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.
ping thanks.
Source, please.
I don’t trim them at all. New growth happens on the seemingly ‘dead’ branches. Surprised me, really.
Oh! Thanks...Endless summer is the name. I’m looking forward to the first blooms so much!
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.
Beautiful pic post! Thanks
Hydrangea ping
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)
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.
I think gardens draw in new buyers but they don't realize gardens take work...
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.
Interesting. Links? (thanks for posting)
One of my favorite flowers. I have about 20 in my garden.
There are new reblooming varieties that are pruned differently.
ping
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