Health - Blackherbals.com

inflammatory, antimicrobial, antimalarial, diuretic, hepato-protective and hypotensive activities.In Uganda, five different medicinal uses are known: the sap from crushed leaves is used to speedup clotting of blood in fresh wounds; a leaf decoction is used for treating headache; sap from theplant is put in the ear to treat ear infection; a decoction of leaf powder is used to treat kidneyproblems; and a herbal tea made from the plant decreases flatulence. Extracts of Bidens pilosaare used in southern Africa to cure malaria. The Manyika people in the eastern highlands ofZimbabwe retain the first water used for cooking Bidens pilosa foliage for later use as amedicinal drink to cure stomach and mouth ulcers, diarrhoea, headaches and hangover. The Zuluin South Africa use a suspension of powdered leaves as an enema for abdominal trouble, whereasin Congo a concoction made from the whole plant is taken as a poison antidote, or to ease childdelivery and to relieve the pain from hernia. In South Africa, strong decoctions of the leaf takenin large doses have been reported to be helpful in treating arthritis. In Côte d’Ivoire, the plant isused for treating jaundice and dysentery. The plant sap is applied to burns in Tanzania. InNigeria, the powder or ash from the seed is used as a local anaesthetic and rubbed into cuts. TheGiriama tribe from the coastal areas of Kenya use a leaf extract to treat swollen spleens inchildren. This tribe also uses a mixture of the dried and ground leaves of Bidens pilosa, soap andhot pepper as an insecticide for the control of leaf miners and other insects. The traditionalapplication of Bidens pilosa in local medicine, especially for its antiseptic and anti-inflammatoryproperties, will remain of importance, the more so as the plants are readily available. Theimmunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and especially antimalarial properties deserve furtherattention.Spanish needles are been used in traditional medicine systems for infections of all kinds: fromsuch upper respiratory tract infections as colds and flu to urinary tract infections and venerealdiseases-and even infected wounds on the skin. Research has begun to confirm these uses inseveral in vitro microbial studies. In 1991, scientists in Egypt first documented Bidens pilosaantimicrobial activity against various pathogens. Other in vitro studies have demonstrated itsantibacterial activity against a wide range of bacteria including Klebsiella pneumonia, Bacillus,Neisseria gonorrhea, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, and Salmonella. Extracts of the leaf alsohave been documented to have antimycobacterial activity towards Mycobacterium tuberculosisand M. smegmatis. A water extract of the leaf has shown significant anti-yeast activity towardsCandida albicans. Much of Spanish needles antimicrobial actions have been attributed to a groupof chemicals called polyacetylenes, which includes a chemical called phenylheptatriyne.Phenylheptatriyne has shown strong in vitro activity against numerous human and animalviruses, bacteria, fungi, and molds in very small amounts.In the tropics, Bidens pilosa is also used for snakebite and malaria; research has confirmed theseuses as well. Several studies have confirmed the plant's antimalarial activity; it reduced malariain animals by 43-66 %, and in vitro by 90%. With regard to its status as a traditional snakebiteremedy, one research group confirmed that a Spanish needles extract could protect mice fromlethal injections of neurotoxic snake venom.Other research has focused on Bidens pilosa's anticancerous characteristics. Early research, invarious in vitro assay systems designed to predict antitumor activity, indicated positive results inthe early 1990s. Spanish needles first was reported to have antileukemic actions in 1995. Thenresearchers from Taiwan reported (in 2001) that a simple hot-water extract of Spanish needlescould inhibit the growth of five strains of human and mouse leukemia at less than 200 mcg per36