Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
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 Parts of medicinal Plants Used and Mode of Application
In most cases (61%) the whole plant was used for medicinal purposes, followed by leaves (13%) and flowers (6%); seeds, roots, bark, fruits, and latex were rarely used (3% each). Almost all remedies were prepared from fresh plant material (96%). All of the introduced plant species were cultivated in fields and gardens, while most of the indigenous species were collected in the wild. Diseases and other health problems were most frequently treated with decoctions of various plant species. The use of single species for treatments was rare. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 It's interesting, I was actually just in Hong Kong doing a lecture on medicinal mushrooms for cancer treatment. I went around and started looking in local stores. And you go into what would be like a 7-Eleven there, and you find reishi extracts actually on the shelf. That's how pervasive it is through at least parts of the Asian community.
Mike: These mushrooms have been used medicinally throughout Asia for literally thousands of years, and quite effectively and safely, I might add. Here in the Western world, many people are just now waking up to the medicinal qualities of mushrooms. |
| We're known for a variety of medicinal mushroom products, particularly two: The SX-Fraction and the maitake D-fraction.
Mike: Do you do any work with reishi mushrooms?
Kaylor: Yes, we certainly use reishi. You can't be a mushroom company and not work with ganoderma. It is really the heart and soul of not only of medicinal mushrooms, but of holistic. We could talk for hours on what the reishi mushroom is capable of doing and what it can be used for. It's interesting, I was actually just in Hong Kong doing a lecture on medicinal mushrooms for cancer treatment. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 How specific protein peptides are being used as medicinal compounds.
The truth about common protein powders and why "whole food protein" is superior to isolated proteins.
How amino acids can act like powerful medicine in the human body.
Surprise! The gut has its own nervous system called "the second brain."
How protein deficiency accelerates aging.
Why gut problems (leaky gut syndrome, IBS, Crohn's disease and more) are often caused by poor nutrient assimilation.
The promise of probiotics: How "feeding your gut" can help you overcome disease. |
Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
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| The use of medicinal plants for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders has a high prevalence in other Andean societies as documented by a variety of studies [l7
18. 19. 20. 21]
Magical Uses
Mal aire (bad air), mal viento (bad wind), susto and espanto (fright), mal ojo (evil eye), and brujeria (sorcery) are seen as very common illnesses in Andean society. Causes are sudden changes in body temperature (aire, viento), any kind of shock (susto), negative "humors" (ojo) and spells cast by other people, envy, poisoned food, sorcery (daho), etc. |
| Eighty-five different medicinal conditions were recorded. Most plants were used for the treatment of multiple ailments. The large variety of applications was grouped into 37 main categories.
"\ A
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Internal Organs
The highest number of species was used to treat internal organ and digestive system disorders (101, 21% of all conditions treated). |
| In the current book this earlier work is incorporated into subsequent fieldwork and the entire corpus (21 5 plant species) is characterized in terms of indigenous nomenclature and medicinal usage.
Since the start of the project in 1995, there have been some relevant innovations. In 1996, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters published a comprehensive work on the ethnobotanical use of plants by three indigenous peoples of coastal Ecuador1'51. |
| It is an alternative to Western medicine and is strongly linked to religious beliefs and practices of indigenous cultures. medicinal plant lore or herbal medicine is a major component of Traditional Medicine.
In Latin American countries, herbal medicine is deeply rooted, practiced extensively by indigenous groups, and frequently used by a broad cross-section of the larger society. Often it is an economically inevitable alternative to expensive Western medicine. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| It is really the heart and soul of not only of medicinal mushrooms, but of holistic. We could talk for hours on what the reishi mushroom is capable of doing and what it can be used for. It's interesting, I was actually just in Hong Kong doing a lecture on medicinal mushrooms for cancer treatment. I went around and started looking in local stores. And you go into what would be like a 7-Eleven there, and you find reishi extracts actually on the shelf. That's how pervasive it is through at least parts of the Asian community. |
Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
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 The use of plant species in this field could provide particularly interesting leads in medicinal development.
