In Africa, gold dust used to be collected and rubbed on the skin because of its medicinal properties.
I'm sure people tried everything. Not saying gold can't be a useful drug somehow... just is there anything people won't try rubbing on themselves when they think they are dying? Gold is pretty inert on its own though (hence goldschlager), here it sounds like they are covalently binding some kind of growth factor mimicking compound to it or something.
All I know is that modern medicine (especially pharmacology) largely exists upon the knowledge of ancient and/or tribal cultures.
Most researchers become aware of the medicinal properties of the active ingredients in most medicines (active ingredients which come from plants) because some guy with a bone through his nose and wearing a straw diaper told them.
Modern researchers learn about the vast majority of medicine from indigenous cultures. Indigenous cultures are simply more connected with nature and understand it in a more personal way. It's truly amazing when you realize that some tiny tribe in the Amazon learned that if you combine plant 'x' with plant 'y' it has medicinal effect 'z.' With over 20,000 plants in the Amazon, think about the probability of this occurring through a trial-and-error process. It's truly fascinating.
I wouldn't be surprised if this gold medicinal revelation is a product of indigenous knowledge.
