In medieval Europe alchemists mixed powdered gold into drinks to “comfort sore limbs,” nowadays known as arthritis. Word of gold’s power to relieve the pain of arthritis spread throughout the ensuing centuries. Its mysterious effectiveness has been confirmed by modern medical research. Today it is widely used, in combination with other compounds, in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
The use of gold in modern medicine began around 1890, when distinguished German bacteriologist Robert Koch (1843-1910) discovered that compounds made with the precious metal inhibited growth of the bacillus that causes tuberculosis. His work was honoured with the Nobel prize for medicine.
Today, medical uses of gold have expanded greatly. It is used in the treatment of several forms of cancer. Injection of microscopic gold pellets helps retard prostate cancer in men; women with ovarian cancer are treated with colloidal gold; and gold vapour lasers help seek out and destroy cancerous cells without harming their healthy neighbours.
Gold has become an important biomedical tool for scientists studying why the body behaves as it does. By attaching a molecular marker to a microscopic piece of gold, scientists can follow its movement through the body. And because gold is readily visible under an electron microscope, scientists now, for the first time, can see whether, and where, a reaction takes place in an individual cell.
Some researchers are placing gold on DNA to study the hybrid genetic materials in cells. Others are using it to determine how cells respond to toxins, heat and physical stress.
Since it is biologically benign, gold is used by biochemists to form compounds with proteins, thereby giving rise to new life-saving drugs. One experimental new gold compound blocks virus replication in infected cells. It is being tested for the treatment of AIDS. Every day, surgeons use gold instruments to clear coronary arteries, and gold-coated lasers literally give life to patients with once-inoperable heart conditions and tumours.
Around the world, the unique qualities of gold are helping millions of people live longer, healthier and more productive lives.
— The preceding is from Gold News, a publication of the Washington, D.C.-based Gold Institute.
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