Five Freaky Facts

Critics of antibiotics and other prescription drugs might change their mind when they learn what “old age” was in days gone by. Prior to the industrial revolution and the start of the modern medical era, average life expectancy remained static for thousands of years at around 30 years, says pharmacist, doctor, researcher and author Shaun Holt. Human health treatments rapidly improved during the 1800s and, by 1907, the average lifespan in the United States was 47 years. Now, the average life expectancy in the US and NZ is about 80.

Saving the world’s rainforests may be more crucial than we think. “To date, less than 1% of rainforest plants have been tested as sources of new medications and so there are doubtless many more helpful medicines yet to be discovered there,” Holt writes in Natural Remedies That Really Work.

The sea is another plentiful source of medicinal ingredients. The oceans are awash with corals, sponges, fish and marine micro- organisms that provide biologically potent chemicals used in pharmaceuticals. “A good example is curacin A, derived from a marine cyanobacterium, which has potent anti-tumour activity,” Holt says. Cyanobacterium is also known as blue-green algae.

Spiders, snakes and scorpions also possess precious chemicals harnessed for medicine. In other words, venom and toxins from these slithering and crawling creatures can be used for life rather than pain and death. For example, the lead compound in two commonly used heart medications, cilazapril and captopril, come from the venom of the Brazilian viper.

Fatty fish can be like a ray of sunshine in winter. While sunlight is our main source of vitamin D, it also occurs in a small range of foods. These include fatty fish like salmon, sardines and mackerel, fish liver oils, egg yolk and meat.

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