Times of India, Pune Mirror page 23 of Feb 6, 2011 details two news articles: 1st heading: Woodpecker inspires new shock absorbers and 2nd: Gold makes for an effective anti-cancer bomb, says study.
Now, what is so special to mention these things here? - is the contrast in the two news that is apparent if we look in a particular perspective. The first article mentions how, from Nature we have learnt! A woodpecker’s head experiences decelerations of 1200 g as it drums on a tree at up to 22 times per second. Humans are often left concussed if they experience 80 to 100g! There are things like a hard but elastic beak; a sinewy, springy tongue-supporting structure that extends behind the skull called the hyoid; an area of spongy bone in its skull; and the way the skull and cerebrospinal fluid interact to suppress vibration. Sang-Hee Yoon and Sungmin Park from University of California, Berkeley used similar structural mechanism and now this woodpecker inspired system protected the electronics ensconced within it against the shock of up to 60,000g. (Today’s flight recorders can withstand shocks of 1000g.)
The second news article states that preliminary studies have shown that an anti-cancer drug loosely attached to gold nanoparticles starts accumulating deep inside tumors within minutes of injection and can be activated for an effective treatment within two hours. The same drug injected alone takes two days to gather and attacks the tumor from the surface – a far less effective route. Speeding anti-cancer drugs directly into tumors enables patients to receive lower doses on the toxic chemicals thereby saving healthy tissue from the damage and other harsh side effects suffered in traditional chemotherapy. “ We hope to lower the dosage by at least a factor of 10”, said Clemens Burda, a professor of chemistry at Case Western Reserve University and senior author of the paper.
Now, US scientists, in the first article are seen learning from Nature and in the second article, they are ‘innovating’ the ‘new’ things (new to them.) And what are we doing? Neither learning from Nature nor from History! Now you will ask where this ‘History’ comes into picture? Yes, it does. The findings of the second article have been published in the Journal of American Chemical Society. Indian history of chemistry leads us back to 13th Century and the time span before that, where Rasashastra, Kimayaa (literal meaning: magic and the methods of converting other metal into the much coveted Gold). The term used then was ‘dhaatuwaad’. The idea of using Gold in the medicine came in the thirteenth century in India and was termed ‘dehawaad’.
In which form was Gold used in medicine? Was it ‘raw’ gold? Naah. Our pundits were pundits enough to make the gold or any other mineral / metal fine enough to get it absorbed in the body. It was not the particle size alone that matters but the quality and complexity of the product. In attempting to make the metal to size nano, various specific herbs were made use of. With titration with different herbs, the end product of the metal ‘bhasma’ becomes a complex molecule, easily absorbable and micro-nutritive medicine. In the old treatises of Ayurved, we find medicines, mostly of herbal origin. With the evolution of Rasashastra, Ayurvedic texts are seen taking up these medicines (having minerals and metals as their main ingredients). In the later treatises of Ayurved we find medicines prepared having both, herbs and minero-metal components in it.
The utility of Rasashastra medicines id described in Sanskrit language as:
Alpamaatrah Upayogitwaat Arucheh Aprasangatah/
Kshipram Aarogyadaayitwaat Aushadhebhyo Adhiko Rasah//
First two words of this verse, ‘Alpamaatrah Upayogitwaat’ means: Rasashastra medicines are good because low dose is sufficient! With the help of today’s technology, we are re-proving this fact. (“We hope to lower the dosage by at least a factor of 10”)
Bhasma of Gold is used as an ingredient in hundreds of Ayurvedic medicines. All these medicines, as all Ayurved practitioners know, require a low dose to be prescribed.
There are many such facts detailed in the treatises, waiting to be revealed by the modern technology. We Indians should gain some wisdom; take some insights from our own glowing history!
