5.5 to 8.0
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11
Q

what are the GROWING CONDITIONS of Quinine?

A
  • avg temps above 20C
  • humid conditions with annual rainfall in excess of 2000mm over at least 8 months
  • no frost
  • well drained, fertile soils w/ abundant organic matter and good moisture holding capacity
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12
Q

what are the GROWING CONDITIONS of morphine?

A
  • warm and humid conditions
  • clear, sunny, 30-38C
  • deep, clay heavy well drained soils rich in humus
  • susceptible to frost and wet weather
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13
Q

what are the GROWING CONDITIONS of artemisinin?

A
  • temperate climate
  • optimal temps 13-29C
  • frost tolerant
  • at least 600-650 mm rainfall
  • soils light to medium textured. well drained and fertile
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14
Q

what is the MEDICINAL USE of Salicin?

A
  • acts like aspirin
  • used for pain relief, gout, osteoarthritis etc
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15
Q

what is the MEDICINAL USE of quinine?

A

kills malarial parasite in red blood cells

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16
Q

what is the MEDICINAL USE of morphine?

A

pain relief

17
Q

what is the MEDICINAL USE of artemisinin?

A

anti malarial drugs

18
Q

rosy periwinkle original use

A
  • traditional madagascan healers used the rosy periwinkle for treating diabetes
  • this led to its study by western scientists who then discovered its anti-cancer properties
19
Q

what drugs does rosy periwinkle help produce?

A
  • VINBLASTINE and VINCRISTINE
  • Vinblastine has helped increase the change of surviving childhood leukaemia from 10% to 95%
  • vincristine is used to treat Hodgkin’s disease
20
Q

how has rosy periwinkle been profitable for drug companies?

A
  • these medicines have proved very profitable for global drug companies
  • worldwide sales are worth over £75 million/yr but virtually none of this money finds its way back to Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world
21
Q

how are pharmaceutical companies addressing the profit imbalances?

A
  • some pharmaceutical companies are trying to redress this imbalance by working closely with ethnographic-botanists and indigenous healers, and sharing profits more equitably
  • there are also recent international agreements which have tried to ensure more profits from the commercial development of plant species return to the country of origin
  • one agreement is the Convention on Biological Diversity which seeks the “fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources”, together with the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components
22
Q

where is rosy periwinkle found?

A
  • rainforests of south-eastern and eastern madagascar
  • grown ornamentally around the world
  • native to rainforests which are being rapidly deforested
  • the alkaloids for the cancer treatments can’t be made synthetically. have to rely on plant being grown commercially in Madagascar
23
Q

what does rosy periwinkle require?

A
  • the plant requires a warm, tropical climate without frost
  • and soils that are well drained but moisture retaining
  • and slightly acidic
24
Q

is rosy periwinkle synthesis-able?

A
  • currently scientists have been unable to synthesis the alkaloids and the production of drugs relies on commercial cultivation of the rosy periwinkle mainly in India, Central Asia and Madagascar
25
Q

global sales of vincristine and vinblastine

A
  • global sales of vincristine and vinblastine are worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually to Eli Lilly, the US pharmaceutical giant that developed them
  • however, few of these profits are channelled back to Madagascar and its indigenous rainforest people.
  • it deprives LIDCs like Madagascar of valuable international trade, potential exports and value added
  • in doing so, biopiracy hinders economic growth and progress
26
Q

what’s the difference between the SOURCE of traditional medicines (LIDCS) and pharamceutical medicines (ACs)?

A
  • medicinal plants are mainly sourced from wild populations
  • only a small number are cultivated
  • they supply the raw materials for pharmaceutical drugs, though the majority are made from synthesised products
  • in contrast, virtually all products used in TM are harvested from wild plants - 80% of population in developed world (nearly 5 bill) rely on traditional medicines, so demand is huge
27
Q

how are traditional medicines placing a stress on medicinal plants?

A
  • as a consequence, the most sought after species collected and delivered to market by international trade are under enormous pressure
  • increasing the source of wild medicinal plants for TCM and other markets is unsustainable.
  • overharvesting is widespread. it decreases plant populations and their genetic diversity, endangering their survival. in worst cases it results in extinction.
  • current estimates suggest that at least 4000 medicinal plants are threatened
28
Q

what is the issue with rainforest deforestation?

A
  • tropical rainforests are extraordinarily biodiverse, containing 70% of terrestrial plant species, yet no more than 1% have been screened for potential medical use
  • thus, on medical grounds alone there are powerful reasons to conserve rainforest
  • but with rainforest deforestation rates in recent decades averaging 325km2/day many species have become extinct before scientists have had a chance to investigate/discover them
29
Q

how have pharmaceutical TNCs acted unethically in LIDC rainforests?

A
  • biopiracy
  • in the past pharmaceutical companies have exploited rainforest ecosystems, targeting medicinal plants for cultivation and for synthesising chemical compounds
  • while the development of drugs have been highly profitable for the pharmaceutical industry, benefits accruing to indigenous people have been negligible.
  • to many this is deemed as theft
30
Q

response to biopiracy issues

A
  • in 1980s scientists identified and extracted prostialin, a powerful new drug for treating HIV from the bark of the mamala tree found in Samoan rainforest
  • part of revenues from sale of drug are returned to Samoa as compensation for protecting the rainforest and to assist economic development in forest communities
31
Q

what is the Nagoya protocol?

A
  • offers legal protection over the traditional knowledge of medicines and equitably shares benefits gained
  • rights of indigenous countries
  • 2014.
32
Q

how have TNC Eli Lily benefited from rosy periwinkle?

A
  • they have patent of rosy periwinkle
  • $65 mill annual profits from drugs from this one plant
  • very little went back to Madagascar

GEOGRAPHY - Disease Debates (12 decks)

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