Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions
Artemisia annua is a species of the Artemisia genus autochthonous from temperate regions of Asia, but found all over the world. It has fern-like leaves and bright yellow flowers. It measures, on average, 2 m in height, has a single stem, alternate branches and alternate leaves 2.5-5 cm long. Cross-pollinated by wind or insects.
Artemisia annua is an aromatic and herbaceous plant, a species that stands out from the rest of its genus as an excellent and important source of clinically proven therapeutic compounds. Artemisia annua L. produces a variety of complex terpenoids in its trichomes, among which artemisinin is of special interest for the treatment of a variety of pathologies.
In addition, the plant produces other substances such as flavonoids (artemetin, chrysospleneti, chrysosplenos, crinilineol and eupatorin), phenolic acids and coumarins, which increase the impact and efficiency of artemisinin through a phenomenon called pharmacodynamic synergy, in addition to acting as an antioxidant. and boosting the immune system.
Artemisia annua is able to grow in a variety of habitats, including forest edges, semi-desert slopes, salt and rocky fields, and in a wide altitudinal range, meaning it is relatively easy to cultivate in many climates, from tropical to tropical regions. arid regions. Its life cycle is long, from 7 to 8 months, when it reaches maximum growth and flowers, also the point at which artemisinin reaches its highest concentration in the plant.
Ethnobotanical properties and uses:
Mugwort annua is an antipyretic, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drug traditionally used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and malaria.
It is still used in Asia and Africa to treat malaria as well as the symptoms of COVID-19.
Parts used:
Leaves, whole plant.
Sources:
https://medcraveonline.com/IJCAM/IJCAM-14-00550.pdf
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_annua
Artemisia-annua is considered very safe and has been used for thousands of years. Artemisinin derivatives include artesunate and artemether, both of which are used to treat patients with malaria and have a proven safety record. It seems to be a great opportunity to help, especially those people who are suffering around the world and don't have immediate access to medication.
Artemisia-annua has no side effects.
Sources:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354205000690?via%3Dihub
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-07-artemisia-annua-sars-cov-virus-laboratory.html
Precaution:
Mugwort-based treatment is contraindicated in pregnant and lactating women.
BIG PHARMA does not want this cheap plant to be available to everyone. The sale of medicines (and vaccines) yields millions of euros. Thus, they invest colossal sums in counter-propaganda, in false internet pages, false study reports, false agency names, false negative information, etc... all this to create in people a climate of distrust and doubt.
Just follow the links to these supposedly official articles, for example in this Pychomédia article:
"Artemisia annua extracts: serious cardiac risks"
http://www.psychomedia.qc.ca/sante/2021-01-30/artemisia-annua-l-risque
"Artemisia annua L., exposed to cardiac arrhythmias that are sometimes fatal, reports Prescrire magazine in its February 2021 issue" !!!
In the February 2021 Prescrire magazine, an HTML link appears:
https://www.prescrire.org/fr/Search.aspx
Again, false statements appear:
"Artemisinin and its synthetic derivatives are known to cause cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death."
"In September 2019, the New Zealand Health Agency privately warned of adverse cardiac effects...severe, even fatal heartbeats...Better to avoid their consumption."
What agency New Zealand? There is no author's name, no references, no studies!!!
To access the full article, a paid subscription is required...
They still want us to believe that the Earth is flat.
During the epidemic, we heard a lot about a fabulous and unfairly despised plant: Artemisia annua (annual mugwort).
You have no doubt heard of the Madagascan president's initiative to produce a mugwort drink to fight the coronavirus.
The mainstream media, which rarely lose an opportunity to attack natural approaches, have been very critical of this.
But this is not the first time that the plant has been the victim of disparagement.
Artemisia is best known for its powerful action against malaria, validated by numerous scientific studies. I remind you that in 2015, researcher Tu Youyou even received the Nobel Prize in medicine for demonstrating the effectiveness of artemisinin, the plant's active ingredient, in antimalarial treatments.
Yet in 2019, the National Academy of Medicine called "for an end to a promotional campaign organized by figures who may be well-meaning but incompetent in malariology."
The sale of Artemisia-based products has been banned in France.
Effectiveness proven in the field ... but not in the Academy's offices
The official argument against mugwort is that there is a risk of resistance to artemisinin in people who take it.
