Complete Health Care Guide

Natives of the New World have developed an extensive materia medica of local medicinal herbs to treat common medical problems. Finally they are accepting and studying herbal medicine in the new world, let’s see some examples.

Herbs “New World” have played a leading role, as food, fiber and medicine worldwide. Many herbs are now the focus of researchers around the world originated in the Western Hemisphere.

The European herbal medicine has used medicinal herbs of North and South America, and millions of people benefit, in Europe, of drugs that our own medical system considered too useless to investigate, because they are not patentable. Asian medical systems have used far fewer herbs in the Western Hemisphere, but with notable exceptions such as American Ginseng, which is much appreciated in China than here.

In this issue, we focus on American medicinal herbs which are among the most intensively studied medicinal agents in the world.
The chili peppers or, increasingly spicy

Most people are surprised to learn that the capsicum (the genre that includes peppers: small, red pepper, very spicy) and, in particular, its active ingredient, capsaicin, are involved in more scientific research than any other gender separately. Only in the last two years there have been over 650 studies on capsaicin, which includes 114 clinical trials in humans. Most of these studies take advantage of the unique mechanism by which capsaicin produces pain or to investigate the mechanisms of pain or to relieve chronic pain. Nothing is more exciting than the use of topical applications of capsaicin cream to relieve arthritis pain. Chronic pain requires the use arthritic anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics, with serious side effects. Most of these drugs are toxic to the liver, kidneys or both. But the cream of hot pepper has no significant toxicity.

The irritation and heat that we experience when eating hot peppers is that stimulate certain nerve cells to release a chemical called substance P (substance algogenic “Pani Substance”), responsible for the transmission of pain signals in our nervous system . The capsaicin triggers the release of this neurotransmitter and inhibits the production of more of it in the body. With prolonged use of capsaicin is spent, in part, substance P from nerve cells and thus alleviates chronic pain (a condition that requires substance P)
Researchers (Deal and colleagues) at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, evaluated the effects of capsaicin, both in rheumatoid arthritis patients with osteoarthritis. They found a significant pain relief when capsaicin cream applied topically to painful knees four times daily.

In rheumatoid arthritis, the treatment reduced pain by about half, whereas in osteoarthritis decreased to about one third. The authors conclude that “the capsaicin cream is a safe and effective treatment for arthritis.
Capsaicin produces additional benefits in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to a study Cerinic Matucci et al., Institute of Clinical Medicine, Italy. Besides reducing the transmission of pain, capsaicin also increases the production of collagenase and prostaglandin enzyme, reducing both pain and inflammation. An Austrian study, which reported O. Partsch et al. in the Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology, confirms this result.

One of the most striking results is that our sensory nerves produce their own anti-inflammatory response. Activation of pain signals carried out by capsaicin causes the release of a powerful natural anti-inflammatory. This is confirmed by the authors of a Swedish study indicating that “the result provides new information on the possible impact of sensory nerve activation during inflammatory processes, suggesting that sensory nerves may play an inflammatory role.

Far from being limited to arthritis research, topical use of capsaicin may be useful in more than a dozen chronic pain syndromes, including postherpetic neuralgia, postmastectomy neuroma, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, diabetic neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, itching associated to hemodialysis and vulvar vestibulitis.
American Antibiotics

The natives of Central America have developed an extensive materia medica of local medicinal herbs to treat common medical problems, a situation common to all indigenous peoples. Modern research continues to find utility in these herbs. A Mexican traditional medicine has been given surprisingly little attention in the U.S., given its large and growing Hispanic population. A study by the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur reported on a study done with 72 plants used in the Baja area. All herbs have been used to treat diseases including constipation, infected wounds, beans, kidney pain, sinus cold, toothache, fever, bronchitis, cystitis, venereal diseases and other “that might be caused by pathogenic microorganisms” .

Extracts were tested in five microbes, five pathogenic bacteria and yeast, Candida albicans. Of the plants evaluated, only three (4% of those studied) were active against E. Coli, a common bacterium in the gut. However, 18% were active against Candida, 29% against Streptococcus faecalis, 60% against Bacillus subtilis and 76% against Staphylococcus aureus. The only active plant against the five microbes was the Lippia palmeri, a relative of Lemon Verbena. The Larrea tridentata, known in the U.S. as Chapot or creosote, was very active against Streptococcus, Bacillus and Staphylococcus.

Guatemalan researchers have also studied medicinal herbs traditionally used against bacteria. 68 plants were added to the treatment of respiratory infections to major crops respiratory infectious agents. This article includes a list of plants by family, local name, parts used and references on the use of each. The authors began with a list of 234 medicinal herbs, from ethnobotanical research, 149 of which originated in the Americas. Unfortunately, only 37 medicinal herbs were tested with all three organisms, but the overall results were encouraging. About 40% of herbal medicines were active against at least one bacterium. A plant, the fruit of Physalis philadelphica, used for bronchitis, colds and sore throats, was active against the three bacteria.

Other promising plant extracts showed high activity against two bacteria, including E. globulus, Salvia officinalis, Lippia alba, L. dulcis. “Therefore, there is now preliminary scientific evidence of popular use of some of the plants that are supposed antibacterial activity. The authors note that additional studies “will allow the scientific community to recommend their use as affordable and safe alternative to synthetic antibiotics.
Most antiviral

Utah scientists reported this year on the promising antiviral activity of plants used in traditional medicine in Panama. The plants evaluated are names scarcely known in the U.S., but the study confirms the rationale for its use in indigenous medicine. The most encouraging results were produced with the Ouratea lucens and Trichilia cipo. Another species of the first kind, O. angustifolia has been used as a tonic and stomachic, while T. havanensis was used to treat malaria. The Ouratea lucens and Trichilia cipo have demonstrated increased activity against herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 (HSV 1 and HSV2) and vesicular stomatitis (VEV)

The findings are particularly relevant because they go beyond providing information on potentially important antiviral use for modern medicine. They also point to related plants species used in traditional medicine that may be better alternatives than the ones used. These plants have exceeded the levels that are normally considered significant for antiviral VEV reducing infection by up to 99.9%. The doses used in invitro tests were well below levels that could damage normal cells (human diploid) Furthermore, as were more toxic to human tumor cells to normal, the authors note that “their potential roles as antitumor agents should be investigated more widely. ”

“Overall, these data suggest that extracts of Panamanian plants examined contain components that can be used effectively as antiviral or antitumor agents.
Further evidence of the anticancer efficacy of garlic

Much has been written about garlic’s anticancer efficacy (apparently unknown to the medical community and the FDA. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported in 1988, some of the clearest evidence so far known, as mentioned in the HerbalOram number 18. This carefully controlled study with regard to other factors, was a direct correlation between increased consumption of garlic and other Allium vegetables (onions, shallots and chives) and a decrease in the incidence of cancer stomach. In simple terms, the NCI found that, in humans, the more you consume these foods, unless you have stomach cancer. The study included 1695 people, 564 of whom were suffering from stomach cancer. Most cancers stomach were found in people who ate little or no garlic. Chinese residents who did not eat garlic suffered a thousand times more stomach cancer than those taking large amounts of garlic regularly.

In another prestigious journal, Cancer Research, evidences have emerged more recently. The study of the Rutgers State University showed that diallyl sulfide (DAS), taken orally reduces the carcinogenicity of nitrosamines, a powerful chemical carcinogens known. Nitrosamines, which may be formed in the stomach from nitrate-rich foods, including vegetables, are activated during metabolism into more harmful compounds. The garlic compound inhibits this metabolism, suggesting that it may be effective in inhibiting tumor formation.
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