| What makes Aloe Vera work? |
| It is surprising that the evident healing effects of aloe vera can be produced by such a small quantity of solid material. Some people believe that there is a synergistic action between all the component ingredients, giving a result which is greater than sum of the individual actions.The combined action of all herbal preparations taken from whole stems, roots, leves or fruits containing huge numbers, but very small amounts of phyto-chemicals, stretches the boundaries of the conventional medical paradigm. In all allopathic (orthodox) medicine, the practice is to isolate, in a chemically oure form, the biologically active substance of the consituent ingredients.These extracted drugs must be uniform in their compositition in order to demostrate a consistent physiological effect. Perhaps there is some truth in an ancient Ayurvedic text from India:' Extracting drugs from a part of the plant is taking out the intelligence and throwing away the wisdom.' Whole plant preparations, though less potent, are generally considered to be safer with fewer side effects. The evidence suggests that the primary sites of action for aloe vera are: *Epithelial tissues- the epithelium is the layer of cells which covers the surface of the body or lines a cavity that communicates with surface. The skin, the largest organ of the body, is also the largest epithelial surface- but other epithelial tissues line the nose, sinuses, lungs, mouth, oesophagus and alimentary tract, as well as the genital tract. This action on surfaces and membranes. rather than solid organs, may account for some of the healing properties of aloe vera(Davis et al 1987, Fulton 1990, Heggers 1996). *The immune system-here, aloe vera exerts an effect on the cytokine system, resulting in immunomodulation (Green 1996, Marshall et al 1993, Winters 1993). In the US, the polymanose sugar hes been extracted by Carrington Laboratories and its product, Carrisyn, has been licensed to treat the onchogenic retroviral infection which causes leukaemia in cats. It is currently being tailered in human retroviral infection (AIDS) where it has been found to be synergistic with Zidovudine. |
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