Category: Plants & Medicine

One of these groups of molecules is the most potent longevity-extending pharmacological intervention yet described in scientific literature: a specific extract of willow bark, (Click on title for full story.)

The study shows the berry, which can potentially lower the risk of heart disease and cancer, could also be a weapon in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists say the fruit is loaded with healthful antioxidants which could help prevent the devastating effects of the increasingly common form of dementia. (Click on title for full story.)

But if we could be, for example, putting an anti-HIV medicine into a plant that they could be growing in their backyard, making a tea from the plant, in theory it could be something that could revolutionize the treatment of HIV. (Click on title or image for full story)

A promising new preclinical study has revealed that whole stevia leaf extract possesses exceptional antibiotic activity against the exceedingly difficult to treat pathogen Borrelia Burgdorferi known to cause Lyme disease. (Click on title or image for full story.)

Kratom’s narcotic effects have been known for centuries in its native Thailand, which banned the substance decades ago amid widespread abuse. Nevertheless, kratom being sold in the United States is still smuggled in from Thailand, as well as several other Southeast Asian countries. Western research of kratom is in its infancy. (Click on title or image for full story.)

The algae that could cure blindness doesn’t even see, technically. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii are simple, single-cell green algae that live in water and in dirt. They have a round body, two whip-like tails, and a single primitive eye—not even an eye, really, an eyespot—that they use to seek out sunlight for photosynthesis.

Salvia alters dopamine levels in ancient parts of the brain responsible for motivation, reward, and the internal sense of what is going on in our bodies. The Mazatec use Salvia as part of a larger ritual and worldview that cannot be reduced to a single pharmacological mechanism. However, by studying Salvia, we may be able to better understand the addiction process in the brain and devise new treatments for stimulant-use disorders.

Canadian researchers have shown that molecules derived from avocados can help to treat a form of leukaemia by targeting the root cause of the disease – its stem cells.

Drinking Earl Grey tea could help guard against heart disease, it has emerged, after a study found that bergamot extract – a key ingredient in the hot drink – is just as effective as statins at controlling cholesterol.