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Title: Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature's Healing Secrets by Mark J. Plotkin ISBN: 0-14-026210-5 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 27 November, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.45 (11 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Medicine Quest Review
Comment: ...Medicine Quest was an awesome book that taught me a lot, but was also very interesting. It was the kind of book you pick up dreading to read but then love it. It started out with a story about a medicine man who found a way to help diabetes. Then it went on it talked about different medicines such as penicillin which was produced from fungi, different pain killer from frogs and snakes and antibiotics from plants and even bugs. Overall I thought that it was an amazing book and I recommend it to anyone who is interesting in learning about medicine or even to someone who just wants to sit down with a good book. In this review I will map out the main points and provide an evaluation so you can see whether you want to read this book or not.
Main Points
· Some Poison for Your Pain- Poisonous reptiles and amphibians are knows to have venom that help kill pain for people. Some Scientist studied frogs and snakes and found a new treatment for pain, but a lot of what they found was to toxic for humans so their next task was to try to change the treatment to work. Venom have taught scientist a lot about the body and how medicines function in them.
· The Eternal Quest- Scientist used to think that humans were the only ones who used to use medicine but they were proved wrong after finding a Neanderthal with seven medical species of plants in a ring around his body. Scientist are now looking for answer from other animal to see what kinds of medicines and adaptations they can give us. Also past things are giving scientist clues, such as the discovery of the ice man, and finding myrrh which was an antibiotic used in the ancient world.
· The Fungus Among Us- Fungi is sometimes know to scientist as a "lower organism" but actually it is responsible for 5 of the top 30 medicines. Penicillin is the most well known medicine. It has saved millions of lives though out the world today. It was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 when it grew in his petri dish. Then he couldn't figure out how it had grown and couldn't grow it again, but finally someone did. Fungi are known as one of the most ancient lives on earth.
· Drugs from Bugs- Many discoveries have been made from bugs that help with sicknesses. In native tribes they use ants to help with their arthritis pain, bedbugs are used for treating external wounds, beetles are used for the steroids in their glands and spiders not only contribute venom to this world but also other things like their ability to capture their prey. Bees wax from honeybees has been used for medical ointments, plasters and even suppositories.
· Hideous Healers- Scientist estimate that there are over 650 species of leeches all around the world. They have been used in ancient medicines for Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Indians and Chinese. They are used for therapeutic purposes, its saliva is used as a blood thinner that helped with clotting. Maggots are used for the treatment of bone infections and other deep wounds.
· The Snakes in the Caduceus- Snakes have served as fascination to some and fear to other human cultures. Snakes poison has been used as an agent for capital punishment, murder, suicide, torture and even welfare. Snakes medicine also dates back to the ancient times. Snake oil is the most antique term of snake medicine. Some of these oils were ineffective, some were poisonous, and some were addictive. Snakes best quality is its venom used for many medicines. Even though the venom varies form species to species they all serve a great purpose.
· Under the Sea- Scientist believe that over 80% of species will be found under sea due to the fact that 70% of this earth is covered in water and ocean. That give a great chance that the sea is a great place to look for medical advantages. Coral has been know to have a compound that helps with the cure/ treatment of cancer. Its compound is called eleutherobin and scientist have been having a hard time working with it because it is so hard to obtain. The lowly sponge provides us with great things, such as a cleaner to keep patients clean and so no bacteria is around, also it has shown to be a great treatment for leukemia.
· Plants of the Apes- When studying the apes scientist found that some of them have a specific diet with allows them to fight off the bacteria that causes diarrhea. Also from studying animals scientist have discovered that animals themselves give off a poison to their body which helps them fight off snake bites or get rid of diseases. The apes themselves are very picky eaters which helps with the medical research. They found that the reason the apes were being picky is because they plant they were eating actually acts as an antibiotic which mean that to much could be potentially deadly.
This book taught me a lot about our world. It taught me that every creature and plant has a purpose for being here and a lot of their purpose is to help human life. I give this book 4 stars because anyone who reads this book will be amazed at all the different discoveries. Not only did the author do an excellent job at writing it but he made it interesting by adding little details that will astonish you.
