DLC 05/2010

Main indications for Desmodium:

- Viral and chronic hepatitis;
- Prevents the negative effects of chemotherapy and of certain medication;
- Allergies/asthma;
- Digestive disorders and stomach aches.

Desmodium (Desmodium adscendens) is a creepy herbaceous plant. It is found in equatorial Africa and Latin America. It is principally used by traditional practitioner for treating liver diseases and for controlling asthma crises. For century’s tribes from the Amazon forest, used Desmodium for nervousness, vaginal infections as well as for diarrhea and for helping the digestion. Brought in Europe by French doctors having worked in Africa, Desmodium adscendens is used successfully for treating liver diseases.

Desmodium protects the liver cells.

Viral hepatitis is a severe disease, which provokes asthenia and hepatic problems for a long period. Today, no satisfying curative treatment exists, at the exception of interferon, an expensive treatment of which important side effects are known. When Desmodium is taken before the 3rd day of jaundice, the clinic symptoms like jaundice or weakness disappear within a week. Thanks to Desmodium the biological parameters (transaminase, bilirubin) are normalized a lot faster. A study on 32 observations of severe viral hepatitis A or B demonstrates that the results are faster and long-lasting when the treatment interferes within the 1st days. The results vary in cases of belated treatment.

Desmodium is efficient in cases of allergies or asthma.

Since a very long time, traditional practitioners from Ghana have been using the leaves from Desmodium for healing asthma. Scientifics have observed that Desmodium interferes with the production of numerous molecules freed during an asthma crisis. These substances are called spasmogenic because they provoke the contraction of the lungs. Desmodium inhibits the histamine action on smooth muscles, and consequently diminishes the stricture of the respiratory tract and of the lungs. Desmodium activates also the potassium channels, which play an important role within the regulation of the tonus of the smooth muscles of the respiratory tract and the liberation of constrictive substances within the lungs. The anti-allergic activity of Desmodium doesn’t only manifest itself within the contraction of smooth muscles within the respiratory tract of the superior respiratory system, but also within the muscular contraction within other parts of the body. This action could explain why Desmodium was traditionally also used for soothing back aches and muscular spasms.

References:
• Addy M.E. et al., Effect of the extracts of Desmodium adscendens on anaphylaxis, J. of Ethnopharmacology, 1984, 11: 283-292.
• Addy M.E. et al., Effect of Desmodium adscendens fraction 3 on contractions of respiratory smooth muscle, J. of Ethnopharmacology, 1990, 29(3); 325-335.
• Heard Olivier, Contribution à l’étude du Desmodium adscendens aqueous extract: chimie et pharmacologie, thèse de pharmacie, université de Tours, 1994.

 

Size/Form:
Bottle 200ml

Ingredients:
1 measuring cap (15 ml) contains 11,7 g aqueous extract of Desmodium.

Other Ingredients:
Glycerin, citric acid, ascorbic acid, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, aroma: lemon, coloring agent: caramel.

Suggested Usage:
1 measuring cap (15 ml) daily before a meal, diluted in water. Do not take more than recommended.