Pharmacy is a relatively new science as compared to human existence. However, illnesses and injuries are as old as humanity itself. Pain and suffering is a problem that highly motivates all its victims to seek a speedy solution. In the absence of pharmaceutical medicine, the ancient man, at loss on how to treat his aliments must have resulted to nature in search of a solution. Over time, man realized through careful observation of plant and perhaps the conduct of other animals towards certain plants, sometimes through mere chance or trial and error and certain plants could help relieve the symptoms and effects of certain ailments and sometimes even cure them (Kala, 2011). This was the origin and continued mastering of the use of plants as medicine.
The Neem Plant
The Neem or Margosa plant, referred by binomial nomenclature as Azadirachta Indica, or as Mwarubaine in Swahili, Neeb in Arabic, Dhanujhada in Gujarati among other names is mostly considered a weed in its natural habitat. An evergreen plant except in the harshest of drought, the Neem plant is native to India, Asia, and the Middle East with a preference to Tropican and Semi-Arid Climates. Easily mistakable for the Chinaberry tree, it is mainly used for the production of the Neem oil. The Neem plant is a fast growing tree with its mature stature ranging from fifteen to forty meters tall. Its branches spread wide and are shady reaching an average radius of ten meters. It has huge leaves with several leaflets and white fragrant flowers.
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Even before proper research was undertaken about its medicinal properties, the Neem tree has been used as an insecticide and for medicinal use for two thousand years. Albeit many of its traditional medicinal uses being mythical, some of them have been confirmed to be effective through actual scientific research. Among the mythical traditional medicinal use were as a contraceptive and as a sedative. Neem was also used as an insecticide and anthelminthic with relative success.
With the contemporary capacity to conduct safe clinical research, the Neem plant has been confirm to be effective as cure or disease contaminant for inter alia the following ailments.
Gastroduodenal Ulcer
Over the years, the Neem plant has been found by traditional and plant medicine users to relieve the symptoms and sometimes to seemingly cure Gastroduodenal Ulcers. This prompted researchers to investigate the reality of this claim and several clinical studies were undertaken to asses both the effect of the Neem plant on persons suffering from Gastroduodenal ulcers and any adverse possible effects on its use.
In a research conducted courtesy of the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology among other institutions, it was established that the use of Neem limited the release of gastric secretion and its pepsin activity thus limiting the spread of the Ulcers and its symptoms (Bandyopadhyay, 2004). With long time use (up to ten years), the Neem plant was seen to in some instances completely cure the Gastroduodenal Ulcers. However, the clinical researchers did not find any evidence of extreme side effects and ruled that the Neem plant extracts were safe even for long-term continued use.
Antibacterial Activity
The use of Neem as an antibacterial medicine may have started as an advancement from its insecticide use and was found to be successful hence its continued use. Indeed, Neem has been found to be able to cure or reduce the symptoms of several unrelated bacterium and has been of great help to its users. In a research conducted by a student in the Department of Biochemistry, Govt. Medical College, Haldwani extracts of the Neem plant were tested with a bias on resistant bacteria extracted from diabetic patients (Chaturvedi, 2011). Both Neem bark extracts and Neem leaf extracts were seen to have a positive effect on the bacterium thus confirming that Neem extracts are effective anti-bacterium. Research on the extent and effectiveness are ongoing.
Cancer Treatment
Cancer is one of the biggest medical predicaments that the world faces today. The effects of cancer and some adverse effects of its treatment including radiotherapy and Chemotherapy have led to many fatalities. Intensive, rigorous, and expensive research has been going on for centuries to understand cancer and find safe cures for the same. Traditional and plant medicine users have been utilizing Neem extracts for the treatment of cancer with mixed results (Jumba et al., 2015). Since no clear results have been obtained, the only goal so far achieved even among the most advanced pharmaceutical products is the fight against cancer. The Neem extract effect on cancer has raised extreme interest among medical researchers.
In a research conducted by persons affiliated with Department of Post Graduate Studies and Research in Biosciences, Mangalore University, Mangalagangothiri in India, extracts from the Neem plant were seen to have a modest effect on the growth of cancer and further research is being conducted on the same (Krishnamoorthy & Balakrishnan, 2014).
Liver and Kidney Infections
Whereas this may have not emanated from traditional use, the contemporary practitioners of plant medicine have been prescribing Neem extracts to relieve the effects and inflammation relating to Liver and Kidney infections with certain levels of success. This has also been confirmed through scientific research albeit the tests were not undertaken of human subjects. The aforesaid research, conducted courtesy of the Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Ibadan in Nigeria involved the introduction of T. brucei infection on healthy subjects then treating them with Neem extracts for a fortnight (Omobowale et al., 2015). In all the subjects, the Neem extracts were seen to significantly inhibit oxidative stress and inflammation thus confirming that the Neem plant can assist in the treatment of infections affecting the liver and the kidneys.
Conclusion
It is clear from the foregoing that the Neem plant, though not fully researched on, contains components that if well utilized can bring both relief and cure in areas of medicine that have continued to spread death and wanton suffering all over the world. Indeed, Azadirachta Indica is a true wonder plant as far as medicinal use is concerned.
References
Kala, C. P. (2011). Medicinal Plants and Sustainable Development. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Bandyopadhyay, U., Biswas, K., Sengupta, A., Moitra, P., Dutta, P., Sarkar, D., & ... Banerjee, R. K. (2004). Clinical studies on the effect of Neem (Azadirachta indica) bark extract on gastric secretion and gastroduodenal ulcer. Life Sciences, 75(24), 2867-2878. doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2004.04.050
Chaturvedi, P., Bag, A., Rawat, V., Jyala, N. S., Satyavali, V., & Jha, P. K. (2011). Antibacterial Effects of Azadirachta indica Leaf and Bark Extracts in Clinical Isolates of Diabetic Patients. National Journal Of Integrated Research In Medicine, 2(1), 5-9.
Krishnamoorthy, M., & Balakrishnan, R. (2014). Docking studies for screening anticancer compounds of Azadirachta indica using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as model system. Journal Of Natural Science, Biology & Medicine, 5(1), 108-111. doi:10.4103/0976-9668.127298
Omobowale, T. O., Oyagbemi, A. A., Oyewunmi, O. A., & Adejumobi, O. A. (2015). Chemopreventive effect of methanolic extract of Azadirachta indica on experimental Trypanosoma brucei induced oxidative stress in dogs. Pharmacognosy Research, 7(3), 249-258. doi:10.4103/0974-8490.157972
Jumba, B. N., Anjili, C. O., Makwali, J., Ingonga, J., Nyamao, R., Marango, S., & ... Khayeka-Wandabwa, C. (2015). Evaluation of leishmanicidal activity and cytotoxicity of Ricinus communis and Azadirachta indica extracts from western Kenya: in vitro and in vivo assays. BMC Research Notes, 81-11. doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1605-y
