Question: Who discovered the cinchona bark as medicine? Answer: Tribes in the Amazon used the bark of a shrub called Cinchona to treat fevers and shivering; Spanish priests in this region observed traditional Quechua healers using this bark and started using it themselves to treat the fevers associated with malaria. Many centuries later, the active ingredient from this bark was isolated … [Read more...]
Traditional Methods for Malaria Treatment and Prevention
QUESTION What are the traditional methods on treating and preventing malaria? ANSWER Many different cultures have had their own traditional ways of treating malaria. Perhaps the two best known come from the native tribes in the Western Amazon basin and the ancient Chinese. Tribes in the Amazon used the bark of a shrub called Cinchona to treat fevers and shivering; Spanish priests in … [Read more...]
First Cases of Malaria
QUESTION What is the first infected person with Plasmodium? ANSWER Plasmodium, the single-celled parasite which causes malaria, has been infecting humans since ancient times. In fact, the first written reference to its symptoms dates back almost 5000 years, to an ancient Chinese manuscript! It was also known from the writings of other ancient peoples, such as the Greeks, Romans and … [Read more...]
Herbal Treatment for Malaria
QUESTION Can any form of malaria be treated by herbs or plants, and how long does it take to recover from malaria? ANSWER Actually, two of the most important kinds of anti-malarial medication are derived by substances found naturally in plants, though they need to be processed in certain ways before the full pharmaceutical effect is felt. Quinine, administered intravenously, is … [Read more...]
Discovery of Cinchona
QUESTION Cinchona was discovered in which country? ANSWER "Cinchona" refers to a genus of trees which are known for having strong alkaloid compounds in their bark, and notably one which has anti-malarial properties. This particular alkaloid is now known as "quinine." Cinchona trees are native to South America, and were long used by native people to treat fevers—as such, it is perhaps … [Read more...]
History of Fighting Malaria
QUESTION What are some examples of attempts of fighting this disease that happened in the past? ANSWER The battle against malaria has been going on, in one form or another, for literally thousands of years. The ancient Chinese mention the symptoms of the disease in a medical scroll as early as 2700 BCE - even more remarkably, a herb called Artemesia has been used in traditional Chinese … [Read more...]