Tuesday, 26th August 2008 (285 views)

The increasingly significant use of gold in medicine has been highlighted by an industry expert.

Dr Richard Holliday, head of industrial applications at the World Gold Council, discussed the medical benefits of gold with the Guardian newspaper.

While commenting on the "long history" of the precious metal being used in medicine, he said: "In ancient China, doctors added gold flake to drinks for its reputed health benefits and it is still widely used in some aspects of Indian Ayurvedic medicine."

He noted the usefulness of gold in chemotherapy and treatment for prostate cancer. The Guardian also mentioned the presence of gold in rheumatoid arthritis treatment, pacemakers and insulin pumps.

Gold has been the focus of much modern nanotechnology research, as scientists from North Carolina State University recently discovered that adding gold nanoparticles to a HIV drug originally designed in the 1990s strengthened its ability to keep the virus from attacking the immune system.

 

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