Plants as Medicine_Students PDF

Plants as Sources of Medicines, Drugs and Psychoactive Compounds  Datura stramonium small herb related to potatoes and tomatoes easy to cultivate never has been domesticated. Why??  Introduction features that makes plants inedible are essential to th...

Plants as Sources of Medicines, Drugs and Psychoactive Compounds  Datura stramonium small herb related to potatoes and tomatoes easy to cultivate never has been domesticated. Why??  Introduction features that makes plants inedible are essential to their survival some plants protect themselves with physical barriers Others use defensive chemicals (secondary ____________) These chemicals can be used as medicines by which physicians control particular aspects of our metabolism and/or physiology Plants are used as drugs in many ways Poultice (plant is chopped or ground with liquid and applied to the outside of the body) Tea / ___________ (plants steeped in water or alcohol that that people drink to treat internal problems) Specific compounds extracted Artificially synthesize the compounds Eat the whole plant (functional food) Stimulating beverages Stimulating ‘beverages’ - Chocolate Chocolate ○ Seeds of Theobroma _________________ are used ○ Native to tropical America; however currently West Africa is the largest producer ○ Cacao nibs, chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter ○ Before 1800s – consumed as a bitter beverage ○ Processing of cacao seeds to chocolate Complex process Mixing of cocoa powder, cocoa butter, sugar and milk Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate  Stimulating beverages Colas and caffeine based energy drinks Cola drinks from ingredients based on Kola nut of a small tree of the genus Cola Grows in West Africa Original Coca drinks contained ____________and caffeine Today’s cola drinks ○ lack cocaine, caffeine from kola nuts or from decaffeinated coffee Other high caffeine stimulating drinks  Beverages that depress our central nervous system Fermentation of plant material produces ethyl alcohol (ethanol) Drinking ethanol has beneficial and harmful consequences Can be addictive to many people causing _____________ Types of alcoholic beverages ○ Beer and sake, wine, spirit  Psychoactive plants The toxins in many poisonous plants affect an animal’s nerves. Psychoactive plants have the toxins dilute enough that some people consume the plants specifically for their effects on our brain and its _____________ 1. Perception of the person’s own body Relaxation, stimulation, reduced anxiety 2. Perceptions of the world hallucinations  Psychoactive plant examples Tobacco → nicotine Cannabis → tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) Opium Poppies → opium, __________, codeine, heroin Coca Plants → cocaine, crack Peyote → mescaline  Plants from our gardens used as pure medicinal drugs Courtesy of Tommy Navarre The long fleshy leaves of Aloe vera Two of our most important contain phytochemicals that relieve anti-cancer drugs are the pain of minor ________and help extracted from this the skin to heal. periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) that is cultivated as Foxglove (Digitalis an ornamental in many purpurea) is a beautiful home gardens. garden plant, cultivated by many people. It is also the source of drugs used to treat the _________.  Opioid Crisis ○ Opiates – Although in present day, the term refers to both plant-derived and synthetic opioids, in classical pharmacology, opiates are specifically substances made from several species of the opium __________ plant that help relieve pain. ○ These plants have been cultivated and used by humans for medicinal and recreational purposes over thousands of years. ○ Opium, morphine, codeine, and heroin are examples of opiates.  Opioid Crisis ○ Opioids–A category of drugs that can include plant derived opiates that are made in laboratories. ○ Hydromorphone (Dilaudid), hydrocodone (Vicodin), oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet), and fentanyl are all opioids.  Opioid Crisis ○ Fentanyl–A synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin. Legally prescribed fentanyl is used to control pain. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is often mixed into street drugs. ○ Naloxone–A medication, which works to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose while it’s occurring. It’s available as an intramuscular injection as well as a nasal spray. ○ Narcan–Brand name of one form of nasal naloxone. Next Class: Controversies with Cannabis