Good to see researchers studying an important facet of traditional medicine – multiple components, either in a single herb or a combination, altering several metabolic pathways simultaneously, limiting both side effects and dosage requirements, and what the article did not mention, increasing pharmacokinetic half-life (see studies with salicin containing plants, St. Johnswort and this blog post).
From the article: Chinese Medicine offers new Parkinson’s treatments
“I think it is a very rational way to go,” says Furness, but warns that combination drugs usually take longer to gain approval because of the greater-than-usual possibility of unexpected side effects. But because these compounds have a long history of being safe for human consumption, it is hoped they will be approved faster, says Li.
“In the past the pharmaceutical industry didn’t put much effort into traditional Chinese medicine,” says Jing Kang, a biochemist at Harvard Medical School in Boston. “In the past few years this has been changing. More people are paying attention.”
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