Everybody has heard of Penicillin as the first antibiotic. However, a lesser known but equally important drug that has been used is called Isoniazid. This is an organic drug that was developed in the early part of the 20th century as a cure for the disease Tuberculosis (often abbreviated to TB). TB has always been a big killer and although it has now been pretty much eradicated in the western world it was a disease that was rife well into the 1950s when there was a massive drive to wipe it out. Now, of course, in the UK children are no longer given an injection for TB because it is no longer deemed to be a risk to health. Going back to 1912, when the drug was first discovered, they would be dreaming of the days when TB wouldn’t be a risk as so many families had lost numerous members to this horrible disease.

It must be noted that the drug isn’t a permanent cure as the TB bacteria quickly gains a resistance to it but as a short term cure that slows the disease it was of vital importance. One way in which it has a more lasting effect is in its use as an antidepressant and, in fact, it was one of the first antidepressants used and a main drug on the NHS until the mid 1950s. The drug doesn’t come cheap though; a yearly course can cost as much as $8000 but the benefits that it gives you are innumerable; if nothing else, killing the latent TB bacteria could save your life.