The Famous Bulgarians: Prof. Dr. Dimitar Paskov
A snowdrop eradicates the polio epidemic
Professor Dr. Dimitar Paskov, a name you probably haven’t heard, but ought to remember, was a man who to this day brings great honor to our country. He dedicated 50 years of his life to medicine and his research in pharmacology earned him international fame. He was one of the founders of modern-day experimental pharmacology in Bulgaria. In 1945, following a community survey, backed by the local History Museum, Dimitar Paskov was pronounced Person of the Century in his town Peshtera. It was during the 1950’s when polio was a very real and very widespread danger, that Dr. Paskov turned to the seemingly ordinary snowdrop and extracted the crucial ingredient used to create Nivalin. Legend has it a girl the doctor knew accidentally drank water, in which snowdrops had been soaked. Miraculously, the water had an amazing effect and somewhat alleviated her condition! Dr. Paskov then went into further research. Not only was Nivalin a revolutionary medical advancement for the treatment of polio, but it is used to this day in the fight against infections affecting the nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease.
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