The Health Wonder

The medicinal properties of nature are beneficial in treating disorders ranging from skin abrasions to microbial infections.

 

Eastern medicine has used the curative properties of neem in a variety of ways for centuries. In a poultice, it was applied to raw wounds to dry and disinfect the area. Before the era of toothpaste, people would chew pieces of the bark of a neem tree to freshen their morning breath. Children with chickenpox would be bathed with water in which neem leaves had been soaked overnight to calm the itchy rash. Noticing that a lane lined with neem trees attracted less mosquitoes and pests, people burned neem bark as a bug repellent, much like the citronella candles of today. In fact, the uses of neem were believed to be so wide spread that it came to be known as sarvroghari or, quite literally, 'ridder of all disease'. Octogenerian Jagdish Goel, a scholar and avowed neem fanatic, agrees and credits his advanced, disease-free age to this wonder herb.
Neem as an antiseptic

• A warm poultice made with crushed neem leaves and turmeric helps to soothe wounds, reduce swelling and hasten healing.
• Neem leaves boiled in water, cooled and crushed can be applied to skin sores caused by chicken pox, eczema or ulcers to relieve associated symptoms such as itching and to prevent infection of open sores.

Neem as anti-microbial treatment

• Neem oil taken orally as is or in capsule form helps prevent the overgrowth of candida, a fungus whose proliferation in the body can cause yeast infections.
• Neem preparations, specifically oil derived from its seed kernel, have been scientifically shown to be effective treatments for athlete's foot, ringworm of skin and nails and other fungal infections of the lungs and mucous membranes.
• Many diseases caused by microorganisms living inside insects have potential to be treated with neem concoctions. In India, neem-leaf teas have been found to be effective in the treatment of malaria, which is caused by a protozoan found inside mosquitoes that reside in that region.

Neem as an insecticide

• Pure neem oil rubbed onto the scalp is an effective treatment of head lice.
• Essential oil of neem can be used in a homemade preparation as an insect repellant. The oil's intense odor repels mosquitoes and other small insects.

Neem as a contraceptive

• Neem oil is believed to be an organically strong spermicide. Research is underway to isolate components of the oil of a neem seed kernel that can be developed as an effective birth control measure. Neem oil works by slowing down sperm mobility enough to prevent fertilization.
• Neem oil also works as a veritable "morning after pill". Applied inside the uterus, it prevents implantation of the fertilized egg thus preventing pregnancy.

Indigenous to a sizeable region of the world, neem has the potential to have far reaching medical consequences. With focused research, this inexpensive, non-toxic and organic source can be utilized to its full extent as the miracle herb that it is touted to be. However, until that point is reached, caution and common sense needs to be applied to all handling of this wonder that is neem.
References:
'Neem: A Tree for Solving Global Problems'. The National Academies Press (Accessed 9/17/2012)
'Neem'. Organic India (Accessed 9/15/2012)
Upadhyay, Kaushic and Talwar. 'Antifertility Effects of Neem Oil by Single Intrauterine Administration: A Novel Method of Contraception'. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B. Biological Sciences.