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Suganda(Coleus aromaticus Benth.)

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Botanical Name : Coleus aromaticus Benth.
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Plectranthus
Species: P. amboinicus
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Lamiales

Other scientific Names:Coleus amboinicus Lour.,Coleus suganda Blanco,Plectranthus aromaticus Roxb.

Common Names:Bildu (Sul.),Clavo (C. L. Bis.),Latai (Sub.),Latay (Sub.),Oregano (Span.),Suganda (Tag.),Torongil de Limon (Span.),Zuo shou xiang (Chin.)

Other Common Names: Cuban oregano, Spanish thyme, Orégano Brujo (Puerto Rico), Indian Borage, Húng chanh (Vietnam), Mexican thyme, and Mexican mint

Habitat :Native to Southern and Eastern Africa, but widely cultivated and naturalised in the Old and New World tropics.

Description:
Suganda is an erect, spreading, branched, rather coarse, strongly aromatic, green herb, with fleshy stems. Leaves are fleshy, broadly ovate, 4 to 9 cm long, often heart-shaped, and somewhat hairy, with rounded toothed margins, with the tip and base decurrent. Flowers are small, and occur in distant whorls. Calyx is bell-shaped; the throat is smooth inside, with two lips, the upper lip being ovate and thin, the lower lip having four narrow teeth. Corolla is pale purplish and 5 times longer than the calyx, with a short tube, inflated throat, and short lips.

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This succulent herb has the typical four-cornered stem of the Lamiaceae family. The leaves are very thick and succulent, grey-green and hairy. The plant grows to around 50 cm (20 in) tall. The leaves are highly aromatic with a strong flavour of mixed herbs.

Cultivation:
The herb grows easily in a well-drained, semi-shaded position. It is frost tender and grows well in sub-tropical and tropical locations, but will do well in cooler climates if grown in a pot and brought indoors, or moved to a warm sheltered position in winter. Water only sparingly.


Edible Uses:
The leaves are strongly flavoured and make an excellent addition to stuffings for meat and poultry. Finely chopped, they can also be used to flavour meat dishes, especially beef, lamb and game.

The herb is also used as a substitute for oregano in the food trade and food labelled “oregano-flavoured” may well contain this herb.
· As condiment, provides fragrance to salads and strong-smelling meat dishes.
· Sometimes, used as flavoring for drinks.


Constituents :
Fresh leaves yield 0.055 volatile oil, largely carvacrol.

Medicinal Uses:
Parts used : Leaves

The leaves have  had many traditional medicinal uses, especially for the treatment of coughs, sore throats and nasal congestion, but also for a range of other problems such as infections, rheumatism and flatulence. In Indonesia Plectranthus amboinicus is a traditional food used in soup to stimulate lactation for the month or so following childbirth.

In Kerala, India this is called as “panikoorka” and has various uses in treating cold / cough / fever in infants.

Properties
*Aromatic, carminative, emmenagogue, diaphoretic, tonic, stimulant.
*In India, considered antilithiotic, chemopreventive, antiepileptic, antioxidant.

Folkloric:
· In the Philippines, macerated fresh leaves applied externally to burns.
· Leaves are bruised and applied to centipede and scorpion bites. Also, applied to temples and forehead for headache, help in place by a bandage.
· Leaves in infusion or as syrup used as aromatic and carminative; used for dyspepsia and also as a cure for asthma.
· The juice of the leaves for dyspepsia, asthma, chronic coughs, bronchits, colic, flatulence, rheumatism. The dose is one tablespoonful of the fresh juice every hour for adults and one teaspoonful every two hours, four times daily, for children. As an infusion, 50 to 60 grams to a pint of boiling water, and drink the tea, 4 to 5 glasses a day. For chilldren, 1/2 cup 4 times daily.
· For otalgia (ear aches), pour the fresh, pure juice into the ear for 10 minutes.
· For carbuncles, boils, sprains, felons, painful swellings: Apply the poultice of leaves to the affected area, four times daily.
· For sore throats, a decoction of two tablespoonfuls of dried leaves to a pint of boiling water, taken one hour before or after meals.
· Decoction of leaves is given after childbirth.
• In India, leaves are used traditionally for bronchitis, asthma, diarrhea, epilepsy, nephro-cystolithiasi, fever, indigestion and cough.
· The Chinese used the juice of leaves with sugar, for cough in children, asthma and bronchitis, epilepsy and convulsive disorders.
· Leaves are applied to cracks at the corners of the mouth, for thrush, headaches; against fever as a massage or as a wash.
· Used for bladder and urinary afflictions, and vaginal discharges.
· Used as carminative, given to childen for colic.
· In Bengal, used for coli and dyspepsia.
· Expressed juice applied around the orbit to relieve conjunctival pain.

