On Thursday, Oct. 13, officials at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute unveiled a plan to build a $60 million research and manufacturing facility in Western Maryland to investigate the health benefits of herbal plants and market herbal medicines.
Frostburg State University and West Virginia University were also involved with the plan.
Responding to questions on whether or not Hopkins is also concerned with research in herbal remedies, Doctor Ted Poehler, Vice President for Research, said, "There are a variety of investigators interested in natural product. There are definitely interests in natural products and alternative medicine [at Hopkins]."
One person who is active in the field of herbal research is Dr. Paul Talalay, professor of pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Talalay has devoted his career to cancer research, focusing his efforts on achieving early protection against cell damage.
His findings, concerning an enzyme in broccoli used as a detoxifier against cancerous chemicals, attracted worldwide attention as a major breakthrough in understanding the potential link between cruciferous vegetable consumption and reduced cancer risk. "We've been very interested in this issue," he said, "particularly on the side of prevention."
Talalay has mixed feelings about herbal supplements in today's society. "Anyone who believes that the health food store is safe is totally wrong," he said, citing cases of heart attack and other fatal diseases caused by dietary and herbal supplements. According to Talalay, "The idea that everything organic is better or healthier [is also wrong]."
"Everyone is interested in dietary supplements," he said, "but they have many dangerous side effects." Dr. Talalay mentioned that many people take supplements, thinking that they are harmless compared to ordinary medicines, but the most dangerous and poisonous compounds known to man are from natural sources."
Talalay believes that scientific principle is overlooked in the field of herbal medicines and supplements, as he believes most products are neither safe nor efficacious.
"There is a $30 billion industry of dietary supplements based on no science, thus c9 the vast majority of products in health food stores are not tested ... or safe. Many people think anything natural must be safe, but most harmful substances come from nature," says Talalay.
Dr. Talalay offered the field of cosmetics as an example. "We can generally agree that the products the cosmetics industry sells are both safe and efficacious. We hear of very few serious reactions to cometics." He says that the reason cosmetics are safe and useful stems from the scientific development and testing of products, something that is lacking in the organic supplement field.
"Generally researching the importance of plants is a good program if enacted with the right scientific controls and standards"
In Talalay's opinion, research of plants and other natural sources is important. "The vast majority of medicines are derived structures originally obtained from plants and natural sources, from steroids to penicillin c9 various antibiotics were also derived from natural products."
In response to the proposed facility, Talalay believes that, "It is a good idea, but it depends on how it is done. There is a whole spectrum of ways [research] could be done." Talalay fears the influence of health food merchants and other businesses. Success of the program depends on how research is conducted, "If done scientifically, it will add to the scientific standards of rules for efficacy."
Another program at Hopkins interested in herbal medicine research is the newly developed Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) at the Hopkins Medical Campus.
Among its organizational goals, the CAM aims to find herbal and natural remedies to alleviate pains associated with cancer and cancer therapy. The organization also hopes to "invigorate the intellectual atmosphere with CAM research, thus leading to a new age of integrative, comprehensive care," according to the CAM website.
"High rates of breast and prostrate cancers, as well as high use of complementary and alternative medicines indicate that allopathic care is not sufficient either for prevention or treatment of these diseases. Thus, new alternative medicines and modalities must be studied in order to make advancements," CAM officials say.
As the center develops, researchers intend that the interventions studied will be applicable to the general cancer process.
Other Hopkins researchers are interested in medicinal research, as well. Dr. Ted Poehler cited the work of Craig Townsend from the Chemistry Department, who researches areas of biosynthesis and chemistry of natural products, drug design, enzymology and molecular biology of secondary metabolism, and the clinical applications of fatty acid synthesis inhibition in the treatment of cancer, infectious diseases and obesity. Townsend was unavailable for comment.
With regards to the proposed University of Maryland research facility, it seems Hopkins researchers have been focusing on herbal medicine long before this plan's inception. Regardless, Talalay has "great respect" for the proposed program, and hopes that it will prove to be a scientific endeavour rather than one monopolized by businesses and health food merchants.
The University of Maryland plan, which includes a medicinal products factory, think tank, and museum, hopes to spark further advancements by the Appalachian Center for Ethno-botanical Studies, started two years ago by the three universities. The center focuses its research on finding herbal remedies.
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