Dr. Douglas Kinghorn Reflection

Dr. Douglas Kinghorn’s presentation on medicinal plants was very interesting! I had no idea that approximately 10,000 of the worlds 300,000 plants are used for medicinal purposes! I feel like we take our modern medicine for granted at times; just thinking about how quick I am to take an Advil whenever I get a headache has me feeling privileged. Roughly 3/4 of the worlds population rely on traditional medicinal plants; it’s hard to even imagine life today without medicine.

I thought the portion of Dr. Douglas Kinghorn’s presentation covering cocaine was specifically interesting. I knew that cocaine was a highly addictive drug, but I didn’t remember it being a drug capable of a numbing effect. For example, Dr. Douglas Kinghorn shared with us that the numbing agents used at the dentist are based upon cocaine. I don’t know how I feel about cocaine being approved by the FDA as a new rug for 2020, but I’m interested to see what the drug will be used for in the future.

One thought on “Dr. Douglas Kinghorn Reflection

  1. It s interesting that many numbing drugs (even laughing gas) were discovered as recreational drugs long before people thought of using them as pain treatments. It seems their use in medicine has always gone along with their abuse. I thought is comments that heroine’s name was related to the fact that it was a heroic discovery, although the stigma around the drug now is completely different.

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