Infection (Bacterial and Viral, Parasites)
Infections caused by bacteria, viruses, and various parasites are common in many developing countries. Bacterial infections treated included cholera, tuberculosis, and gangrene, with 14 applications (0.56%; 11 species, 2.1%). Viral infections were mostly related to dengue fever, yellow fever, and measles (15 applications, 0.6%; seven species, 1.4%). |
| The expectation is that, by placing the knowledge about long-term cultural precedents for traditional uses in the public domain, this research will prove that contemporary patent applications derived from local medicinal knowledge lack originality, i.e., that they are not "novel" enough to qualify as inventions warranting protection under international patent law, and are thus not patentable. |
| In addition, income derived from the marketing of traditional medicinal knowledge was seen as an
PLANTAS de LOS CUATRO VTFNTOS instrument to alleviate poverty and to finance conservation efforts [86,92,93,94]. Within a few years, however, ethnobotany - initially seen as instrument that could help to salvage declining traditional knowledge and biodiversity - had simply become an instrument of theft and "biopiracy" for its critics [86].
In his book Who Owns Native Culture? anthropologist Michael Brown [86, pp. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Reversing cancer is quite achievable through nutrition, anti-cancer foods, medicinal herbs and other alternative therapies, and using colon cleansing products is a well-justified adjunct therapy along the way.
But even if you're not battling cancer or other chronic diseases, you need to have a clean, flexible digestive tract anyway. Cleansing is for everyone, and maintaining a healthy digestive tract is an important factor for the prevention of many chronic diseases, including cancer -- especially colorectal cancer. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| Mike: Now, it seems conventional medicine is increasingly comfortable with the idea of people perhaps using nutrition or medicinal mushrooms in conjunction with chemotherapy, but they're very uncomfortable with the idea of people moving away from chemo and only turning to mushrooms or cancer therapies that are in the alternative world. Do you have any comments you can share on that, or is that dangerous ground to even talk about?
Kaylor: Well, it's always dangerous ground, but I always speak up. I like to think that people are becoming more receptive as far as using these things. |
Bryan Hanson, PhD
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 In the following sections I mention an example of an amino acid derivative and a protein that have a medicinal or toxic effect.
Lectins
Lectins are a complex, difficult-to-study group of molecules that are a special type of glycoprotein, which are protein chains with sugars (the glyco- prefix) attached. The word lectin comes from the Latin verb "to select," because lectins bind to the sugar residues found on
Valine Histidine Lysine
FIGURE 4.6. Amino acids typically found in proteins. the surfaces of cells, often in a very selective manner. |
Amarjit S. Basra
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 The medicinal uses of garlic-Fact and fiction, Am. Pharm., NS22: 40-43.
12. Ankri and Mirelman, 1999, Antimicrobial properties of allicin.
13. Soffar, S.A. and Mokhtar, G.M., 1991, Evaluation of the antiparasitic effect of aqueous garlic (Allium sativum) extract in hymenolepiasis nana and giardiasis, J. Egypt Soc. Parasitol, 21: 497-502.
14. Harris, Plummer, and Lloyd, 2001, Antigiardial drugs.
15. Ponce-Macotela, M., Navarro-Alegria, I., Martinez-Gordillo, M.N., and Alvarez-Chacun, R., 1994, Efecto antigiardisico in vitro de 14 extractos de plantas, Rev. Invest. Clin., 46: 343-347.
16. |
| Although this final chapter cannot provide details on the molecular targets of relevance in the various therapeutic areas, as these can be found in Part III of the book, it demonstrates the relevance of novel strategies in medicinal plant research.
Quality Control and Chemical Analysis
Again the example of an adulterated Chinese traditional medicine can be cited to demonstrate the need for high levels of quality control. |
Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
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| The traditional use of medicinal plants in this region, which encompasses in particular the Departments of Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Cajamarca, Amazonas, and San Martin possibly dates as far back as the first millennium B.C. (north coastal Cupisnique culture) or at least to the Moche period (A.D. 100-800), with healing scenes and healers frequently depicted in ceramics. |
| Sustainable cultivation of medicinal plants.
• Reliable information for consumers on the proper use of Traditional Medicine and Complementary Alternative Medicine therapies and products.
The present study, financed through the "MHIRT," attempts to address some of these issues. MIRT (Minority International Research and Training) or MHIRT (Minority Health Disparity International Research and Training) as it was recently renamed, is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, administered by the Fogarty International Center for Advanced Studies in Washington, D.C. |
| In order to recognize Peru's rights under the Convention on Biological Diversity, especially with regard to the conservation of genetic resources in the framework of a study treating medicinal plants, the identification of the plant material was conducted entirely in Peru. No plant material was exported in any form whatsoever.
