Natural Cures
13/11/10
While natural products are of great benefit to our ability to treat disease, they represent a mix of known and unknown compounds and are not subject to the same level of testing and regulation as pharmaceuticals. That creates a potential risk that might be avoided by isolation and purification of active components. A good case can be made about the accessibility and cost of those natural cures that have undergone rigorous testing, but the potential toxic effects should also be included in the analysis. Wikipedia page on Taxol: en.wikipedia.org Fantastic long story of Taxol’s discovery and development (worth reading!): www.rinr.fsu.edu St. John’s Wort en.wikipedia.org Red Yeast Rice en.wikipedia.org
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@eicebleu Wow, he literally smoke a room full of weed? I’ve never known or met anyone that’s stayed awake after smoking seven joints. Also, if he was smoking weed inside a closed room then there’s a chance he could have died from lack of oxygen, not weed.
Comment by Ninjikayatsu — November 13, 2010 @ 10:28 pm
@Ninjikayatsu Actually, I read a news article years, and years ago about a British dude who smoked a whole room full of weed in less than twenty-four hours and died… The validity of said article is in question though. It wouldn’t be the first time a newspaper has published myths.
Comment by eicebleu — November 13, 2010 @ 11:22 pm
Never eat Bee pollen. Bees visit plants with toxic pollen/nectar.
Some people buy honey and accidentally poison themselves.
Comment by mmmmmarcus — November 14, 2010 @ 12:21 am
The truth is that once these natural healing products become known as such the price goes up so the cost benefit is minimal
Comment by educatedAtheist — November 14, 2010 @ 12:28 am
@justicetrooper Apparently it happens now and then, and pyr666 heard about it.
Comment by lazyperfectionist1 — November 14, 2010 @ 12:56 am
@lazyperfectionist1 What, did someone decide to smoke poison ivy?
Comment by justicetrooper — November 14, 2010 @ 1:35 am
@justicetrooper The question has been answered.
Comment by lazyperfectionist1 — November 14, 2010 @ 2:30 am
@pyr666 Oh. Well that answers my question.
Comment by lazyperfectionist1 — November 14, 2010 @ 2:48 am
@lazyperfectionist1
you die.
seriously, a small number of people die each year from inhaling poison ivy’s oils. mostly by accidentally adding it to their campfire, but there’s always some jackass who decides to try smoking it.
Comment by pyr666 — November 14, 2010 @ 3:30 am
@justicetrooper Indeed. Neither would I.
Comment by lazyperfectionist1 — November 14, 2010 @ 4:11 am
@lazyperfectionist1 Wow, you’re right. That’s not something I’d like to test out any time soon, though.
Comment by justicetrooper — November 14, 2010 @ 4:32 am
@justicetrooper Well now, does it actually have that affect? Smoking something depends on burning it. Burning it entails a chemical change. After it has changed chemically, does it still have the same affect?
Comment by lazyperfectionist1 — November 14, 2010 @ 5:11 am
This kinda reminds me of the argument between eating a dish of salon steak vs drinking a cup of creatine mono-hydrate+ a gallon of water after a workout at the gym. Or taking a whey protein shake vs drinking a glass of milk. interesting..
Comment by kamikazeroniner — November 14, 2010 @ 5:14 am
@lazyperfectionist1 All the joys of poison ivy
ON YOUR LUNGS.
Comment by justicetrooper — November 14, 2010 @ 5:27 am
@justicetrooper Hmm. That’s an interesting idea, actually. I mean, I know what happens when you touch it, but what happens when you smoke it?
Comment by lazyperfectionist1 — November 14, 2010 @ 5:35 am
@lazyperfectionist1 And now I imagine someone smoking poison ivy.
Comment by justicetrooper — November 14, 2010 @ 6:22 am
heh reminds me of the the medical records that archaeologists recovered from ancient Egyptian writings, “used for centuries”, and certainly no plastic or “bad factory chemistry stuff” inside. while some of those plants were effective in treatment, most had no useful effect or even were harmful.
Comment by LukeGeoDude — November 14, 2010 @ 7:08 am
Could you check out.” Run from the cure” and give me your opinion? Maybe you could do a vid…..Peace
Comment by CBTENGR100 — November 14, 2010 @ 7:26 am
@pbhs07
The amount of time it takes to get a drug approved by the FDA is going to depend on the progress of the studies that test that particular drug. If you look at the very beginning of must drugs, the basic research that explores how certain chemicals function, you could argue that it takes many many more years for drugs to go from inception to approval. Further, the inactive ingredients in most pills are simply stabilizers or filler that are known to be relatively benign in the body.
Comment by fruitbane — November 14, 2010 @ 7:56 am
@C0onc0rdance
7:46 “What happened to the extra hydrogen group? Is Merck selling it separately?”
I think the hydrogen atom of Lovastatin is ignored. Carbon atom that is sp3 hybridized has to have 4 bonding atoms. Usually, when molecular structure does not explicitly mention what the bonding atoms are, it is implicitly stated that the remaining bonds are C-H bond. In other cases, C-H bonds are mentioned to indicate the chirality of the carbon atom.
Comment by JaMoond — November 14, 2010 @ 8:27 am
A lot of the side effects of St. John’s Wort are called Marie and Marc and Tina and such because it may render the pill ineffective. oops
I think “herbal remedies” are a good thing in those cases where they are usually part of our daily diet and can help and speed up recovery.
Stuff like rosemary and thyme can provide some relief if you caught cold, ginger can help against an upset stomach and so on. But they should never be taken instead of real medicine for serious diseases.
Comment by giliellthesecond — November 14, 2010 @ 8:49 am
it really scares me that in the US where i live the creationists run amuck like zombies ;D
Comment by blazereef — November 14, 2010 @ 9:47 am
EXCELLENT VIDEO!
Comment by davidealessio — November 14, 2010 @ 9:54 am
Someday I’ll sit down and watch these videos with my little brother and discuss the scientific method in general with him, these videos gives a great platform for digging deeper into critical thinking and gives appreciation for sound reasoning over folklore or any cultural “consensus”/”known fact”. Thank you for entertaining us and letting us benefit from your acumen.
Comment by maqrux — November 14, 2010 @ 9:59 am
Great video C0nc0rdance. Far too many people don’t make the distinction between “all natural” and “good for you”, which is a very important distinction to make. Keep up the excellent work.
Comment by FiddleofNero — November 14, 2010 @ 10:38 am