6. Coho salmon
Perhaps you think salmon only belongs on a dinner plate, but we’ve got enough evidence to include it in our list of animals that have improved human medicine, too. In fact, you can find coho salmon in the pharmacy, too.
Calcitonin-salmon is the generic name for a class of drugs that includes Fortical Miacalcin, used to treat bone loss. According to experts, humans make calcitonin, a hormone secreted by the thyroid gland that inhibits bone loss.
But in people with Paget’s disease and postmenopausal women, the rate of bone loss bumps up. High levels can prevent that from happening and promote bone density.
Although fish have no thyroid glands, they do produce calcitonin hormones to regulate their calcium levels from an endocrine gland in their neck. The synthetic version of this hormone from the coho salmon, known as calcitonin-salmon, is used as a treatment for people with calcium regulation disorders.
