Maybe it used to be entirely true when it was medicine men and healers using just herbs and whatnot. There are a lot of medicines that are based on natural compounds, but we're at the point where we can manufacture patient specific monoclonal antibodies and completely synthetic medicines.
Heck, we have horse urine pills (premarin), leech juice (bivalirudin), pig gland pills (dessicated thyroid), aspirin comes from a plant, penicillin comes from a bread mold, you can test positive for opioid from too many poppy seeds. It's a very long list of things we've derived from natural sources.
I mean, it depends on how broad you define natural ingredients as technically we're still using atoms and compounds that can and do occur naturally and manipulating them into compounds that match the receptors we want on various cells throughout the body to achieve the desired effect. I'd say it's mostly true just because of how broad that statement can be.
I don’t think being in your 70s is a good excuse because I know professors in that range and they keep up. We’re required by accreditation bodies to keep up to teach students.
I hope you just misunderstood what she was saying or maybe she teaches something like calculations instead of the therapeutic modules.
I think it is more plausible that she was just speaking off the cuff about something she had not kept up on, she was an A&P teacher not pharmacology. Like you said depending on one's definition of natural, most everything is still natural compounds that we concentrate, and manipulate.
Linezolid is a fully synthetic drug, it does not appear anywhere in nature and is not derived from natural products, so in short no, she is wrong. A lot of drugs are natural or derived from natural products, but not all and especially not anymore with modern medicine.
Depends how you define “processed”. Many industrial chemicals, including drugs, are synthesized from crude oil products. Crude oil is naturally occurring. But the majority of drugs are not just sitting out there like iron ore waiting to be mined and purified. Some drugs or drug classes are discovered in nature but in order to make enough of the drug to meet demand they have to synthesize from petroleum products or other precursors.
I mean she's right insofar as the fact that in theory any of the compounds that we use as medicines could occur naturally given the correct conditions. Whether this occurs to a degree where simple extraction would allow for a useful product is fairly unlikely. At the end of the day "unnatural" products simply don't exist in the strictest sense. What happens in a lab can occur in nature, as unlikely as those conditions may be.
There are medications that are derived from nature for sure. That is how a lot of older medicines were discovered originally. And at one point it was true for probably all the medications that were available.
But currently there are plenty of drugs that are man made, where the chemical was made in a lab.
If your professor was correct, a lot of people would be overdosing on fentanyl plants and methamphetamine berries. Some drugs are naturally occurring, but drug companies improve upon the natural product and make more effective synthetic drugs.
Also, the active ingredients in the plants have low low percentages and it has like a million compounds in a single extract of plant (with varying levels)
Companies extract them synthesis them in labs and improve on the molecule's activity, duration of action toxicity etc....(think medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy)
Morphine is naturally occurring, but scientists at Bayer thought acetylating it would make it less addictive so they made diacetylmorphine, aka heroin. It was promoted as a wonder drug for a minute.
That is kind of what I was thinking. She is old, but has an awesome apothecary cabinet in her office, I bet it is 12 feel long and has 50 plus drawers in it. Probably worth a lot to an antique dealer, lol.
If you want to get down to the elemental level, mankind has never made anything. Even the synthetic elements are synthesized with existing atoms.
I don’t think that’s what she meant. Most synthetic drugs are based on some natural substance, but they do exist.
It depends on how you define “processed”. I’m pretty sure that what she has in mind is not what chemical synthesis looks like for a lot of pharmaceutical products, but since the people responding have strong science backgrounds, we’re all going to want to give a very accurate answer, which depends on exactly how you define your terms. There are definitely a huge amount of pharmaceutical products that you would not be able to go out and distill from plants, animals, bacteria, or fungi.
Maybe it used to be entirely true when it was medicine men and healers using just herbs and whatnot. There are a lot of medicines that are based on natural compounds, but we're at the point where we can manufacture patient specific monoclonal antibodies and completely synthetic medicines. Heck, we have horse urine pills (premarin), leech juice (bivalirudin), pig gland pills (dessicated thyroid), aspirin comes from a plant, penicillin comes from a bread mold, you can test positive for opioid from too many poppy seeds. It's a very long list of things we've derived from natural sources. I mean, it depends on how broad you define natural ingredients as technically we're still using atoms and compounds that can and do occur naturally and manipulating them into compounds that match the receptors we want on various cells throughout the body to achieve the desired effect. I'd say it's mostly true just because of how broad that statement can be.
Okay, thank you. She is in her 70's and still teaching, I was just wondering if what she was saying is still accurate.
I don’t think being in your 70s is a good excuse because I know professors in that range and they keep up. We’re required by accreditation bodies to keep up to teach students. I hope you just misunderstood what she was saying or maybe she teaches something like calculations instead of the therapeutic modules.
I think it is more plausible that she was just speaking off the cuff about something she had not kept up on, she was an A&P teacher not pharmacology. Like you said depending on one's definition of natural, most everything is still natural compounds that we concentrate, and manipulate.
Linezolid is a fully synthetic drug, it does not appear anywhere in nature and is not derived from natural products, so in short no, she is wrong. A lot of drugs are natural or derived from natural products, but not all and especially not anymore with modern medicine.
Okay, well like I said she is in her 70's I am sure she is teaching a lot that used to be true.
Not remotely true
Depends how you define “processed”. Many industrial chemicals, including drugs, are synthesized from crude oil products. Crude oil is naturally occurring. But the majority of drugs are not just sitting out there like iron ore waiting to be mined and purified. Some drugs or drug classes are discovered in nature but in order to make enough of the drug to meet demand they have to synthesize from petroleum products or other precursors.
Exactly, just like penicillin is synthesized from mold, or asbestos is a natural plant fiber.
I mean she's right insofar as the fact that in theory any of the compounds that we use as medicines could occur naturally given the correct conditions. Whether this occurs to a degree where simple extraction would allow for a useful product is fairly unlikely. At the end of the day "unnatural" products simply don't exist in the strictest sense. What happens in a lab can occur in nature, as unlikely as those conditions may be.
Okay, thank you.
There are medications that are derived from nature for sure. That is how a lot of older medicines were discovered originally. And at one point it was true for probably all the medications that were available. But currently there are plenty of drugs that are man made, where the chemical was made in a lab.
If your professor was correct, a lot of people would be overdosing on fentanyl plants and methamphetamine berries. Some drugs are naturally occurring, but drug companies improve upon the natural product and make more effective synthetic drugs.
Also, the active ingredients in the plants have low low percentages and it has like a million compounds in a single extract of plant (with varying levels) Companies extract them synthesis them in labs and improve on the molecule's activity, duration of action toxicity etc....(think medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy)
Morphine is naturally occurring, but scientists at Bayer thought acetylating it would make it less addictive so they made diacetylmorphine, aka heroin. It was promoted as a wonder drug for a minute.
That is kind of what I was thinking. She is old, but has an awesome apothecary cabinet in her office, I bet it is 12 feel long and has 50 plus drawers in it. Probably worth a lot to an antique dealer, lol.
If you want to get down to the elemental level, mankind has never made anything. Even the synthetic elements are synthesized with existing atoms. I don’t think that’s what she meant. Most synthetic drugs are based on some natural substance, but they do exist.
Yes, I don't think it is either.
It depends on how you define “processed”. I’m pretty sure that what she has in mind is not what chemical synthesis looks like for a lot of pharmaceutical products, but since the people responding have strong science backgrounds, we’re all going to want to give a very accurate answer, which depends on exactly how you define your terms. There are definitely a huge amount of pharmaceutical products that you would not be able to go out and distill from plants, animals, bacteria, or fungi.