See also Other names : Wormwood extract, artemisinin, qinghaosu (Chinese: 青蒿素)<br> Artemisinin is isolated from the plant [[Artemisia Annua]] (Sweet Annie or , sweet wormwood, an herb employed in Chinese Wormwood)traditional medicine. A precursor compound can be produced using genetically engineered yeast.
==Special Precautions of Artemisinin==
Artemisinins are generally well tolerated at the doses used to treat malaria. The side effects from the artemisinin class of medications are similar to the symptoms of malaria: nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and dizziness. Mild blood abnormalities have also been noted. A rare but serious adverse effect is allergic reaction. One case of significant liver inflammation has been reported in association with prolonged use of a relatively high-dose of artemisinin for an unclear reason (the patient did not have malaria). The drugs used in combination therapies can contribute to the adverse effects experienced by those undergoing treatment. Adverse effects in patients with acute P. falciparum malaria treated with artemisinin derivatives tend to be higher.
==The benefits of Artemisinin are==
Wormwood extract, or artemisinin. This herb [[Artemisia annua]] had been used by the Chinese for thousands of years for treating malaria before it was lost. It was rediscovered in 1970 and has slowly returned to clinical use, especially for drug resistant falciparum malaria, but also for treatment of most cancers.
Artemisinin contains two oxygen atoms hooked together that break down in the presence of iron, by creating very reactive free radicals that kill malaria parasites and cancer cells. Both cancer cells and malaria parasites sequester iron, accumulating as much as 1000 times what normal cells store. Giving artemisinin to people with malaria or cancer results in destruction of these abnormal cells and leaves normal cells unaffected. Artemisinin is a cancer bomb!
Artemisinin and its derivatives offer the possibility of using a non-toxic form of chemotherapy that is inexpensive and readily available. Because of its excellent safety profile, it should be a consideration for cancer treatment when conventional treatments have failed or when people refuse conventional therapies.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) recently discovered the potential of using the anti-malarial drug artemisinin in combination with aminolevulinic acid (ALA) as a treatment for cancer. Specifically, they found that the anti-cancer properties of artemisinin are enhanced by the addition of ALA, a photosensitizer that can generate cancer cell-killing free radicals on exposure to light.
==References==
* ''http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscentsci.7b00156''
[[Category:Treatments]]
[[Category:Alternative Cancer Treatments]]