Studies:-
• Antioxidant / Anticlastogenic / Radioprotective: Antioxidant, anticlastogenic and radioprotective effect of Coleus aromaticus on Chinese hamster fibroblast cells (V79) exposed to gamma radiation: The hydroalcoholic extract of CA showed dose-dependent radical scavenging against free radicals, rendered radioprotection against radiation induced DNA damage. Study results establsihed antioxidant, anticlastogenic and radioprotective activities and suggests a potential for chemoprevention.
• Antioxidant: Study of freeze-dried aqueous extract of Ca clearly established the antioxidant potency of freeze-dried extract of C aromaticus.
• Mast cell stabilization property: Study showed stabilization of mast cells in rat mesenteric tissue and suggests further studies into mast cells with its role in Type 1 hypersensitivity-mediated diseases like asthma and rhinitis.
• Antimicrobial: (1) Antimicrobial Activity Of Coleus aromaticus (Benth) Against Microbes Of Reproductive Tract Infections Among Women : Results suggests the herb could be an ideal choice for treating reproductive tract infections. (2) Study showed the antimicrobial effect of Coleus ambonicu, Lour folium infuum toward C albican and Strep mutans.
• Anticlastogenicity: Study of ethanolic extract of C aromaticus showed a protective effect against cyclophophamide and mitomycin-C induced cytogenetic damage.
• Anti-Inflammatory: In a carrageenan-induced rat paw edema model, the aqueous extract of Coleus aromaticus exhibited potent anti-inflammatory activity, attributed to the inhibition of mediators released from the 2nd phase of inflammation.
• Antibacterial: Study showed both ethanol and hot water leaf extracts of Coleus aromaticus to possess potent antibacterial activity, the ethanol extract showing greater activity. Results provide scientific support for the centuries-old use of the plant as a medicinal herb.
• Forskolin / Antioxidant / Anti-Asthma / Pulmo-protective: Study isolated forskolin, a diterpenoid, from a methanolic extract of C aromaticus. C aromaticus has been used to treat asthma. Forskolin has been thought to be responsible for its pharmaceutical activity through resotration of antioxidant enzyme activity with its ability to scavenge free radicals. The results validate the use of forskolin as an anti-asthmatic agent.

Other Uses:
· Fresh leaves rubbed on clothing or hair for its scent.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://www.stuartxchange.com/Oregano.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plectranthus_amboinicus

http://www.bailane.com/Blog/ViewBlog.aspx?sid=113&hid=21179

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Lung Taste Receptors Discovery May Improve Asthma Treatment

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Researchers have discovered that bitter taste receptors are not just located in the mouth but also in human lungs. What they learned about the role of the receptors could revolutionize the treatment of asthma and other obstructive lung diseases.

You may click to see :Sensory Transducers :

The ability to taste isn’t limited to the mouth, and researchers say that discovery might one day lead to better treatments for diseases such as asthma.

“The detection of functioning taste receptors on smooth muscle of the bronchus in the lungs was so unexpected that we were at first quite skeptical ourselves,” says the study’s senior author, Stephen B. Liggett.

Dr. Liggett, a pulmonologist, says his team found the taste receptors by accident, during an earlier, unrelated study of human lung muscle receptors that regulate airway contraction and relaxation. The airways are the pathways that move air in and out of the lungs, one of several critical steps in the process of delivering oxygen to cells throughout the body. In asthma, the smooth muscle airways contract or tighten, impeding the flow of air, causing wheezing and shortness of breath.

The taste receptors in the lungs are the same as those on the tongue. The tongue’s receptors are clustered in taste buds, which send signals to the brain. The researchers say that in the lung, the taste receptors are not clustered in buds and do not send signals to the brain, yet they respond to substances that have a bitter taste.

For the current study, Dr. Liggett’s team exposed bitter-tasting compounds to human and mouse airways, individual airway smooth muscle cells, and to mice with asthma. The findings are published online in Nature Medicine.

Most plant-based poisons are bitter, so the researchers thought the purpose of the lung’s taste receptors was similar to those in the tongue – to warn against poisons. “I initially thought the bitter-taste receptors in the lungs would prompt a ‘fight or flight’ response to a noxious inhalant, causing chest tightness and coughing so you would leave the toxic environment, but that’s not what we found,” says Dr. Liggett.

There are thousands of compounds that activate the body’s bitter taste receptors but are not toxic in appropriate doses. Many are synthetic agents, developed for different purposes, and others come from natural origins, such as certain vegetables, flowers, berries and trees.

The researchers tested a few standard bitter substances known to activate these receptors. “It turns out that the bitter compounds worked the opposite way from what we thought,” says Dr. Liggett. “They all opened the airway more profoundly than any known drug that we have for treatment of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).” Dr. Liggett says this observation could have implications for new therapies.

Dr. Liggett cautions that eating bitter tasting foods or compounds would not help in the treatment of asthma.

