Doc coincidence or the unintentional discovery

Amerika, cosmic background radiation and the famous Post-it note have something in common: They were discovered although something else was being looked for. The superglue that didn’t work and facilitated the Post-it note, cosmic background radiation that was measured when an antenna was being tested, or Amerika, whereas we all know – Columbus landed when he was looking for the Indian continent.

Serendipity is also a widespread phenomenon in medical research. We all know about the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming through his moulded bacterial cultures. The chemist Albert Hoffman was initially on the search for a cardiac stimulant when he observed the hallucinogenic effects of LSD on himself. Eventually, the classic example of Viagra was researched for the treatment of coronary heart disease, but it was destined to be used in a completely different way due to its special side effects in male test persons.

The pharma company Pfizer has made billions with the registration of Viagra for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. It is one of only a few drugs that are called “blockbusters”, which means that through Viagra, over one billion US dollars have been made within a year.

We want to set our sights a little lower. However, serendipity is also possible in our field.

One example is chondroitin sulphate (CS), a verified active substance for the treatment of degenerative joint diseases. Patients taking high doses of CS are also less likely to suffer from coronary heart disease. This correlation leads to new research. And all of a sudden, the pieces of the puzzle make up the whole: Glycokalyx, which is the protective layer of the endothelium and controls endothelial functions, mainly consists of substances that we know from cartilaginous structures, among others hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulphate. If you are interested, you find more information in the March edition of Biogena Inside.  

Alternative medicine can also contribute to „unintentional discoveries“. At this point, we need dedicated physicians, who collect the mentions of unusual effects of micronutrients made by their patients, draw intelligent conclusions and subsequently provide us with this information for evaluation.

The coming years will show, whether Big Data and the computing capacity of modern computers will be able to replace the highly-valued Doc coincidence in the health sector. Presumably, they won’t. And there are several surprising facts that we already know about. The customer who used a complex of hyaluronic acid for her skin structure and who was amazed by the disappearance of her knee complaints was a few decades late in her discovery.