Page 7 - Information about Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera 8.5 12pp final.qxd 1/15/06 2:22 PM Page 7

ALOE VERA
the health benefits

There has also been extensive and successful measuring (assaying) it or upon investigating the
work on use of Acemannan in cancer in living mechanism by which it works. Payne (1970)
animals in the 1990’s (Kent 1993), King et al worked using Aloe in periodontal surgery. The
(1991a), King et al (1991b), King et al (1995). more rigorous scientific studies have been done in
controlled experiments in which inflammation is
No one should simply drink Aloe Gel or Extract first created in a biological system using an irritant
and expect to recover from cancer as a result. and then noting the effects of Aloe treatment.
That would be simplistic and almost certain to
result in disappointment. There is insufficient Davis et al (1984) and Davis et al (1987) measured
evidence to justify this level of confidence. All one the topical anti-inflammatory activity of Aloe vera by
can say consuming high-specification Aloe the relief of ear swelling caused by an irritant. Davis
products may synergize with the effects from a et al (1989a) administered processed Aloe vera
very thorough-going nutritional programme. topically, showing that it inhibits inflammation. Davis
et al (1989b) and Davis et al (1992) used artificially
6 Anti-Inflammatory Effect created pouches of skin containing a specific irritant
The anti-inflammatory action of Aloe in acute such as croton oil or carrageenan (inflamed synovial
inflammation is one of the best-known actions. pouch method). Others have treated mouse skin to
Aloe inhibits the complex tissue events that produce minor trauma and then treated the skin, or
accompany inflammation. The result is that the the animal, with Aloe. There are numerous reports
pain, soreness, redness and swelling associated in this literature of various degrees of relief of
with tissue damage diminish and pass off much inflammation by Aloe, which is usually substantial

Aloe, together with the nutrients Aloe reacts with or inhibits
cited in the study, can be effective or destroys viruses or
in improving the general health and cancer cells outside
immune status of AIDS patients. the body.

more rapidly than would otherwise be the case. and mainly without any negative effects. This work
This effect is clearly responsible for all the early is well set out by Davis (1997).
benefits from applying Aloe Gel or Whole Leaf
Extract, or various preparations and ointments There have by now been so many publications
and creams of Aloe, to wounds, including confirming anti-inflammatory activity that the
operation wounds, cuts and abrasions of all kinds. existence of the effect is in no doubt. We also
This effect must also be responsible too for the know of a range of different anti-inflammatory
early benefits in sports injuries, such as sprains substances in Aloe. The extent to which each
and muscular injuries, frostbite, burns and contributes to the overall anti-inflammatory effect
radiation burns, in the tissue-damage applications of Aloe gel or juice is not clear, however. It seems
associated with dentistry and ear, nose and throat that the compounds responsible for this effect are
surgery, as well as its earliest effects upon mostly small molecules because, when the higher
arthritis and some infections. Many of the actions molecular weight components of Aloe are
of Aloe on other conditions that embody precipitated out with alcohol (ethanol) some 78%
inflammation must also be due at least in part to of the anti-inflammatory activity remains in the
the anti-inflammatory effect. This would include supernatant liquid. The polysaccharide fractions of
insect bites or stings and jellyfish stings. Much Aloe are found mainly in the precipitate. Hence this
skin disease is associated with inflammation as a simple chemical process achieves a high degree of
symptom. Clearly, Aloe often brings benefits from separation of the immunostimulant from the anti-
anti-inflammatory action, even though the skin inflammatory components.
trouble itself probably has a different primary
cause. Hence the anti-inflammatory action is one The substances in Aloe with anti-inflammatory
of the main benefits of Aloe. It is one of those properties include the natural steroids lupeol,
actions that have favourable knock-on beta-sitosterol and campesterol (Davis et al,
consequences. The most dramatic benefits of 1994b, Davis et al, 1997), the enzyme,
anti-inflammation are seen in acute conditions. bradykininase, which is an enzyme breaking down
the stimulatory peptide, bradykinin (Fujita et al
Since the anti-inflammatory action is plain for all 1976, Yagi et al 1982, Yagi et al 1986), natural page 5
to see, most studies have focussed either upon salicylates that bear a relationship to aspirin and