I believe the author wrote this book for many reasons, one being to inform people about the uses, discoveries, and new about different medicines, also i believe he wanted to give credit to all the animals and other organisms out there who help us so much. I believe this book is intended more for the older readers or people who are really into the medical field. The point of this book is to help people better understand our world and so people can really appreciate what nature has done for us. This book is a pretty easy read, the chapters are sectioned off as stated above with different organisms being presented. This book is different in a way that is states the truth about things rather than really making a great story out of the whole book. It was a great book and I hope that everyone wants to read it.
Rating: 4
Summary: Medicine quest review
Comment: Medicine Quest Review
Medicine Quest was an awesome book that taught me a lot, but was also very interesting. It was the kind of book you pick up dreading to read but then love it. It started out with a story about a medicine man who found a way to help diabetes. Then it went on it talked about different medicines such as penicillin which was produced from fungi, different pain killer from frogs and snakes and antibiotics from plants and even bugs. Overall I thought that it was an amazing book and I recommend it to anyone who is interesting in learning about medicine or even to someone who just wants to sit down with a good book.
Mark J Plotkin
Medicine Quest
In Search of Nature's Healing Secrets
New York: Penguin Group
$22.95 pp208
Main Points
· Some Poison for Your Pain- Poisonous reptiles and amphibians are knows to have venom that help kill pain for people. Some Scientist studied frogs and snakes and found a new treatment for pain, but a lot of what they found was to toxic for humans so their next task was to try to change the treatment to work. Venom have taught scientist a lot about the body and how medicines function in them.
· The Eternal Quest- Scientist used to think that humans were the only ones who used to use medicine but they were proved wrong after finding a Neanderthal with seven medical species of plants in a ring around his body. Scientist are now looking for answer from other animal to see what kinds of medicines and adaptations they can give us. Also past things are giving scientist clues, such as the discovery of the ice man, and finding myrrh which was an antibiotic used in the ancient world.
· The Fungus Among Us- Fungi is sometimes know to scientist as a "lower organism" but actually it is responsible for 5 of the top 30 medicines. Penicillin is the most well known medicine. It has saved millions of lives though out the world today. It was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 when it grew in his petri dish. Then he couldn't figure out how it had grown and couldn't grow it again, but finally someone did. Fungi are known as one of the most ancient lives on earth.
· Drugs from Bugs- Many discoveries have been made from bugs that help with sicknesses. In native tribes they use ants to help with their arthritis pain, bedbugs are used for treating external wounds, beetles are used for the steroids in their glands and spiders not only contribute venom to this world but also other things like their ability to capture their prey. Bees wax from honeybees has been used for medical ointments, plasters and even suppositories.
· Hideous Healers- Scientist estimate that there are over 650 species of leeches all around the world. They have been used in ancient medicines for Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Indians and Chinese. They are used for therapeutic purposes, its saliva is used as a blood thinner that helped with clotting. Maggots are used for the treatment of bone infections and other deep wounds.
· The Snakes in the Caduceus- Snakes have served as fascination to some and fear to other human cultures. Snakes poison has been used as an agent for capital punishment, murder, suicide, torture and even welfare. Snakes medicine also dates back to the ancient times. Snake oil is the most antique term of snake medicine. Some of these oils were ineffective, some were poisonous, and some were addictive. Snakes best quality is its venom used for many medicines. Even though the venom varies form species to species they all serve a great purpose.
· Under the Sea- Scientist believe that over 80% of species will be found under sea due to the fact that 70% of this earth is covered in water and ocean. That give a great chance that the sea is a great place to look for medical advantages. Coral has been know to have a compound that helps with the cure/ treatment of cancer. Its compound is called eleutherobin and scientist have been having a hard time working with it because it is so hard to obtain. The lowly sponge provides us with great things, such as a cleaner to keep patients clean and so no bacteria is around, also it has shown to be a great treatment for leukemia.
