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How The Humble Hydrangea Shrub Could Hold The Key To Curing MS, Diabetes and Arthritis
June 04, 2009

Posted on 06/04/2009 10:36:17 PM PDT by Steelfish

How the humble hydrangea shrub could hold the key to curing MS, diabetes and arthritis

By FIONA MACRAE 05th June 2009

It's bright and beautiful flowers bring a splash of colour to gardens all over Britain.

But it seems the hydrangea is more than just a pretty bloom.

A drug made from its roots could be used to treat a raft of common diseases, researchers say.

The colourful shrub - a staple of Chinese medicine - has the power to 'revolutionise' the treatment of multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and some forms of diabetes and arthritis, scientists claimed yesterday.

Hydrangea: The common shrub could hold the key to combatting common autoimmune diseases

These diseases occur when the immune system attacks the body.

Existing treatments are expensive, have to be injected, and do not address the biological cause of the problem.

Powerful drugs which suppress the immune system can be used as a last resort but leave patients at risk of infections and other serious side-effects.

Now it appears that a medicine derived from the hydrangea's root could offer an alternative.

Experiments found that it blocked the formation of a type of white blood cell involved in autoimmune disease.

Crucially, the drug does not seem to affect other kinds of cell vital to the body's defences - meaning it does not otherwise inhibit the immune system.

Mice with a multiple sclerosis-like disease were far less severely affected when given low doses of the hydrangea-based drug, which is called halofuginone, the journal Science reported.

Halofuginone is already used to treat a rare autoimmune disease which affects the skin and internal organs.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: arthritis; autoimmune; cure; diabetes; halofuginone; hydrangea; hydrangeas; jm; ms; multiplesclerosis
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To: Molly Pitcher

ping thanks.


21 posted on 06/05/2009 5:49:09 AM PDT by SnarlinCubBear (Sarcasma - Comforting relief from the use of irony, mocking and conveying contempt)
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To: Steelfish

Source, please.


22 posted on 06/05/2009 5:54:43 AM PDT by ladyjane
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To: Molly Pitcher

I don’t trim them at all. New growth happens on the seemingly ‘dead’ branches. Surprised me, really.


23 posted on 06/05/2009 7:03:25 AM PDT by rintense (Senior Marketing / IT / UX architect unemployed and looking for work. Freepmail me if you have leads)
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To: rintense

Oh! Thanks...Endless summer is the name. I’m looking forward to the first blooms so much!


24 posted on 06/05/2009 7:48:28 AM PDT by Molly Pitcher (We are Americans...the sons and daughters of liberty...*.from FReeper the Real fifi*))
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To: goat granny

My mom had a green thumb. She could grow anything. She would put it in the ground & it would grow & bloom. I can’t recall her doing anything special with hers. I sure wish I had her luck. My plants do well but not like her flowers etc.


25 posted on 06/05/2009 8:08:59 AM PDT by pandoraou812 (elected officials should be required to pass drug, alcohol & dementia testing)
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To: thecodont

Beautiful pic post! Thanks


26 posted on 06/05/2009 9:54:36 AM PDT by Steelfish
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To: LibreOuMort

Hydrangea ping


27 posted on 06/05/2009 10:31:31 AM PDT by sionnsar (IranAzadi|5yst3m 0wn3d-it's N0t Y0ur5:SONY|"AlsoSprachTelethustra"-NonValueAdded|Lk21:36|FireTheLiar)
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To: pandoraou812

Its almost like a talent the way plants grow for some people..I guess God hit them in the head with a “you can grow plants” stick before they were born...:O)


28 posted on 06/05/2009 11:52:38 AM PDT by goat granny
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To: goat granny

My mom used to plant garlic by roses, toss coffee grounds around them & she had the most beautiful roses. When I was a child she had an English garden. Bleeding Hearts were my favorite...I used to hid there & read books for hours. I often wonder if the new owners destroyed her garden. I hope not. I think that is why I never showed my children that house. I don’t want to lose that memory of her beloved garden.


29 posted on 06/05/2009 11:59:17 AM PDT by pandoraou812 (elected officials should be required to pass drug, alcohol & dementia testing)
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To: pandoraou812
I sure understand your not wanted to see the place without your mom's garden...I drove by the farm I use to have and was sad at how it wasn't given the loving care it needed..

I think gardens draw in new buyers but they don't realize gardens take work...

30 posted on 06/05/2009 12:08:30 PM PDT by goat granny
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To: goat granny
I think you are correct. I just wish my mom had made some plant clippings & taken her bulbs etc. We moved in winter so she didn't. Some of her flowers came off my grandparent's farm.
31 posted on 06/05/2009 12:19:22 PM PDT by pandoraou812 (elected officials should be required to pass drug, alcohol & dementia testing)
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To: pandoraou812

They have to have mostly shade in hot climates, lots of water and trim them only after they bloom. If you prune them in the fall or winter, you will cut off all next year’s blossoms.


32 posted on 06/05/2009 2:00:42 PM PDT by Hattie
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To: Steelfish

Interesting. Links? (thanks for posting)


33 posted on 06/05/2009 2:08:41 PM PDT by PGalt
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To: Hattie
Thank you for the info. I may try to grow one again someday in memory of my mother.
34 posted on 06/05/2009 5:14:13 PM PDT by pandoraou812 (elected officials should be required to pass drug, alcohol & dementia testing)
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To: PGalt

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1190889/How-humble-hydrangea-plant-hold-key-curing-MS-diabetes-arthritis.html


35 posted on 06/05/2009 5:40:56 PM PDT by Steelfish
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To: IM2MAD

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1190889/How-humble-hydrangea-plant-hold-key-curing-MS-diabetes-arthritis.html


36 posted on 06/05/2009 5:41:30 PM PDT by Steelfish
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To: ladyjane

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1190889/How-humble-hydrangea-plant-hold-key-curing-MS-diabetes-arthritis.html


37 posted on 06/05/2009 5:42:49 PM PDT by Steelfish
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To: Steelfish

One of my favorite flowers. I have about 20 in my garden.


38 posted on 06/05/2009 5:45:33 PM PDT by kalee (01/20/13 The end of an error.... Obama even worse than Carter.)
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To: Hattie

There are new reblooming varieties that are pruned differently.


39 posted on 06/05/2009 5:46:22 PM PDT by kalee (01/20/13 The end of an error.... Obama even worse than Carter.)
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To: theKid51; Apple Blossom

ping


40 posted on 06/05/2009 5:46:47 PM PDT by bmwcyle (Hey GOP follow Dick Cheney's lead)
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