History
of Wormwood
|
Artemisia
absinthium's
ability to rid the intestines of parasitic worms earned
this plant its common name, "Wormwood," and its
reputation for curing a wide variety of stomach ailments.
Folkloric medicinal uses of this bitter root are
documented in ancient Egyptian writings and the Bible. In
the 1970s, archeologists unearthed ancient Chinese medical
recipes that used Wormwood to treat malaria, a disease
caused by a mosquito-borne blood parasite.
Research
revealed that a compound in Wormwood called "artemisinin"
does in fact help kill off the malaria parasite in the
blood stream, and the treatment regained popularity in
modern Asia and Africa. More recently, researchers at the
University of Washington have looked into artemisinin's
ability to kill cancer cells. In a 2001 article in the
journal Life Sciences, researchers Henry Lai and Naredndra
Singh reported that artemisinin killed 75% of human breast
cancer cells exposed to the compound after just eight
hours. Earlier research suggests artemisinin is even more
effective with Leukemia. Though these results are very
promising, the compound will require more laboratory tests
before even preliminary testing begins in humans. |
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| Definition
Wormwood
Definition |
| Ambrosia
Chenopodium ambrosioides |
| Ambrosia,
aka American Wormwood, Epazote, Mexican Tea, Spanish
Tea, Stick weed, Stinking Wee |
| Mexican
tea; Spanish tea; American wormwood Chenopodium
ambrosioide |
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| Absinth
Wormwood Control |
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| Part
of the World Networking Group, Powered by the World Networking
Group (269) 345.6600 |
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