Imagine if you could pop a pill, knowing that there would be zero side effects. It seems like an impossibility from today’s perspective. We’re so used to the idea that all drugs come with side effects that we don’t even entertain the idea.
But when you look at natural compounds, you soon discover something interesting: many of them have medicinal effects on the body but without the harmful and unwanted symptoms.
Ginger is an excellent example. The dried powdered form seems to have the same pain-killing effects as the leading migraine medication but without the risk of internal bleeding or fainting.
Turmeric is a similar story. It is nearly as good as the leading anti-inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis drugs but doesn’t cause any long-term compliance issues or symptoms in most healthy people.
These observations lead to a natural question: are side effects necessary?
The Reductionist Approach To Medicine
The natural remedies listed above were made by nature. Many contain thousands of compounds that interact with the body in complex ways.
You can see this when you compare the refined version of illegal drugs with their natural counterparts. The coca plant might give you a small buzz if you ate it raw, but it would be nothing compared to the refined form.
A similar phenomenon is underway in medicine but it’s not about maximizing stimulation. Instead, it is a consequence of the belief that isolating individual compounds is always best – often called the “reductionist approach.” Scientists are always trying to find ways to isolate variables, believing it is the best way to define cause-and-effect relationships.
Of course, nature doesn’t adopt this approach at all. Instead, it simply lets things unfold however they want, according to its laws. But when researchers investigate a compound, they go in with the mechanistic belief that they must isolate and test it.
This method is scientifically pure because it allows researchers to claim that their molecule is driving the changes they want to see in the body. But it also means they miss out on exploring all the interactions that could occur if they added more compounds to the mix, just as nature does to side-step side effects.
What Could Medicine Do Differently?
Given the enormous potential of medical tech to transform lives, it is a shame that it seems unable to mimic nature, finding compounds that offset each other to deliver the desired therapy in a safe form. Instead, it wants to take a pure approach that doesn’t serve patients.
This could change, though. Thanks to targeted drug delivery and zeta potential characterization, it is becoming more straightforward to target specific tissues and cells. This compromise would give pharmaceuticals scientific rigor (as they see it) while avoiding the off-target effects of their medications.
You could also see the growth of personalized medicine based on gene scans. Again, this would enable pharmaceutical companies to isolate specific drugs that would optimally affect some individuals.
Ultimately, side-effect-free medication is probably a long way off. However, it is an exciting possibility, and existing herbal medicines in nature prove it’s possible.
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