Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 3 on 5/7/2002.

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Paint it black

David Hunter discovers a Scottish pioneer that's touched the heart of the modern world - literally: Sir James Whyte Black

To paraphrase the Rolling Stones: Although he’s not really / There’s a little orange pill / And he goes running for the shelter / Of an actor’s little helper

This orange pill, although some come in white, is the beta-blocker. Thespians use these tablets to help them overcome stage fright. They are so called, because they block the beta-receptors on the heart that respond to adrenalin. And although you may still be producing adrenalin,
your heart rate is normal, your mouth is no longer dry and your palms are no longer sweaty. In effect your body’s engine, the heart, is no longer revving in third gear but cruising in fifth.

The Scottish scientist who pioneered these pills was Sir James Whyte Black. This is living proof that not only whisky in these chessboard colours is a premium Scottish product. Sir James Black received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1988. At a London press
conference he quipped, “I wish I had my beta-blockers handy”. The Nobel committee said of beta-blockers “The greatest breakthrough when it comes to pharmaceuticals against heart illness since the discovery of digitalis 200 years ago”. Over a three-year trial, sufferers of heart disease given beta-blockers had four times less fatal heart attacks than imilar untreated patients. I, personally, can testify to the benefits of beta-blockers. Before these taking these tablets I was a mental and physical wreck tormented by acute anxiety and running on adrenalin
overload. Now I have a reasonably n.....

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By David Hunter

Section : Scottish Innovators

Page number : 82