Research into Artemisia Annua for cancer treatment has shown some promising results.

Extracts from this herb have been found to target cancer cells and cause apoptosis (cell death), without harming healthy cells unaffected by the cancer.

This supplement may further reduce blood flow to cancerous tumors and acts as an anti-oxidant. However, it should be noted that to date, there is no scientific evidence in regard to human use that definitively determines that Artemisia annua prevents cancer or can cure it.

Artemisia Annua is known mostly as Sweet Wormwood, Sweet Sagewort, Sweet Annie, as well as Annual Mugwort. In China, the herb is known as qing hao (pronounced ching-how). This form of the herb has been used for centuries due to its potential for improving the immune system.

Artemisia Annua History

Artemisia annua has been utilized in Chinese medicine for thousands of years.

The herb is described in an ancient Chinese herbal medicine manuscript titled Chinese Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency Treatments, believed to be written in approximately 340A.D.

The manuscript was discovered in 1970 in the Hunan Province of China during an archaeological excavation.

References to the herb date back to 168 B.C., found in Ma Wang Dui tombs located in Chang Sha (Hunan Province). These texts were medical treatment based guidelines and instructions written on silk.

At that time, it was generally used as a sexual tonic as well as for treatment of hemorrhoids in women when mixed with ginger, cinnamon, and boiled urine.

How Does Artemisia Annua Work?

Artemisia annua contains a number of components and derivatives commonly used in complementary and alternative medicine treatments for cancer. Active constituents include artemisinin (a sesquiterpenoid).

Artemisinin is most known for its ability to counteract the effects of malari,a through its properties as an antimalarial lactone (an organic compound). It also contains derivatives that include:

Dihydroartemisinin

Artemether

Arteether

Artesunate

Those ingredients are often utilized in therapies known as artemisinin-based combination therapy or ACT in treatments for malaria. Additional ingredients and phytochemical compositions of Artemisia annua include:

Triterpenoids – Contain anti-cancer compounds

Flavonoids (polymethoxylated) – Effective antioxidants

Chromenes – Used in preparation of medications

A variety of essential oil ingredients or components

Artemisia Annua for Cancer-Fighting Benefits

Animal studies display a potential use of artemisinin in slowing down metastasis or tumor growth in some cancers. When in the presence of iron, two oxygen atoms from the artemisinin molecule break down and form destructive free radicals.

Cancer cells can accumulate up to 1000 times the amount of iron stored by normal cells. By targeting cells with high levels of iron and destroying them with free radicals, it may be possible to kill cancer cells without harming health cells.

However, clinical trials have not yet been conducted to show that anti-cancer benefits apply to humans as well. Long-term human studies will need to make such a determination.

In regard to use of Artemisia annua for cancer, the potential mechanisms of action are associated with its polymethoxyflavonoids. Some research shows that a variety of cancer cell lines may be sensitive to such compounds. As yet, exactly which genes have an influence on such sensitivity and/or resistance have not yet been identified.

It is also believed that the endoperoxides (a biosynthetic intermediary in the formation of prostaglandins) related to artemisinin have some type of influence in the expression of regulatory proteins within cell life cycles. This aspect may potentially induce apoptosis (cell death) as well as restrict angiogenesis – defined as the formation and differentiation of blood vessels.

Angiogenesis is necessary to supply tumors with blood which is required for growth and replication. By diminishing blood flow, it may be possible to limit the proliferation of cancer cells.

To date, no specific drugs derived from Artemisia annua have shown a prevalence of efficacy against cancers. This herbal remedy has not yet approved by the FDA or other governing drug associations for cancer treatment.

However, initial research results do warrant continued exploration into the potential for this area of treatment. NaturalNews has even called Artemisinin a potential “non-toxic form of chemotherapy that is inexpensive and readily available.”

What is Considered a Safe Dosage?

To date, no specific dosage has been recommended for children or adults, at least in regard to the treatment of cancers with Artemisia Annua. However, the herb has been utilized as a century-old remedy for malaria and fevers. For such cases, the recommended dosage from Chinese pharmacopeia is approximately 4 to 9 grams daily of the herb when prepared as a tea infusion.

Content and potency or strength of artemisinin may also affect dosage. Suggested daily doses of the semi-synthetic derivatives and other components found in artemisinin in combined therapies may range from 100 to 200 mg. The herb may also be prepared as a tea, however this method of administration is not ideal for measuring accurate dosages.

Many people mistakenly believe that Artemisia annua has an intoxicating effect on the body much like marijuana, but that is not true. This confusion dates back to the 1800s when absinthe, a popular and common drink, was created using a form of Artemisia absinthium.

In fact, the herb got a bad reputation after it was linked to the suicide of post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh and American mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe. But this is a different plant from Artemisia annua and the two should not be confused.

Adverse effects associated with Artemisia annua may include fever, flulike symptoms, a decreased appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Discuss use of Artemisia annua for cancer with your doctor before considering for use.

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Article last updated on:by Nootriment