On October 5, 2015, the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Professor Tu Youyou (read: Tu You You) of our country. This is also the first time that Chinese researchers have won the Nobel Prize in Science and Technology. This award is precisely to reward the great contribution of artemisinin discovered by Professor Tu Youyou and her team to the world’s fight against malaria.
However, when congratulating Professor Tu on winning the award, many people must not be familiar with malaria and artemisinin. Dr. Clove took this opportunity to explain common problems.
Is what malaria?
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by a parasite called Plasmodium. It is transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes. This parasite reproduces in the liver of the human body. Then the infection destroys red blood cells, multiplies and destroys them. Of all tropical diseases, malaria has the largest number of people threatened and the number of cases, ranking first among the six major tropical diseases that the World Health Organization focuses on.
Malaria is what the folk call swinging?
Infected with malaria, after being bitten by mosquitoes for 10 to 15 days, people will suffer from fever, headache, vomiting and other symptoms. The folk call it “swinging”, which means fever and cold and cold. If Plasmodium invades brain blood vessels, it will lead to the most serious brain malaria, usually causing coma of patients. Severe malaria patients may even lose their lives.
What is the epidemic situation of malaria in China?
According to estimates released in December 2014, There were approximately 198 million malaria cases in 2013, 584,000 people died, most of them among African children, One child dies of malaria every minute. In our country, after years of efforts by medical workers and disease control departments, the number of malaria patients in the country has decreased from over 24 million in the early 1970s to hundreds of thousands at present. Some provinces have now seen occasional sporadic cases. We are even expected to completely eliminate malaria by 2050.
Therefore, malaria has gradually left us, which cannot be separated from the contribution made by artemisinin.
Artemisinin is what?
Artemisinin (read: Qing Hao Su) is an effective ingredient extracted from Artemisia annua. Artemisinin and its derivatives are widely used in the treatment of malaria. It acts on the membrane structure of protozoa, damages the nuclear membrane, mitochondrial model and other structures, thus killing Plasmodium in red blood cells and playing an antimalarial role.
Is artemisinin the only antimalarial drug?
In addition to artemisinin, antimalarial drugs currently include quinine drugs (chloroquine, primaquine).
Chloroquine is targeted at erythrocyte intracellular phase and can be used as the first choice drug for controlling symptoms and non-drug-resistant malaria. Primaquine can kill hepatocyte intracellular phase and gametophyte, and is currently the only drug available to prevent recurrence and transmission.
Artemisinin Has what Advantages?
Artemisinin, which is quick to absorb and take effect, is suitable for the rescue of dangerous malaria. Among them, artesunate has remarkable antimalarial effect, mild and few adverse reactions and low drug resistance rate, and has been widely used worldwide, especially for pregnant women and cerebral malaria patients.
Artesunate and mefloquine have good effect on drug-resistant Plasmodium infection, light adverse reactions, low price and safety among pregnant women and children. They are the first choice for malaria treatment in many countries.
Why artemisinin?
Like antibiotics, as the use of a single antimalarial drug increases, Plasmodium becomes resistant to conventional drugs such as chloroquine, and another sensitive drug is needed to treat it. Artemisinin, as a relatively new drug, has obvious effects on Plasmodium.
Can we buy artemisinin ourselves?
To fight malaria, we do not need to buy our own drugs for treatment, but should pay more attention to prevention.
Malaria is an infectious disease transmitted by mosquito bites. Readers who are not familiar with it need to do the following work:
- Preventive measures should be taken before going to malaria-ravaged areas.
- Use mosquito-repellent incense, mosquito net, anti-mosquito spray and other means to prevent mosquito bites
- After being bitten by mosquitoes, if the symptoms of fever and chills alternate, you should see a doctor in time and accept regular treatment according to the doctor’s advice.
Is the Nobel Prize awarded to traditional Chinese medicine?
Unfortunately, no.
At a press conference after the Nobel Prize ceremony, a Chinese reporter asked: “Is this Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to traditional Chinese medicine?” ]
Members of the Nobel Committee gave a negative answer and explained:
One very important point: We did not give this award to traditional medicine. We gave the Nobel Prize to scientists inspired by traditional medicine and able to develop a new drug that benefits the whole world. Therefore, you can say that you were inspired by traditional Chinese medicine, but you cannot say that it was awarded to traditional Chinese medicine.
Here, inspired by traditional medicine is a very rigorous and appropriate expression.
Does the Nobel Prize Prove the Scientific Nature of Traditional Chinese Medicine?
First of all, artemisinin is not a traditional Chinese medicine, but a single-component chemical medicine extracted from plants with a clear chemical structure. Like typical western medicine aspirin, it is also extracted from bark. This alone is different from the pure natural and non-chemical traditional Chinese medicine that some people think.
Secondly, artemisinin is separated from traditional herbs by modern pharmacological and chemical methods, and its pharmacological effects are verified by modern medical methods. The whole research is under the scientific framework of modern medicine and pharmacy. The curative effect and toxicity are very clear, which is also very different from traditional Chinese medicine.
However, the discovery of artemisinin, Inspired by traditional Chinese medicine, In traditional prescriptions, It is possible that there are still some effective medicinal ingredients that cannot be known to us because of the backward research methods of traditional Chinese medicine. Like traditional medicine in many countries in the world, The theory of TCM in China still has its limitations. In the history of China, A large number of people have lost their lives as a result of malaria, No prescription can cure malaria, which is also because many treatments at that time were still based on intuitive speculation and subjective experience summary of the world, and there was no scientific method to find a single effective ingredient from it. We expect that there will be more modernization of plant drugs like artemisinin in the future.
As the first Chinese to win the Nobel Prize in Science, Professor Tu Youyou has made great contributions to the world’s fight against malaria. Her and her team’s great achievements in the transformation of traditional Chinese medicine will also go down in history.