Artemisia for COVID Treatment

I previously wrote about WHO endorsing the study of herbal remedies for treatment of COVID in Africa. This was in response to a herbal drink being sold widely in Madagascar claiming to be highly effective against COVID-19. The herbal infusion is sold in bottles labeled as COVID Organics or CVO, but is colloquially referred to as "green gold". It is reportedly flying off the shelves as people scramble to get their hands on a cheap and popular drink that can help them combat the rapidly spreading disease.

The herbal drink is made from a local plant called artemisia annua, also known as sweet wormwood. The plant grows widely in African countries and it is commonly used to treat malaria in Africa. However, it appears to have originated in China, where it is known as qinghao.

Artemisia plant

Qinghao was first mentioned in Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments (Wushi'er Bingfang), an ancient Chinese medical treatise, thought to be written during the Qin Dynasty around 215 BC or earlier. Qinghao was noted for its anti-inflammatory properties and is still used in traditional herbal medicine in China.

Now German and Danish scientists have begun testing extracts from the artemisia plant, and early results have shown some effectiveness against the coronavirus in a laboratory setting. Larger scale testing is underway at the University of Kentucky. If successful, we might finally have a effective medicine for COVID-19- a brand new disease being fought by one of the oldest medicines!

Artemisia annua extracts

Sources:

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-scientists-test-artemisia-plant-against-coronavirus/a-53944514
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7362865/

https://www.mpg.de/14663263/artemisia-annua-to-be-tested-against-covid-19

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