Tropical countries have been plagued with Malaria infection rates in their most vulnerable groups: young children and pregnant women. Africa has more than one million deaths per year and Nigeria has more than 75 per cent of its children under age ten infected.

Anti-malarial drugs have been used for nearly 100 years, but the parasite has developed a resistance to drugs at an alarming rate. To counter these epidemics and drug-resistant strains, Nigerian researchers have developed herbal cocktail cures from local plants.

A typical cocktail consists of Morinda lucida, Nauclea latifolia, Cymbopogon citratus, pawpaw leaves, Moringa oleifera, Mangifera indica, bitter kola, and Psidium guajava,”

said the developers, plant taxonomist at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and Ebonyi State University, and Professor Jonathan Okafor. Using their common names, these local ingredients are brimstone tree, leaves of ubulu inu, lemon grass, male papaya leaves, drumstick tree leaves, mango leaves and bark, bitter cola and guava.

See the full article here at the Nigerian Tribune

Hangovers and their terrible next-morning symptoms are thought to result from dehydration and low blood sugar in the body. Now, research is leading scientists to believe that chemicals formed when your liver breaks down alcohol, such as the highly toxic acetaldehyde, also contributes to your hangover.

These chemicals (known as toxins) cause trouble when they pass through the stomach to the bloodstream, which will then spread throughout your body. Toxins irritate and even damage your cells and cell membranes and your liver’s natural reactions to harmful toxins quickly run out when larger amounts of alcohol enter the system. Then acetaldehyde and other toxins build up uninhibited in the body, causing headaches and vomiting. No immediate hangover cure is on the rise, however the article states:

Herbal compounds have become increasingly popular for hangovers. These include ingredients such as milk thistle, guava leaf and ginseng, which aim to boost biochemicals that help the body to deal with toxins.

Check out the rest of the article here on The Independant’s website.

There has been much talk in the past decade or so regarding the power of antioxidants.  Recent research has validated the hype, showing that antioxidant defenses may play an important role in helping the body combat diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Read more

Abstract

Biosorption of Hg (II) was investigated in this study by using guava bark powder (GBP). In the batch system, effects of various parameters like contact time, initial concentration, pH and temperature were investigated. Removal of Hg (II) was pH-dependent and was found maximum at pH 9.0. Based on this study, the thermodynamic parameters like change in standard were evaluated. The rate kinetic study was found to follow second-order. The applicability of Freundlich absorption isotherm model was tested. The value of regression coefficient was greater than 0.99. This indicated that the isotherm model adequately described the experimental data of the biosorption of Hg (II). Maximum adsorption of 3.364mg g−1 was reached at 80 min. The results of the study showed that guava bark powder can be efficiently used as a low-cost alternative for the removal of divalent mercury from aqueous solutions.

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Abstract

Aqueous extract of Psidium guajava L. budding leaves (PE) has been shown to possess anti-prostate cancer activity in a cell line model. We examined whether its bioactivity could be conserved either in the presence or the absence of synthetic androgen R1881. In both cases, PE was shown to inhibit LNCaP cell proliferation and down-regulate expressions of androgen receptor (AR) and prostate specific antigen (PSA). The cytotoxicity of PE was shown by enhanced LDH release in LNCaP cells. The flow cytometry analysis revealed cell cycle arrests at G0/G1 phase with huge amount of apoptotic LNCaP cells after treatment with PEfor 48 h in a dose-responsive manner, which was also confirmed by TUNEL assay. From the results of decreased Bcl-2/Bax ratio, inactivation of phosphor-Akt, activation of phosphor-p38, phospho-Erk1/phospho-Erk2, the molecular action mechanism of PE to induce apoptosis in LNCaP cells was elucidated. Compatible with the in vitro study findings, treatment with PE (1.5 mg/mouse/day) significantly diminished both the PSA serum levels and tumor size in a xenograft mouse tumor model. Conclusively, PE is a promising anti-androgen-sensitive prostate cancer agent.

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Abstract

During a screening of medicinal plants for inhibition of protein tyrosine phosphatase1B (PTP1B), an extract from Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae) leaves exhibited significant inhibitory effect on PTP1B. Thus, its antidiabetic effect on Leprdb/Leprdb mice was evaluated.

Significant blood glucose lowering effects of the extract were observed after intraperitoneal injection of the extract at a dose of 10 mg/kg in both 1- and 3-month-old Leprdb/Leprdb mice. In addition, histological analysis of the liver from the butanol-soluble fraction treated Leprdb/Leprdb mice revealed a significant decrease in the number of lipid droplets compared to the control mice. Taken together, it was suggested that the extract from Psidium guajava leaves possesses antidiabetic effect in type 2 diabetic mice model and these effect is, at least in part, mediated via the inhibition of PTP1B.

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Some of the earliest mentions of guava leaf in the Western world appear in the medical journal The Lancet, dating to the early 1800’s, as doctors chronicled their experiences in tropical locales, reporting on indigenous customs they discovered during their travels.  “For my own part,” writes Dr. J Hancock, “I think there is no method better adapted for the successful treatment of fevers in general, than that which is followed by certain tribes of Guiana, which consists of very little besides the use of aromatic vapour-baths and frictions; they take for this purpose the leaves of the guava, lime-tree… bruise and throw them into the bath. A similar practice is pursued by the Creoles of Martinique [for] fever, and with a success much greater than that attending the European practice” (Lancet 1830).  This early example of Western medicine borrowing knowledge from traditional or indigenous medicine is a practice recurring throughout history, and still continues today. Read more