Another paradoxical aspect of their discovery is the unexpected role that the mineral calcium plays when the lung’s taste receptors are activated. The study’s principal author, Deepak A. Deshpande, is an expert in how calcium controls muscles. “We always assumed that increased calcium in the smooth muscle cell caused it to contract, but we found that bitter compounds increase calcium and cause relaxation of airway muscle in a unique way,” says Dr. Deshpande. “It appears that these taste receptors are wired to a special pool of calcium that is right at the edge of these cells,” he says.

Resources:

Elements4Health

centredaily.com

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Vitamin D May Treat or Prevent Allergy to Common Mold

Research has discovered that vitamin D may be an effective therapeutic agent to treat or prevent allergy to a common mold.

Research conducted by Dr. Jay Kolls, Professor and Chair of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and colleagues, has found that vitamin D may be an effective therapeutic agent to treat or prevent allergy to a common mold that can complicate asthma and frequently affects patients with Cystic Fibrosis. The work is scheduled to be published online August 16, 2010, ahead of the print edition of the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Aspergillus fumigatus, is one of the most prevalent fungal organisms inhaled by people.  In asthmatics and in patients with Cystic Fibrosis, it can cause significant allergic symptoms.

According to Physorg:
“The researchers focused on Th2 cells — the hormonal messengers of T-helper cells that produce an allergic response … The researchers discovered that heightened Th2 reactivity … correlated with a lower average blood level of vitamin D.”

Resources:
Journal of Clinical Investigation August 16, 2010
Physorg August 16, 2010

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Acetaminophen, Better Known as Tylenol, Linked to Asthma in New Study

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A major new international study released Friday has found that adolescents who take acetaminophen, better known under the brand name Tylenol, have a higher risk of asthma, allergic nasal conditions and the skin disorder eczema. Those who took the common painkiller as infrequently as once a month had twice the normal risk of developing the disorders. Experts noted, however, that the study does not show that the drug causes the problems. In fact, some said, it is equally likely that the children were taking the drug because they were already suffering from asthma.

Acetaminophen is widely viewed as a very safe drug — one reason why hospitals use it routinely as a painkiller instead of aspirin or ibuprofen. The major problem associated with it is liver damage caused by overdoses. Recently, however, there has been a growing drumbeat about possible dangers from the drug. One study, for example, found that acetaminophen increased the risk of hearing loss in men. And some others have hinted that the drug is linked to asthma in newborns whose mothers used the drug during pregnancy and in young children exposed to it.

The new findings were reported in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine by researchers in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. The team, headed by epidemiologist Richard Beasley of the Medical Research Institute in Wellington, New Zealand, gave written questionnaires to 322,959 13- and 14-year-olds in 50 countries exploring their use of acetaminophen, other drugs, and asthma symptoms. They were also shown a video containing five scenes of clinical asthma and asked whether they had experienced any symptoms similar to those shown. About 73% of the teens said they had used acetaminophen at least once in the previous year and 30% said they had used it monthly.

Taking into account maternal education, smoking, diet and siblings, the team found that those subjects who had used the drug at least once per year were 43% more likely to have asthma, while those who used it at least monthly were 2.5 times as likely to suffer from the condition. The risk of rhinoconjunctivitis (a severe nasal congestion) was 38% higher for those who used it once per year and 2.39 times as high for those who used it at least monthly. The comparable increases in risk for eczema were 31% and 99%, respectively.

Overall, the increased risk of asthma associated with acetaminophen was 41%, the authors found. That could, at least in part, explain why there has been an increase in the prevalence of asthma in the 50 years since the drug was introduced. Given the widespread use of the drug, it could also represent a large public health problem.

But — and it is a very big but — the study shows only an association, not causality. That could only be determined by a randomized clinical trial, which the authors recommend. Furthermore, the study relies on the recall of teenagers. Recall is notoriously inaccurate in adults, and it is probably worse in adolescents, clouding the results. For the time being then, you can probably continue to feel comfortable giving the drug to your children.

In a statement, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, which manufactures Tylenol, said that the drug “has over 50 years of clinical history to support its safety and effectiveness” and that no clinical trial has demonstrated that the drug causes asthma. The drug “is the preferred pain reliever for asthma sufferers,” the company said.

Source :Los Angeles Times. Aug.13th.2010

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THIS Asthma Solution Costs No Money

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Asthmatic children with low blood vitamin D levels may have a greater risk of suffering severe asthma attacks.
CLICK & SEE
A study followed more than 1,000 children with asthma for four years, and found those with vitamin-D insufficiency at the outset were more likely to have an asthma attack that required a trip to the hospital.

Reuters reports:
“When the researchers considered other factors — including the severity of the children’s asthma at the study’s start, their weight and their family income — vitamin D insufficiency itself was linked to a 50 percent increase in the risk of severe asthma attacks.”

Resources:
* Reuters June 23, 2010

*Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology June 8, 2010 [Epub ahead of print]

*Eurekalert June 25, 2010

*Eurekalert June 23, 2010

*Phytotherapy Research June 14, 2010 [Epub ahead of print]

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