But it would above all be a pretext to protect the large laboratories which produce thousands of doses of antimalarial drugs every day.
This is the opinion of many specialists, such as Dr Joël Liagre, a doctor specializing in phytotherapy who has participated in several humanitarian missions against malaria, particularly in Senegal:
“This is completely wrong. This is the pretext given by the labs. In Africa, people who have a fit collect mugwort in their garden and heal from the fit within two or three days. They have to start over regularly because they are infected over and over again but there is no resistance, this is totally false. A whole plant is like essential oils, it does not create resistance. "
In an interview for our magazine Mother Nature's Secret Pharmacy, this doctor also explains that other varieties of Artemisia that do not contain this famous active ingredient would also be useful in cases of malaria:
“The mugwort we use is Artemisia annua and there is another African mugwort, Artemisia afra which is also effective against malaria attacks although it does not contain artemisinin.
As always in herbal medicine, it is the totum of the plant that is effective rather than an isolated component. So, yes, isolated artemisinin works, but the whole plant apparently works just as well. "
Moreover, Dr. Liagre tells us that many Senegalese only use mugwort when they have malaria attacks. Conventional drugs, such as malarone, are overpriced for a large majority of Africans anyway.
In 2019, Congolese researchers wanted to test the effectiveness of mugwort infusions compared to conventional treatment. They had a big surprise: mugwort cured 99.5% of malaria attacks against only 79.5% with conventional drugs.
Scientific studies, a Nobel Prize, a proven use in the field ... what more do our authorities need to finally recognize the effectiveness of this plant?
Are the big labs putting pressure?
France’s position on Artemisia is grotesque. While many countries are studying this plant and using it successfully ...
… It is currently impossible to find it for sale in our pharmacies!
It makes you wonder if our authorities are not seeking to defend the interests of the drug industry? !
Artemisia is very easy to grow. All Africans could have it in their backyard. But of course, it does not suit everyone that African countries can cure themselves, without the help of large laboratories.
FYI, Artemisia annua costs 5 times less than antimalarial drugs sold by big labs.
The pharmaceutical industry therefore has every interest in preventing mugwort from being popularized.
Thus, as soon as researchers validate the effectiveness of the plant, they are systematically ridiculed, denigrated, contested ...
It’s a real witch hunt.
Last year, research in France and Africa by doctor Jérôme Munyang would have been stifled by Big Pharma. Dr Michel Idumbo, principal investigator of the study in Africa, is also at risk of dismissal.
Jérôme Munyang was even allegedly persecuted and detained in Kinshasa. He was forced to take refuge in France.
More recently, the President of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, said he was launching a traditional remedy, consisting of Artemisia annua. Once again, the mainstream media have gone out of their way to criticize the news, despite initial results described as "encouraging" by the Malagasy government.
The study that proves the effectiveness of Artemisia Annua in destroying cancer cells
Today we know that the active ingredient present in Artemisia Annua, artemisinin, is extremely effective in treating malaria, one of the worst epidemics on the planet which kills more than 2 million people every year in the world. third World countries.
Around 1994, prof. Henry Lai and his assistant Professor Narendra Singh began to speculate that Artemisia Annua might also be effective in the fight against cancer.
In fact, they examined the extraordinary effectiveness of the chemical properties of artemisinin on breast cancer cells. A study mentioned in the new edition of Life Sciences describes how this substance kills virtually all human breast cancer cells within 16 hours.
Professor Lai says, "It would seem that not only is it working, but also selectively." He adds, “It is highly toxic to breast cancer cells, but to normal cells it only has a negligent effect. "
“Cancer cells need a lot of iron to replicate DNA when they divide,” Lai explained. “As a result, cancer cells have a higher concentration of iron than normal cells. When we started to understand how artemisinin worked, I started to wonder if we could use this knowledge to work on cancer cells."
Lai envisioned a potential way to start fundraising by getting a grant from the Breast Cancer Fund in San Francisco. Meanwhile, the University of Washington patented his idea.
The basic idea - claim Lai and Singh - was to "swell" cancer cells with the maximum concentration of iron, then introduce artemisinin to kill the cancer in a chosen way. In this study, only 25% of cancer cells remained after 8 hours. But after 4 p.m., almost all of the cells (98% to be precise) were dead.
