Scientists shocked to find common shrub naturally producing therapeutic doses of painkiller opioids

Scientists shocked to find common shrub naturally producing therapeutic doses of painkiller opioids:

(NaturalNews) Deep in the heart of Africa grows a daintily elegant shrub that, beneath its surface, contains a powerful substance long used as a medicine in pain management. And researchers from France were shocked to learn recently that this shrub, known as Nauclea latifolia, actually contains therapeutic levels of said substance, marking the first time ever that a plant containing clinically viable concentrations of a specific therapeutic medicinal compound has been identified.

It is being likened to tramadol, the synthetic opioid drug that first hit the market back in 1977, except that it is not synthetic and occurs naturally in the bark of Nauclea latifolia, also known as the "African peach" or "pin cushion tree." According to Chemistry World, concentrations of this unique analgesic compound are so high in the pin cushion tree that people can actually grow and harvest it themselves without having to get a prescription.