Youyou Tu was one of the people awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discoveries using artemisinin to treat malaria. Malaria is a life-threatening blood disease caused by parasites and is transmitted to humans by the anopheles mosquito. Once bitten, parasites multiply in the host’s liver before infecting and destroying red blood cells. Fever, chills, and infection can result and may even lead to death. Artemisinin has significantly reduced the mortality rates for patients suffering from malaria, therefore improving health and reducing suffering for millions.
Youyou Tu, in China, turned to traditional herbal medicine to find a solution to the rising cases of malaria. Using artemisinin, the active component from Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood), she was the first to show that this component was highly effective against the malaria parasite, both in infected animals and in humans. Artemisinin represents a new class of antimalarial agents that rapidly kill the malaria parasites at an early stage of their development, which explains its unprecedented potency in the treatment of severe malaria. Continue reading “Artemisinin to Treat Malaria: Wins Nobel Prize”
Read More