10/15/2018 / By Earl Garcia
A study published in the African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines revealed that taking neem oil may help mitigate the risk of suffering from sleeping sickness. A team of researchers at the Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, conducted a series of in vitro and in vivo assays to determine the beneficial effects of neem oil on sleeping sickness models.
Data from the in vitro trial revealed that neem stem bark extracts showed utmost efficacy in mitigating three strains of the parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma. During the in vivo trials, the researchers examined 35 mice models that were randomly divided into seven groups. Three of the groups received varying amounts of neem oil extracts, while two others received either suramin or melarsoprol. One group served as the control population, the researchers stated.
The results revealed that the treatment groups exhibited a delay in the commencement of parasite appearance. More specifically, animal models that received up to 400 milligrams of neem extract per kilogram of weight were able to maintain significantly low levels of parasitemia throughout the trial.
“No animal mortality was observed during the 14 days of experimentation. There were no visible signs of acute toxicity among the animals treated with the extract at the doses used in the study,” the researchers reported.
“The current study established that the methanol extract of A. indica stem bark possess both in vitro and in vivo antitrypanosomal activity against T. brucei rhodesiense. Isolation and characterization of constituents of the extract, which is currently on-going research, could yield a potential antitrypanosomal lead compound,” the researchers concluded.
Health experts at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine confirmed that there are no currently available medications that may help keep the condition at bay. Likewise, an article published on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) media center revealed that some of the most commonly-used drugs to manage sleeping sickness often spur adverse effects. Among these drugs include:
Health experts explained that sleeping sickness is a disease transmitted by the parasitic tsetse fly. The disease was found to be mostly prominent in tropical African countries including Angola, Central African Republic and Chad. Scientists added that the disease is also widespread in Congo, Malawi and Tanzania as well as Sudan, Uganda and Zambia. (Related: Kazakhstan town plagued by mysterious illness that causes residents to fall unconscious for days.)
People infected with the sleeping sickness may exhibit certain symptoms including:
Death usually occurs within several weeks to months if the disease was left untreated. People who experience symptoms of sleeping sickness were advised to consult a health care provider for proper diagnosis.
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Tagged Under: alternative cures, epidemic, essential oils, Herbs, infectious disease, insomnia, natural cures, natural medicine, natural remedies, neem, neem oil, outbreak, parasite, sleeping sickness, tse tse fly