· Plants of the Apes- When studying the apes scientist found that some of them have a specific diet with allows them to fight off the bacteria that causes diarrhea. Also from studying animals scientist have discovered that animals themselves give off a poison to their body which helps them fight off snake bites or get rid of diseases. The apes themselves are very picky eaters which helps with the medical research. They found that the reason the apes were being picky is because they plant they were eating actually acts as an antibiotic which mean that to much could be potentially deadly.
Rating: 4
Summary: Mark Plotikin's Medicine Quest review by a freshman at BEHS
Comment: Dr. Mark J. Plotkin's book, Medicine Quest (published in 2000 by Viking Penguin), tells about his research on medicine done all throughout the world. He travels in the North East Amazon rainforest for 15 to research new natural medicines; many times accompanied by native Shamans (tribes medicine men). Dr. Plotkin tells about many medicines used by native tribes that heal thing such as arthritis and why they should be investigated by pharmacologists (doctors studying natural medicines) in the U.S. There where many unknown animals, plants, micro-organisms, and venoms to the United States that could cure common illnesses if used properly.
Dr. Plotkin studied medicines of the Amazon's Shamans for 15 years to help American pharmacologists obtain new natural medicines to cure common illnesses and to help preserve the Amazon from being cut down. He collected venoms, plants, animals, bugs, and microorganisms to bring back to the United States to be researched. Some of the medicines used by the Shamans cure arthritis, heartburn, server pain, and high blood pressure. The catch is that some of the venoms contain toxins that are extremely dangerous to humans and can even kill, for example the poison arrow from has a toxin that can relieve pain but also has another toxin that paralyzes your heart and all other muscles in your body. So he is hoping that pharmacologists can extract that good toxins and use them as a non-addictive and non-side effect replacement for modern day medicines.
One of the first organisms that Mark discovers is a cone snail. "The snail shoots a poison-tipped harpoon into a fish's mouth, instantly killing the fish, which is then quickly devoured... 10 years ago a shell collector saw the shell of the cone snail and proceeded to collect the shell, he stuck it down the front of his pants because he didn't have a bag to put it in. He was later found dead" "A toxin within the poison initially known as MVIIB (now zi-conotide) attaches itself solely to a part of the spinal cord known as the dorsal horn, through which pass the nerve cells that convey pain signals from the body to the brain. MVIIB blocks that signal relieving the patient from pain." There Mark shows how one toxin within a poison can kill you and another can relieve your pain.
Another problem that occurs while trying to extract toxins from sea animals is the very little amount that one organism can make. "The anticancer compound ecteinascidin, from a sea squirt, offers promise as a treatment for melanoma and breast cancer. But a ton of these tiny creatures yields only a gram of the compound. One investigator began research on marine microorganisms forty years ago and needed to grow two thousand liters of the microbe to extract ten milligrams of the toxin being studied."
Dr. Plotkin's research is promising to be successful in helping people live through common day illnesses. I learned that there are many organisms that can help people and are so delicate. I evaluated it like that because people are just cutting down the rainforests and polluting the waters without thinking about the organisms that live there and can help people. I also found out that you can extract certain toxins to do certain tasks within one poison. I just always thought that if the whole poison would kill or harm you that the poison was useless to pharmacology.
Mark Plotkin's book has introduced me to how other organisms can help us. He also made me realize that many chemically made drugs can be replaced buy a natural toxin that is not addictive and has not side effects. And that in order for them to help us, that we need to stop destroying their habitats by not polluting water and cutting down rainforests.
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Title: Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest by Mark J. Plotkin ISBN: 014012991X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: August, 1994 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Natural History of Medicinal Plants by Judith Sumner, Mark J. Plotkin, Judith Summer ISBN: 0881924830 Publisher: Timber Press Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Shaman's Apprentice: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry, Mark J. Plotkin ISBN: 0152024867 Publisher: Voyager Books Pub. Date: April, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.00 |
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Title: Ethnobotany: Evolution of a Discipline by Richard Evans Schultes, Siri Von Reis ISBN: 0931146283 Publisher: Timber Press Pub. Date: September, 1995 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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Title: The Killers Within: The Deadly Rise of Drug Resistant Bacteria by Mark J. Plotkin, Michael Shnayerson ISBN: 0316713317 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 03 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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