V. Amygdalina: Folk Medicine, Analysis, and Potential Application for Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Folk medicine (FM) is practiced by people without access to conventional medical services; it usually involves the use of natural remedies such as herbs or vegetable substances. Before the use of pharmaceutical drugs, and surgical procedures, these healing methods were used, and are still in use today. It is estimated that twenty five percent of all therapeutic drugs trace their origins to plants, and almost two-thirds of the people of the world rely on their healing powers. One hundred years ago, health care in the U.S. was provided by a highly competitive medical sect, and quite infrequently, folk medicine practitioners were patronized. However, FM usage in the U.S. has increased drastically during the past decade. National surveys of adults (18 years of age or older) show that one in three adults use unconventional therapies or Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in the U.S. The rate of CAM usage is more than eighty percent among cancer patients. Vernonia amygdalina (VA) is well known for its medicinal importance. Fractionation of the VA extracts with solvents of varying polarities, by silica gels analyses, UV Spectrophotometer, HPLC, TLC and NMR techniques have yielded some biologically-active fractions.

Polyphenols-rich Vernonia amygdalina shows anti-diabetic effects in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

“…(Asteraceae) (VA) is a small shrub which is native to South Africa (Erasto et al, 2006;Izevbigie et al, 2008). VA is known as Ewuro and Etidot locally.…”

“…VA is well-known for its medicinal importance and it is used in Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa for the treatment of diabetes (Akah and Ekekwe, 1995;Erasto et al, 2005). Its leaves are consumed either as vegetables (macerated in soup) or aqueous extracts as tonic for the treatment of various diseases (Izevbigie et al, 2008). Since 1992, a number of anti-diabetic studies both in vivo (Akah and Okafor, 1992;Nwanjo, 2005;Abraham, 2007;Ebong et al, 2008;Eteng et al, 2008) and in vitro (Erasto et al, 2009) have indicated VA to possess anti-diabetic property.…”