The Different Medicinal Uses Of Aloe Vera

Dr. H.R. McDaniel, pathologist and researcher at the Dallas-Fort Worth Medical Center said, and I wholeheartedly agree, that…“the use of Aloe Vera will be the most important single step forward in the treatment of diseases in the history of mankind!”
The health benefits of Aloe Vera cover a lengthy and increasing list of ailments and conditions. Traditional medicine and the pharmacological industry may not have embraced Aloe Vera because of the threat it poses to hundreds of prescription and non-prescription drugs and the fact that it cannot be patented.
But that notwithstanding, knowledge of the medicinal uses of Aloe Vera also widely known as the “Miracle Plant” is increasing worldwide at a rapid rate.

Medicinal uses of Aloe Vera: Limits the activity of HIV

Aloe Vera contains Gluco-mannan, a special complex polysaccharide composed largely of the sugar Mannose. It interacts with special cell-surface receptors on those cells which repair damaged tissues, called fibroblasts, stimulating them, activating their faster growth and replication.
An extract of Mannose, one of the sugars in Aloe Vera can inhibit HIV-1, the virus associated with AIDS.
In a 1991 study in Molecular Biotherapy, HIV-1 cells were treated in vitro – outside the body – with the Mannose extract.
Virus reproduction was reduced by as much as 30% by Aloe Vera, viral load – total amount of the virus – as well was reduced, the spread of the virus from the infected cells was suppressed and the viability – chance of survival – of infected cells was increased.
The Aloe Vera gel also proved to be an effective part of a nutritional support program for HIV+ patients according to the Journal of Advancement in Medicine.
For 4 months, 29 patients were given 100% pure Aloe Vera gel (5 ounces, 4 times daily) along with an essential fatty acid supplement and another supplement containing vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Patients were told to continue with their normal diet and not to take other supplements.
After 90 days all of the patients had fewer occurrences of opportunistic infections, thrush, fatigue and diarrhoea, as well as increased white blood cell counts meaning their immune systems were responding positively.
Their assessment of overall quality of health also improved. In 255 of the patients, Aloe Vera apparently knocked out the virus’s ability to reproduce.
Researchers found that Aloe Vera stimulates the body’s immune system, particularly T4 helper cells – white blood cells that activate the immune response to infection.

Medicinal uses of Aloe Vera: Protects against Radiation

With the invention of the atom bomb it was discovered early in the search for protection against radiation burns that the best treatment was Aloe Vera gel.
It is rumored that the U.S.A. and the U.K. have huge stockpiles of Aloe Vera for use in the event of a nuclear attack and doctors have even prescribed it for intravenous use when treating radiation burns.
The Aloe Vera gel has a dramatic ability to heal wounds, ulcers and burns by putting a protective coating on the affected areas, speeding up the healing rate, relieving pain and preventing blisters.
It can also reduce inflammation, decrease swelling and redness and accelerate wound healing. Aloe Vera increases availability of Oxygen to the skin and also increases the synthesis and strength of tissue.
Aloe Vera protects against skin damage from X-rays according to researchers at Hoshi University in Japan publishing in the journal Yakugaku Zasshi.
They found that Aloe Vera was an effective antioxidant, mopping up the free radicals caused by radiation, and that it protected two of the body’s healing substances, Superoxide Dismutase (an antioxidant enzyme) and Glutathione (an amino acid which stimulates the immune system).

Medicinal uses of Aloe Vera: Minimizes Frostbite Damage

A study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine established that Aloe Vera works well for frostbite.
Researchers gave standard treatments for frostbite – antibiotics, Ibuprofen and rewarding – to 154 patients with mild to severe frostbite.
Of patients who additionally received Aloe Vera cream, 67.9% healed without any tissue loss (amputation) compared to 32.7% in the control group.
Researchers concluded that Aloe Vera prevented a decrease of blood flow to the frozen tissues, a common cause of tissue loss in frostbite. Read on for more examples of the medicinal uses of Aloe Vera.