Facts and Important Uses For Aloe Vera Plant
Health articles > Facts and Important
Uses For Aloe Vera Plant
Facts and Important Uses For Aloe Vera Plant
Aloe Vera heals burns, scalds, relieves sunburn, treats minor
wounds. As a healing plant, aloe is something of a celebrity.
Across America, the spiky plant sits on untold numbers of
kitchen windowsills, just waiting. Waiting for what? A spattered
bit of grease, a careless moment at the oven, and the inner gel
of the aloe leaves gets called into service as a burn salve.
Even scientists take advantage of this simple home remedy.
Most household burns and scalds, and many other minor mishaps,
occur in the kitchen. With an aloe plant close by, it's easy to
snip off one the thick, fleshy leaves, slit it open and squeeze
the clear gel onto the injury. "Aloe gel dries into a natural
bandage, It also promotes healing and helps keep burns from
becoming infected." Aloe has a long history as a healer. Around
1500 BC, the ancient Egyptians began using aloe as a powerful
laxative and a treatment for skin problems. When Alexander the
Great conquered Egypt, he learned that an island off Somalia
teemed with aloes. He immediately seized it to guarantee a
supply of the wound treatment for his troops, while keeping the
herb from his enemies. Arab traders carried aloe from Spain to
Asia around the sixth century. Traditional Indian Ayurvedic
doctors and Chinese physicians quickly adopted it as a laxative
and skin treatment. American pioneers used aloe gel to treat
wounds, burns,
hemorrhoids and rashes.
Scientific validation of aloe's wound-healing power dates from the
1930s, when radiologists noticed that aloe gel scooped straight from
the cut leaves of the plant hastened the healing of x-ray burns.
Since then, many studies have confirmed the herb's ability to
promote healing of cuts, frostbite and first- and second-degree
burns.
"Aloe contains allantoin, a substance that speeds wound healing,"
says Alan R. Gaby, M.D., a Baltimore physician who practices
nutritional and natural medicine and is president of the American
Holistic Medical Association.
One chemical in this herb - aloe-emodin - "has anti-tumor activity,"
according to James A. Duke, Ph.D., a botanist retired from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and author of The CRC Handbook of
Medicinal Herbs. Aloe is not currently used to treat cancer, but one
day it might be. And some derivatives of aloe are also being studies
for both anti-AIDS and anti-cancer potential.
How To Use Aloe Vera
Before applying aloe to burns of cuts, wash thoroughly with soap and
water. For minor burns, scalds, sunburns or cuts, select a lower
(older) leaf, cut off several inches and slice it lengthwise. Scoop
out the gel, apply it liberally to the affected area and allow it to
dry. (The injured aloe leaf quickly closes its own wound. Periodic
leaf-snipping does not harm the plant.)
Aloe gel is safe for external use by anyone who does not develop an
allergic reaction. If your skin shows signs of redness or irritation
after using aloe, discontinue use.
Even if you have a brown thumb, you can grow aloes. They need little
water and no care other than good drainage and a temperature above
40 degrees F. They prefer sun but tolerate shade, and they don't
mind poor soil. Aloes produce offshoots, which may be removed and
replanted when they are a few inches tall. Simply uproot or un pot
the plant, work the soil gently to separate the offshoot and return
the parent plant to its bed or pot.
Author : Jody Kelly.
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