Dr Françoise Barbira Freedman has visited and lived among the Keshwa Lamas in Amazonian Peru for the past 30 years. She relates that it was on one of these trips that she was introduced to a variety of the Amazonian plant species Acmella Oleracea.
"The story began in 1975 when I first went to live among the indigenous people of Peru," she explains. "We were trekking through the rainforest and I was having terrible trouble with my wisdom teeth. One of the men with me noticed and prepared a little wad of plants to bite onto. The pain went away. When it came back a few hours later, he had foreseen the need and kept plant material in his hunters' bag for me."
Years later, the anthropologist was asked by neuroscientist Dr Mark Treherne to bring some medicinal plant samples back from Peru to be tested for a neurological research project. The Incan toothache remedy was on this list and proved successful in the clinical trials that have taken place over the past five years. The results suggested that a gel made from the plant blocked nerve endings (sodium channel pathways) and therefore alleviated pain.
The Phase II trial, which took place at the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia in Lima, included 50 patients between the ages of 18-55 years old who had had a wisdom tooth removed.
In a double-blind test, some were given a placebo whilst a 500mg dose of NSL-101 solution (distilled from the plant) was topically applied in the mouths of others. The patients were then asked to grade their pain intensity 30 minutes after the tooth had been removed and before the application of NSL-101 or placebo, and then at 30-minute intervals after application for a period of six hours and then at 24 and 48 hours post-surgery.
The dentists involved in the trial reported "a high level of satisfaction" among the patients and also recorded that the patients needed fewer follow-up appointments.
If the Phase III trials are successful, Freedman is hoping to bring the product to the mass market through her company, Ampika and says it could be available in 2014/15. A percentage of the profits will be returned to the Keshwa Lamas. She says: "We think the remedy is better than current treatments because Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs drugs are systemic and have long-term effects; the plant product is not systemic and does not have any known side-effects."
When asked, Professor Damien Walmsley, Scientific Adviser to the British Dental Association, told Wired.co.uk: "This is an interesting development that requires further clinical trials before its potential can be properly assessed."
"The story began in 1975 when I first went to live among the indigenous people of Peru," she explains. "We were trekking through the rainforest and I was having terrible trouble with my wisdom teeth. One of the men with me noticed and prepared a little wad of plants to bite onto. The pain went away. When it came back a few hours later, he had foreseen the need and kept plant material in his hunters' bag for me."
Years later, the anthropologist was asked by neuroscientist Dr Mark Treherne to bring some medicinal plant samples back from Peru to be tested for a neurological research project. The Incan toothache remedy was on this list and proved successful in the clinical trials that have taken place over the past five years. The results suggested that a gel made from the plant blocked nerve endings (sodium channel pathways) and therefore alleviated pain.
The Phase II trial, which took place at the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia in Lima, included 50 patients between the ages of 18-55 years old who had had a wisdom tooth removed.
In a double-blind test, some were given a placebo whilst a 500mg dose of NSL-101 solution (distilled from the plant) was topically applied in the mouths of others. The patients were then asked to grade their pain intensity 30 minutes after the tooth had been removed and before the application of NSL-101 or placebo, and then at 30-minute intervals after application for a period of six hours and then at 24 and 48 hours post-surgery.
The dentists involved in the trial reported "a high level of satisfaction" among the patients and also recorded that the patients needed fewer follow-up appointments.
If the Phase III trials are successful, Freedman is hoping to bring the product to the mass market through her company, Ampika and says it could be available in 2014/15. A percentage of the profits will be returned to the Keshwa Lamas. She says: "We think the remedy is better than current treatments because Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs drugs are systemic and have long-term effects; the plant product is not systemic and does not have any known side-effects."
When asked, Professor Damien Walmsley, Scientific Adviser to the British Dental Association, told Wired.co.uk: "This is an interesting development that requires further clinical trials before its potential can be properly assessed."
Thank You wired.co.uk
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