Gold Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Medicine === Metallic and gold compounds have long been used for medicinal purposes. Gold, usually as the metal, is perhaps the most anciently administered medicine (apparently by shamanic practitioners)<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s10787-007-0021-x |title=Clinical pharmacology of gold |date=2008 |last1=Kean |first1=W. F. |last2=Kean |first2=I. R. L. |journal=Inflammopharmacology |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=112β25 |pmid=18523733|s2cid=808858 }}</ref> and known to [[Dioscorides]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moir |first1=David Macbeth |url=https://archive.org/details/b21364047 |page=[https://archive.org/details/b21364047/page/225 225] |title=Outlines of the ancient history of medicine |publisher=William Blackwood |date=1831}}</ref><ref>Mortier, Tom. [https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/1979/254/2/thesis_finaal.pdf An experimental study on the preparation of gold nanoparticles and their properties] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005015930/https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/1979/254/2/thesis_finaal.pdf |date=5 October 2013 }}, PhD thesis, University of Leuven (May 2006)</ref> In medieval times, gold was often seen as beneficial for the health, in the belief that something so rare and beautiful could not be anything but healthy. Even some modern [[esotericism|esotericists]] and forms of [[alternative medicine]] assign metallic gold a healing power. In the 19th century gold had a reputation as an [[anxiolytic]], a therapy for nervous disorders. [[Depression (mood)|Depression]], [[epilepsy]], [[migraine]], and glandular problems such as [[amenorrhea]] and [[impotence]] were treated, and most notably [[alcoholism]] (Keeley, 1897).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Richards |first1=Douglas G. |last2=McMillin |first2=David L. |last3=Mein |first3=Eric A. |last4=Nelson |first4=Carl D. |name-list-style=amp |title=Gold and its relationship to neurological/glandular conditions |journal=The International Journal of Neuroscience |volume=112 |issue=1 |pages=31β53 |date=January 2002 |pmid=12152404 |doi=10.1080/00207450212018|s2cid=41188687 }}</ref> The apparent paradox of the actual toxicology of the substance suggests the possibility of serious gaps in the understanding of the action of gold in physiology.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1006/biol.1997.0123 |pmid=9637749 |title=Gold, the Noble Metal and the Paradoxes of its Toxicology |date=1998 |last1=Merchant |first1=B. |journal=Biologicals |volume=26 |pages=49β59 |issue=1}}</ref> Only salts and radioisotopes of gold are of pharmacological value, since elemental (metallic) gold is inert to all chemicals it encounters inside the body (e.g., ingested gold cannot be attacked by stomach acid). Some gold salts do have [[anti-inflammatory]] properties and at present two are still used as pharmaceuticals in the treatment of arthritis and other similar conditions in the US ([[sodium aurothiomalate]] and [[auranofin]]). These drugs have been explored as a means to help to reduce the pain and swelling of [[rheumatoid arthritis]], and also (historically) against [[tuberculosis]] and some parasites.<ref name="Messorri">{{Cite book |first1=L. |last1=Messori |first2=G. |last2=Marcon |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgifUs8dFbgC&pg=PA279 |chapter=Gold Complexes in the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis |title=Metal ions and their complexes in medication |editor-last=Sigel |editor-first=Astrid |publisher=CRC Press |date=2004 |isbn=978-0-8247-5351-1 |pages=280β301}}</ref> Gold alloys are used in [[restorative dentistry]], especially in tooth restorations, such as [[crown (dentistry)|crowns]] and permanent [[bridge (dentistry)|bridges]]. The gold alloys' slight malleability facilitates the creation of a superior molar mating surface with other teeth and produces results that are generally more satisfactory than those produced by the creation of porcelain crowns. The use of gold crowns in more prominent teeth such as incisors is favored in some cultures and discouraged in others. [[Colloidal gold]] preparations (suspensions of [[gold nanoparticle]]s) in water are intensely red-[[color]]ed, and can be made with tightly controlled particle sizes up to a few tens of nanometers across by reduction of gold chloride with [[citrate]] or [[ascorbate]] ions. Colloidal gold is used in research applications in medicine, biology and [[materials science]]. The technique of [[immunogold labeling]] exploits the ability of the gold particles to adsorb protein molecules onto their surfaces. Colloidal gold particles coated with specific antibodies can be used as probes for the presence and position of antigens on the surfaces of cells.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1016/0019-2791(71)90496-4 |pmid=4110101 |date=1971 |last1=Faulk |first1=W. P. |last2=Taylor |first2=G. M. |title=An immunocolloid method for the electron microscope |volume=8 |issue=11 |pages=1081β3 |journal=Immunochemistry}}</ref> In ultrathin sections of tissues viewed by [[electron microscope|electron microscopy]], the immunogold labels appear as extremely dense round spots at the position of the [[antigen]].<ref>{{Cite journal |pmid=6153194 |date=1980 |last1=Roth |first1=J. |last2=Bendayan |first2=M. |last3=Orci |first3=L. |title=FITC-protein A-gold complex for light and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=55β7 |journal=Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry |doi=10.1177/28.1.6153194 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Gold, or alloys of gold and [[palladium]], are applied as conductive coating to biological specimens and other non-conducting materials such as plastics and glass to be viewed in a [[scanning electron microscope]]. The coating, which is usually applied by [[sputtering]] with an [[argon]] [[plasma (physics)|plasma]], has a triple role in this application. Gold's very high electrical conductivity drains [[electric charge|electrical charge]] to earth, and its very high density provides stopping power for electrons in the [[electron beam]], helping to limit the depth to which the electron beam penetrates the specimen. This improves definition of the position and topography of the specimen surface and increases the [[Angular resolution|spatial resolution]] of the image. Gold also produces a high output of [[secondary emission|secondary electrons]] when irradiated by an electron beam, and these low-energy electrons are the most commonly used signal source used in the scanning electron microscope.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bozzola |first1=John J. |last2=Russell |first2=Lonnie Dee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqSMzR-IXk0C&pg=PA65 |page=65 |title=Electron microscopy: principles and techniques for biologists |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-7637-0192-5}}</ref> The isotope [[gold-198]] ([[half-life]] 2.7 days) is used in [[nuclear medicine]], in some [[cancer]] treatments and for treating other diseases.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.missouri.edu/~kattik/katti/katres.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090314121232/http://web.missouri.edu/~kattik/katti/katres.html |archive-date=14 March 2009 |title=Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Nanomedicine: Hybrid Nanoparticles In Imaging and Therapy of Prostate Cancer |publisher=Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Institute, University of Missouri-Columbia}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1211/jpp.60.8.0005 |title=Radiotherapy enhancement with gold nanoparticles |date=2008 |last1=Hainfeld |first1=James F. |last2=Dilmanian |first2=F. Avraham |last3=Slatkin |first3=Daniel N. |last4=Smilowitz |first4=Henry M. |s2cid=32861131 |journal=Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology |volume=60 |issue=8 |pages=977β85 |pmid=18644191 }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page