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July 10, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR GOPIKA CHANDRA, MD AT UIC
TURMERIC is widely used in India for healing cuts by the
native people. It is one of the most used spice in Indian
cooking. The turmeric plant belongs to ginger family, giving
aromatic rhizomes which are used as a spice in curries, as
dyes, and for medicinal uses. It is yellow in color and has
an aromatic, slightly bitter taste in powder and paste form.
It is generally used in powder form to treat fever, anemia,
hypertension, conjunctivitis, disorders of the nose, a sore
mouth, throat problems, chest pain, coughs, wheezing and other
respiratory problems, digestive disorders, jaundice, diabetes,
muscle strains and sprains, chapped lips, skin problems, wounds
and sexual debility. It is proved that turmeric has an anti-bacterial
property which is responsible for healing cuts and is effective
for treating any kind of infections. It is generally mixed
with milk and consumed as a drink or applied locally on the
wound to treat various ailments. Aleo vera is also used for
healing cuts.
AYURVEDA is a popular Indian alternative medicine which uses
all kinds of herbs to treat various diseases. If you are interested
to know more about other herbs, learning about ayurveda would
help to do so.
July 8, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK. To read Joan's bio. click
here.
I found a couple of web sites looking at "herb"
+ "wound healing",
but I really am not competent to judge their validity. Have
a look at
http://www.gnc.com/health_notes/Concern/Wound_Healing.htm
or http://www.healthwell.com/healthnotes/Concern/Wound_Healing.cfm
this latter site gives a lot of references to research on
the individual herbs.
Then there's this one, trying to sell a "wound care kit":
http://www.woundcarekit.com/
containing herbal root powder from
"100% pure wild American golden seal (hydrastis canadensis)"
- but
also containing hydrogen peroxide, which ought to prevent
infection... It would be an interesting research project for
you to
follow up on one of the herbs and see what evidence there
is that it
is safe and effective. I haven't even looked to see if the
second
site above mentions hydrastis canadensis, but that (and searching
on
the name) would be a way to start. Happy sleuthing! Could
you let
me know what you find?
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