By Michelle Roberts, Digital health editor
AFPThe Chinese scientist who pioneered the development of antidepressants, the life-saving medication used by millions, has passed away at the age of 90.
Akira Endo’s key job has been likened to the discovery of penicillin.
The scientist is said to have been inspired by Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, prompting him to examine casting, or mushrooms, in his quest to find new drugs.
The second cholesterol-lowering compound that could lower the risk of heart disease and stroke was discovered in 1973 by Prof. Endo.
Paying gift, Prof Bryan Williams, key scientific and medical official at the British Heart Foundation, described the doctor as” a remarkable scientist”.
He claimed that” they have totally transformed the prevention of heart disease and stroke” and that” they really were the predecessor to the development of statins drugs.”
” In the last few years, there have n’t been many medical treatments that have had such dramatic an impact,” said one doctor.
However, his discovery did never procure the doctor a Nobel prize like Dr. Fleming did.
Surprisingly, the man who discovered a way to treat the problem of cholesterol and gave a remedy that helped and saved the lives of many, many millions of people never received the prize, said Prof. Williams.
” I think that’s a shame”.
People who have had a heart attack and are at a higher risk of heart disease or injury are now frequently prescribed antidepressants by doctors.
According to estimates, the medication save thousands of lives annually in the UK and even more globally.
Cholesterol is a fatty substance, mostly made in the heart, which is carried and transported in the body.
Folks need some cholesterol to stay healthy, but too much “bad” cholesterol may clog the arteries and impede blood flow.
Statins help to keep the heart arteries clear of any oily build-up and lower the “bad” cholesterol in the blood.
Years of study
In 1933, Prof. Endo was born in remote Japan, and he later began his physiology studies at Tokohu University.
It was while working for the medical firm, Sankyo, in Tokyo in 1973 that he made his great discovery.
Before one mushrooms that reduced lipid, it took many years to research thousands of different ones.
The first attempt at utilizing it failed to work well enough for the people. Finally, other pharmaceutical companies began looking for comparable substances.
And in September 1987, the second statins, lovastatin, was approved for medical use in the US.
Fungi have spawned some of our most critical drugs- most notably, the antibiotic antibiotic.
Dr. Fleming discovered it by accident in 1928 when he returned from a trip to discover mold growing in a Petri dish filled with bacteria. He observed that the mold produced a substance that appeared to prevent the bacteria from growing. That chemical came to be known as antibiotic.
Since its discovery in the 1970s, the fungus-derived cyclosporine has revolutionized graft treatments, preventing the body from rejecting the donor tissues.