Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in 1909 in Turin, Italy to Italian-Jewish parents, and showed intellectual promise from a young age. After her teenage years, she managed to get into the University of Turin Medical School with the aspiration of becoming a doctor. Not only did she graduate Summa Cum Laude with a degree in medicine and surgery, but she also found a promising job as an assistant to neurohistologist Giuseppe Levi. However, her career was cut short when Mussolini passed the Manifesto of Race in 1938, which banned Jewish people from any academic and professional endeavors. 

Levi-Montalcini wasn’t phased however, as she soon set up her own personal laboratory in her bedroom. While studying the growth of nerve fibers in chicken embryos, she discovered that nerve cells die when they lack a target to bind with. It was this small discovery that paved the way for many of her future studies, including the compound that she discovered in 1993: Palmitoylethanolamide or PEA. 

So why is this important? Because we use Ultramicronized PEA as a primary ingredient in our Pain Formula. PEA is a compound found within fatty foods such as egg yolks and peanuts, and is even found naturally within the human body. It can also be found in various creams, lotions, and eye drops. Studies have found that PEA contains anti-inflammatory qualities due to its ability to bind to cells in the human body. Since then, it has been used to treat conditions such as chronic pain, osteoarthritis, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

People’s Herbs Pain formula contains four primary ingredients: corydalis, curcuma, frankincense, and myrrh. While all of these ingredients contain their own pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory qualities, we decided to incorporate PEA in order to create an effective pain-relieving supplement that would rival commercially available options. 

While Rita Levi-Montalcini went through many trials in life as a promising student, Holocaust survivor, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and politician in her later years, it was her work in neurobiology that helped lay the groundwork for some new natural medicines, and we here at People’s Herbs hope to make the most of it.