Nomenclature
The nomenclature of plant families, genera and species follows the Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru [21]. |
Leslie Taylor, ND
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 A single Amazonian tribe of Indians may use more than 200 species of plants for medicinal purposes alone.
Of the 121 pharmaceutical drugs that are plant-derived today, 74 percent were discovered through follow-up research to verify the authenticity of information concerning the medical uses of the plant by indigenous peoples. Nevertheless, to this day, very few rainforest tribes have been subjected to a complete ethnobotanical analysis. Robert Goodland of the World Bank wrote, "Indigenous knowledge is essential for the use, identification and cataloguing of the [tropical] biota. |
| I firmly believe that medicinal plants, such as those discussed in this book, are the true wealth of the rainforest and the means by which it can be saved from destruction. They have for centuries positively affected the health and well-being of the inhabitants of the forest. Through their sustainable harvesting, they can and will positively affect the health, well-being, and continuance of the rainforest itself. |
| If this new venture/ adventure is successful, my next book may well be on North American Indian medicinal plants and the need to put our own Native Americans back onto their ancestral lands (now owned and controlled by our government's forestry agencies) as caretakers of the land in sustainable plant harvesting programs. What an adventurous journey that will be! Believe it or not, I haven't been bored—not once—in the last nine years; that doesn't look like it will be changing any time soon, either! |
| Through my ongoing work with the company and the many subsequent trips to the Amazon, I learned more and more about the other medicinal plants that were used as natural medicines by the indigenous peoples in the rainforest and began importing those as well. My company quickly outgrew Clear Creek Ranch and it was time to sell it and move back into the city as the journey, which now seemed to have a life of its own, continued forward. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| Here in the Western world, many people are just now waking up to the medicinal qualities of mushrooms. Is it having much success now?
Kaylor: Yes, I think it's a growing process. We don't have much when you compare to the thousands of years of experience in China – they've got medical texts that are 4,000 years old that rave over the benefits of shiitake mushrooms, the reishi mushroom and Cordyceps mushroom. Obviously we're nowhere near that in Western culture, but there's definitely a trend and a change happening. |
Bryan Hanson, PhD
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| Coumarins
Simple Coumarins
Coumarins are a widely distributed group of molecules with a variety of medicinal uses. Coumarin, a compound in its own right, shows the basic ring structure characteristic of the group. Aesculin, a glycoside isolated from the bark of the common horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), acts as a vascular protective agent. It appears to "toughen up" the capillaries, and the plant has been recommended for swelling of the lower legs, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins. |
Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
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| Construction
Erythrina and Inga species were used as material to plant live fences. Ochromapyramidale (balsa) was used as a light construction timber. Palm fronds and palm stems (Bactris sp.j were used for thatching and roof construction.
Ceremonial Uses
Palm staffs (Bactris sp.J are still used as power objects on Southern Ecuadorian mesas.
Veterinary and Fodder
Hardly any plants in Southern Ecuador had veterinary uses. Cicuta virosa was used to treat animal wounds. Various species of Erythrina and Inga were used as animal fodder. |
Bryan Hanson, PhD
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| Plants in the same genus have many similarities including the biochemistry that leads to the production of MOLECULES of medicinal interest. geometry: A term referring to the shape of a MOLECULE. glycoprotein: A protein in which some of the side chains have sugars attached. glycoside: A MOLECULE composed of a sugar connected to a small molecule called the AGLYCONE. gum: One type of complex polysaccharide; often used as a food additive.
HPLC: High performance (or high pressure) liquid chromatograph. An instrument which performs separations and/or analysis of mixtures using COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY. |
| The study of all aspects of natural medicinal substances. pharmacokinetics: The study of how fast a drug is absorbed, distributed, and excreted from the body. pharmacology: The study of drugs and their effects. phenyl group: A benzene ring connected to something by a single BOND. Often abbreviated Ph; don't confuse with pH. photoreactive: A term describing a MOLECULE that can undergo a reaction when it interacts with light (ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION). physiology: The study of the function of organs and whole organisms. platelet aggregation: Part of the process of blood clotting. |
| Royal College of Physicians of London and Edinburgh; accompanied with a circumstantial detail of their medicinal effects, and of the diseases in which they have been most successfully employed. London: printed and sold for the author by J. Phillips, 1793, Vol. 3, pi. no. 177.) hollow interior) of the microtubule, and that it acts by strengthening the attractions between adjacent protofilaments. |
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