Artemisia against leukemia
A previous study involving leukemia produced even more impressive results: cancer cells were eliminated in 8 hours.
One explanation could be the iron level in leukemia cells, which “have the highest concentration of iron of all cancer cells,” Lai explained. “Leukemia cells have more than 1000 times the iron concentration of normal cells.
The next step, according to Lai, is to perform tests on sick animals. A previous study was done in a dog with bone cancer, so severe that he couldn't even walk: he recovered within 5 days of treatment. But more rigorous sampling is certainly needed.
An important testimony
So far we've only talked about in vitro studies, so research still has a long way to go before it achieves a real breakthrough. Basically, we are still in the preliminaries.
Yet there are those who decided to take a risk, or rather, there are those who had nothing to lose and who wanted to try this solution too before giving up and letting go. This is the case with Amedeo Gioia.
The story of Amedeo Gioia
In September 2013, Amedeo was struck by a heart attack and hospitalized in San Filippo Neri, he suffered 3 by-passes. Having lost blood in the catheter, he underwent a urologic examination from which he was diagnosed with the presence of a very large papilloma which, given his condition, could not be operated on by surgery.
After his hospitalization and rehabilitation, Amedeo was admitted to a clinic by urologist Dr. Serafini, who gave him a TURB to clean his bladder. From histological examination, Dr. Serafini found high quality nuclear tumor cells.
After 7 days of hospitalization, the oncologist prof. Lanzetti told him the infiltrations were unnecessary, since the cancer had passed to the prostate and came out into the peritoneum resting on the ilium and everything would have to be removed.
However, given Amedeo's delicate condition (given his heart problems), doctors refused to take responsibility for the operation and he was sent home with a life expectancy of a few weeks, or so. at most two months. She was also advised to undergo cycles of chemotherapy which "perhaps" would have prolonged her suffering for a few more months.
The discovery of Artemisia Annua
Intent on finding something to help him cope with the pain, which by then had become excruciating, Amedeo, with the help of his children, began to research the Internet.
This is how he came to find out about Artemisia Annua and the study (published in the previous chapter) that discussed the in vitro efficacy of artemisinin in killing cancer cells.
Finding no dosage on the use of Artemisia, Amedeo relied on intuition, common sense and also luck. They opted for the hydroalcoholic extract of Artemisia Annua and reading that cancer cells are loaded with iron, Amedeo also decided to take a vial of tonic iron, one early in the morning for 2 days in a row, then put it on hold for not to risk feeding the cancer.
Therapy followed by Amedeo:
This is the exact therapy that Amedeo also posted on the "Quelli dell’Artemisia Annua" Facebook group.
- Vials of iron : Amedeo used the vials of reconstituting iron, COMPLEX VIALS, which are given to children (because they are more digestible and available), only the first two days of treatment, as based on studies published on the web Artemisia Annua affects iron-loaded cells. The iron always took an hour before the hydroalcoholic extract of Artemisia.
- Artemisia Annua : She took the hydroalcoholic solution of Artemisia Annua for 2 weeks consecutive. The dosage used by Amedeo is as follows: mugwort was always taken during meals (never on an empty stomach) 1 tablespoon diluted in coffee, or in another drink at breakfast, 3 tablespoons diluted in a drink (Amedeo used chinotto) during lunch and 3 tablespoons diluted in a glass during dinner (Amedeo always used chinotto). This is until the bottle of hydroalcoholic extract, equal to 500 ml, is used up.
- Vegan diet : Amedeo, in addition to taking Artemisia Annua , in order not to feed the Cancer, decided to follow an “almost vegan” diet with some occasional snags. & nbsp; He therefore excluded from his diet any type of protein of animal origin: therefore no milk, dairy products , eggs and meat which can be substituted by legumes, peanuts and dried fruits.
The results
After just 2 days, Amedeo says the pains were completely gone and after just 6 days he did an ultrasound that showed nothing and did the blood tests for the tumor marks that were normal.
Then he also did a scanner which detected absolutely nothing. No trace of the tumor. In the months and years that followed, he then repeated new tests to verify that the cancer was completely gone. All examinations have always given negative results.