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It is often assumed that medical breakthroughs and cures arise from scientists working away in laboratories to create new, artificially-made medicines. In fact, the active ingredients of over a quarter of all medicines in use today are derived from ingredients found in rainforest plants, trees and animals, including two-thirds of all cancer medicines. Despite this, over ninety-nine percent of the plants in the tropical rainforests remain untested, and many scientists see the rainforests as a natural medicine cabinet that we have only partially opened.

Cancer Treatments

A periwinkle plant in Madagascar was found to contain an ingredient that successfully treats childhood leukemia. Rosy Periwinkle increased the survival rate of children suffering with leukemia from 20 percent to 80 percent. The ingredients synthesized from the plant, vincristine and vinblastine, would never have been known if the plant’s properties had remained undiscovered. In Australia, the North Queensland rainforest is home to a shrub that is believed to have anti-cancer properties. The fruit of the Blushwood has been tested on animals, and starts human trials this year. The same shrub also produces a compound which accelerates the healing of chronic wounds. Another cancer-treating fruit, Graviola, comes from the Amazon rainforest. It contains botanical ingredients called acetogenins, which are able to target cancer cells without harming normal cells. It is hoped that Graviola may be a natural replacement for chemotherapy, and trials are ongoing.

Contraceptives

The foundation for most modern birth control pills is found in the wild yams which grow in the Amazon rainforest. The chemical in the wild yam’s roots and stem, diosgenin, is a natural contraceptive. It also balances hormones, making it useful for treating symptoms of menopause, and reduces pain and inflammation.

Painkillers and Anesthetics

Tribesman in the rainforests of Colombia hunt with poisoned darts, tipped with toxic extracts taken from the skin of local frogs. Western scientists have studied these skin toxins, and found hundreds of new compounds. One has been developed into a strong painkiller, which is far more effective than morphine but is non-addictive. Another drug that has been used in poison darts for many years is curare. Western scientists have used this to produce a powerful anesthetic, tubocurarine chloride, which is used during operations to paralyze muscles. A plant found in the Amazon rainforest, the Acmella Oleracea, has been found to relieve dental pain far more effectively than current treatments by injection. Extracts from the bright yellow and red plant have been made into a gel, which is an effective anaesthetic that blocks pain receptors in the mouth. Painkillers are also derived from the Trumpet tree (cecropia peltata).

Malaria

Not all medical uses for rainforest plants are modern clinical breakthroughs; the quinine extracted from the bark of the Chincona tree has been used for centuries as a cure for malaria. The first Westerners to benefit from quinine’s use were Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century.

Antibiotics

Many types of modern antibiotics have become less effective as bacteria build resistance to them. In 2012, a plant was found in the Chilean rainforest that targets bacteria and increases the effectiveness of antibiotics. Called Persea Lingue, the plant is related to the avocado, and acts as a pump inhibitor.

Preserving the Rainforests

They only cover six percent of the Earth’s surface, but tropical rainforests contain half the plant species in the world. Unfortunately, 137 species of rainforest plants and animals becomes extinct every single day. Any of them could have held the key to vital cures for diseases, and scientists and conservationists are united in their desire to protect the rainforests from destruction.

It can take up to fifteen years from time a therapeutic compound is discovered, to the time it becomes available as a licensed prescription drug. Several phases of clinical studies are carried out to establish the safety and efficacy of the new treatment, with study volunteers playing an essential role.