A few years ago we described in a blog on www.malariaword.org the role zinc may have in diarrhea and tropical diseases. Zn2+ deficiency is a common comorbidity of many chronic diseases.
In a recent weblog we describe the deleterious effect of zinc deficiency in elderly people on the development of pneumonia. Zinc deficiency has a detrimental effect on blood pressure and hypertension is one of the major causes of mortality in Covid infections.
Many anecdotical or scientific results indicate that leaves and stems of Artemisia annua have different therapeutical properties, often higher for leaves, sometimes lower.
Our efforts so far to elucidate key factors explaining these differences have failed. Artemisinin, polyphenols, essential oils are higher in leaves, scopoletin sometimes lower. If the therapeutical properties against malaria, bacteria or nematodes, really are proportional to the concentration of these organic key constituants, the healing power of stems and twigs should be close to zero.
submitted by Pierre Lutgen, Jerome Munyangi and Mutaz Akkawi
Zinc (Zn) plays an essential role in many biological processes including immune response. Impaired Zn status promotes immune dysfunction, and it has been associated with enhanced chronic inflammation during aging. Zinc has a pivotal role in the entire immune system fostering resistance to infections by virus, fungi and bacteria. The immune system is strongly impaired by zinc deficiency, predominantly the cell-mediated response by T-lymphocytes.
In a recent review paper we described the strong antimalarial properties of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), but also raised some concerns about the potential risks for viral infections.
Jérôme Munyangi, Pierre Lutgen, Artemisia plants, arachidonic and other polyunsaturated fatty acids. Malaria World Journal MWJ 2020, 11:3.
Already in 1925 burns were treated with tannins.
As it often happened in the past century the use of this natural product in the treatment of wounds was abandoned in the mid-forties due to the availability of topical antibacterial agents. It has regained interest. A clinical trial in Malawi comparing a decoction of ground tea stalks with silver sulfadiazine gave better results for bacterial growth, eschar formation.
L Chokotho, E van Hasselt. The use of tannins in the local treatment of burn wounds-a pilot study. Malawi Med Journal, 2005, 17, 19-20
