[Scythian]

Tamiflu comes from an herb To live in a world that's saturated with natural anti-viral medicine and then not even acknowledge it in the media is beyond bizarre. It's Twilight Zone-like. It's like we've been teleported to an alternate universe where anti-viral plants have disappeared... or at least everyone is pretending they have.

Where do you think Tamiflu comes from, by the way?

It's extracted from the Traditional Chinese Medicine herb called Star Anise. It's one of hundreds of different anti-viral herbs found in Chinese Medicine, not to even mention anti-viral herbs from South America, North America, Australia, Africa and other regions.

I find it downright comedic that Big Pharma and the world's health authorities extract their "champion" anti-viral drug Tamiflu from a Chinese Medicine herb, and then they go out of their way to announce to people that herbs and natural remedies are useless against influenza. If that's the case then why are they using herbs to make their own medicine?

How many stories have you read that bother to tell you Tamiflu is made from the star anise herb that's been used for over 5,000 years in Traditional Chinese Medicine? Virtually none. The powers that be don't want anybody to know they could actually grow their own medicine in a garden or a windowsill. If you can grow cilantro, you can grow medicine. If everybody figured that out, Big Pharma wouldn't be reaping the enormous profits it's making right now from Tamiflu sales, and the governments of the world wouldn't be able to scare and control people by promising to distribute Tamiflu (but only if you behave).

[SpaceBar]

I don't know the veracity of your claims but if anyone wants star anise you can get it cheaply at any reasonably stocked chinese market. It comes in baggies of these dried out things that look like one inch chocolate brown stars that smell like licorice. Very common in chinese cuisine.

[Sister_T]

Thanks.

[cripplecreek]

A lot of our modern medicines were used long before there was modern medicine.

[I see my hands]

"Big Pharma"

Big Lib Moron.

[Walmartian]

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

The challenge in making effective herbals is knowing how to prepare them to maximize the healing potential. Few can do it. As for the herbs you find in the grocery or drug store they are basically worthless.

[mysterio]

CLAIM: the "base" of Tamiflu is crushed aniseed. TRUE. One of the basic ingredients of Tamiflu is shikimic acid, the main source of which is currently star anise, a spice grown in China. However, there are other methods of making shikimic acid, and Roche is already looking at ways to reduce its dependence on the star anise supply.

From About.com.

[Paleo Conservative]

How many stories have you read that bother to tell you Tamiflu is made from the star anise herb that's been used for over 5,000 years in Traditional Chinese Medicine?

At what concentration? How much star anise would you have to consume to equal a dose of Tamiflu?

[Big_Monkey]

Penicillin comes from Penicillium mold. The next time you get strep throat or tuberculosis, cut yourself off a piece of Gorgonzola cheese and let me know how that works out for you.

[AUsome Joy]

Your statement is only partially correct. Tamiflu does NOT come from any herb, however one of the starting materials does. From the starting material, Tamiflu the drug, is made by a series of very complicated chemical reactions. The starting material is worthless as an antiviral agent. Without the expertise of the drug company chemists, Tamiflu would never have been developed.

AUsome Joy’s DH

[TruthSetsUFree]

There are actually quite a few foods/herbs that are antiviral.

Elderberries are an excellent antiviral for the flu virus.

Other natural antivirals include garlic oregano, coconut oil, echinacea, onions, ginger, skullcap, cat’s claw, etc., etc. Many of these are also antibacterial and antifungal as well.

God’s medicine is pretty amazing. He made sure that every location will grow herbs and foods that will treat any illness.

The key with natural stuff is to take it in a high enough quantity and frequency to be effective. You can’t drink one cup of elderberry tea, for example, and expect to get over the flu with just that.

There’s TONS of info available, though. It’s just a matter of reading and learning and applying. I think it’ll be to our benefit in the future to know how to self-medicate with foods and herbs.

[TigersEye]

I have no fear of the flu or a cold. If I catch it quick I’ll kill it within twenty minutes. My second choice would be a Chinese Patent Medicine called GanMaoLing. It doesn’t have Star anise in it but it works.

[Pharmboy]

Yep...we can learn a lot of chemistry from plants. Some synthetic drugs arose from the natural world, but the natural/synthetic dichotomy is a phony.

Make some strychnine, belladonna or hemlock tea and let me know how that works out for you.

[Caesar Soze]

Tamiflu was designed in a computer and does not exist in nature. Synthesis of Tamiflu begins with shikimic acid from the star anise. The original process used quinic acid, but it was too expensive. This article from a Swiss magazine has the history of Tamiflu's creation and testing. It's an American invention, not traditional Chinese medicine.

[Myrddin]

Star anise is one of the standard ingredients in our beef "pho" soup. When we run out, a handful of fennel seeds from the Mexican food aisle comes pretty close in flavor.

[jdb331]

Hate to tell you this but Tamiflu is a semi-synthetic drug made from a natural product called shikimic acid. Semi-synthetic means that the starting material is obtained from a natural source. Then, it is modified in a number of discreet steps. This number can be as small as one or as large as 20. The take home lesson it that it makes absolutely no difference where the starting material comes from, or whether the material is derived from a natural or synthetic source. Once an organic chemists performs the first step (the first reaction on the starting material) you have something that is completely different from the original stuff. It may or may not have similar properties—that depends on which reaction is run. The only thing that matters is the chemical structure of the drug itself. In the case of Tamiflu, the structure is enormously different from shikimic acid. Not even close. Ph.D. in chemistry with 25 years doing drug research. And yes, I do know what I’m talking about.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Asprin - same story.

[TChris]

Didn’t I just read last week that Tamiflu is useless against H1N1 (Mexi-Swine Flu) Virus?

[DvdMom]

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