Artemisia Annua, a common weed, is known by many names including annual wormwood, sweet annie, and sweet wormwood.
It is a highly aromatic herb grown natively in Asia and Eastern Europe. Artemisia is easily grown and prefers a sunny location with well drained soil. Artemisia Annua will grow in poorer soils as long as the soil is not soggy. It is considered a weed in many of the areas where it natively grows. The flowers, which are the medicinal part of this plant, are harvested in the late summer months before the herb goes to flower. The leaves are dried for later use.
Artemisia Annua Effective Against Malaria
It is grown in China for its medicinal properties. China’s research and clinical trials have already demonstrated its power against Malaria.
Malaria kills 2 million people each year with the largest percentage being children. A one-celled parasite, plasmodium, causes malaria, which is carried by the female Mosquito. The drugs that have been used on Malaria for years are becoming ineffective.
In China, Artemisia has been used effectively to treat Malaria and cerebral Malaria with success and few side effects. The factor in Artemisia that is effective against Malaria is called Artemisinin. Clinical trials have shown it to be 90 per cent effective with a higher success rate than standard medicine treatments used against Malaria. In a trial involving 2000 patients with Malaria, all were cured of the disease. This herb could save many thousands of lives in those countries where Malaria kills thousands of infants and young children each year.
Artemisia Used To Treat Fever and Cold Symptoms:
Native people use an infusion of the leaves internally to treat fever, colds, and diarrhea. The seeds are used to treat night sweats, indigestion and gas.
The leaves are used externally as a poultice to treat nose bleeds, boils, and abscesses.
Hope for Breast Cancer, leukemia, and Other Cancers:
From researching this subject, I discovered that breast cancer cells, leukemia cells, and Malaria Parasites need Iron to replicate DNA when they divide. Cancer cells have higher iron levels than normal cells. Leukemia cells for instance have 1,000 times the iron concentration of normal cells. It seems that the Artemisinin reacts with the iron in these abnormal cells, releasing free radical atoms that attack and break apart the cell membrane of the abnormal cell.
Two bioengineering professors, Professor Henry Lai and Professor Narendra Singh, from the University of Washington have produced a derivative from Artemisia that is demonstrating effective results against breast cancer. This study was published in the Journal Of Life Sciences. The derivative killed nearly all of the breast cancer cells exposed to it within 16 hours. The study showed that it is highly toxic to the breast cancer cells with little impact on the normal cells. It is even more effective on Leukemia cells because of their higher iron concentration. These tests so far have only been performed in the laboratory with animal testing as the next step. There have been a few preliminary animal test results. One involved a dog who had late stage bone cancer. At the beginning of their treatment on the dog, it was too weak to walk. After undergoing 5 days of treatment with the Artemisia, it made a full recovery. You cannot attribute the dogs recovery to the placebo effect as often is done when a person recovers from a non-traditional therapy. Animals just either get better or they don’t depending on the therapy administered. This is exciting research and hope for these cancers.
Treatment In AIDS Patients:
Health projects in many areas of the world document the effectiveness of Moringa Leaves and Artemisia Annua prepared as a tea given to AIDS patients. This combination of the two herbs have demonstrated that it improves strength, stamina, and overall health in AIDS patients. It does not cure the disease but improves immune function and health factors.
I hope you will research these topics on your own as well. I have included links at the bottom of this article to speed up your research. I will write new articles as clinical studies and research is available. I do hope I have opened up a window for you to consider in your exploration of herbs and the healing factors that make them effective.
References:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/V1-522.html
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Artemisia+annua
http://www.cancerplants.com/herb_news/artemisia_annua.html
http://www.infonet-biovision.org/default/ct/192/medicinalPlants
