Adventure Ausrama Blog

Apparently, Australia has found a cure for hangover. This does come from a reputable source - CSIRO. Symptoms of hangover are headache, dry mouth, nausea, sweating, sore stomach, and drowsiness. Just why we suffer is not known. No specific chemical has been isolated as causal. The "cure" seems to be too easy - you eat pears! This fruit has other benefits: it is anti-inflammatory, lowers cholesterol and relieves constipation. A variety grown in Korea attacks aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and alcohol deydrogenase (ADH) which are involved in metabolizing alcohol. Pears must be consumed before imbibing to have the curative effect. Whether it just stops alcohol from being absorbed is not yet known. It if it does this, then it would not be much use. Alcohol depletes the body's vitamin and mineral resources. Time is needed to get the correct balance back. This means an instant "cure" will not be possible. Blocking alcohol is possible though.

There is a new drug for malaria called artemisinin. It will be synthesized in a chemical process and the procedure is "green". The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi   produces a third of the world's demand annually. Unfortunately, the synthetic drug is expensive. Click to enlarge. Most of artemisinin is extracted from sweet wormwood. This is simple but the synthetic version involves the conversion of glucose into artemisinic acid: then three oxygen atoms are bonded on to produce artimsinin. It is complex. The use of toxic dichloromethane is not used in the new process. It was discovered, ironically, that water greatly assists the synthesis. It packs molecules together. Water-soluble photocatalyst is indeed clean and green. The result is a product that is purer than artemisinin taken directly from wormwood. ✴ Chemistry by Ty Buchanan ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--austr