Tag Archives: dementia
Don’t Bother Speaking Truth To Power About Curing Alzheimer’s
Truth & Liberty Lie Dead; The Sword Of Justice Is Broken
Power already knows the truth and doesn’t give a shit.
Power has successfully chosen self-interest over truth so often that it has nothing but contempt for those who speak truth.
Power no longer fears the truth.
No amount of truth, however articulately and passionately spoken, will reach the predatory mind of Power.
Power feeds without remorse on the mortal remains of truth and justice.
Power is the US Congress, and they are beyond the reach of truth or justice.
The truth is that Alzheimer’s is being caused by something done by those in power. It is not just an accidental emergence of something inexplicable. Justice would be for truth to be told so that all would hear and understand.
What if people with Alzheimer’s are not so much victims of a disease as they are victims of, at a minimum, criminal negligence? I believe that is the truth. I also believe that the truth may be even worse than that.
The reason that this is truth is that there are many, many places in the world where nobody is getting sick and dying from Alzheimer’s. In fact America is one of the few countries where Alzheimer’s is a raging epidemic. Alzheimer’s is not a human condition – it is an affliction, and corrupted power is its cause, because it only exists in countries where corrupted power rules.
Is that a clue?
It’s not that, to use that famous line “The truth? You can’t handle the truth!” Congress can handle the truth just fine. It doesn’t faze them at all. They are not moved one inch. Truth has no meaning.
Nevertheless, I will keep on asking:
What if there is a simple tea, brewed from the leaves of a sacred plant, that extensive and credible evidence suggests could arrest and perhaps even reverse Dementia and Alzheimer’s?
What if that simple tea is so safe and beneficial that it is already in use daily by millions of people – but not in America?
And what if in those countries where this tea is available, according to the World Health Organization, Dementia and Alzheimer’s are not anywhere in the top 50 causes of death? For example, the 2013 World Alzheimer’s Report mentions Bolivia exactly ZERO times, and Peru gets 5 mentions. The US is cited 756 times.
Maybe this points to some kind of truth. Ya think?
So if it might be true that a simple tea could not only prevent but also possibly reverse Dementia and Alzheimer’s, and if it could also prevent or reverse a whole list of other killer diseases in the US – why would the US Congress refuse to act to make this inexpensive, natural medicine legally available?
Any guesses?
The truth is in plain sight.
I have reviewed the effects of Coca Leaf ingested as a Tea on metabolic dysfunction, whole body inflammation, heart failure, muscular and neurological wasting, and decaying brain function based on the large body of 19th century medical literature available on the topic. Many of my blog posts here on panaceachronicles.com have quoted and referenced these physicians and their writings, so I’m not going to make this an academic-style summary.
If you would like to browse the source materials, my ebook “Coca Leaf Papers” contains most of the original information for the following conclusions. The most valuable part of “Coca Leaf Papers” is the bibliographic section of original 17th-19th century citations – whenever possible I have hyperlinked those references to the original texts located in historical databases.
Specifically Why Coca Leaf Tea May Be A Powerful Natural Medicine For Dementia/Alzheimer’s
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Coca Leaf Tea appears to affect performance in all kinds learning and memory tasks, although few physicians in the 1800’s went beyond simple direct observations. Several of the physician reports include self-testing under conditions calling for endurance, resistance to fatigue, ability to function under stress, and recovery from illness.
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Less demand for pills and “energy drinks”? Refer this to the Un-American Activities committee!
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Coca Leaf Tea does appear to facilitate learning in tasks in which information is presented passively; such as listening and reading, but not in situations where new information is presented systematically such as in studying or memorizing.
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Coca Leaf tea was widely seen to reduce cognitive decline, but then making sure that informed older people can’t vote is in the best interests of the US Congress, so why would they want to upset their apple cart?
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19th Century physicians also noted that Coca Leaf Tea facilitates performance in tasks involving alertness to some degree, and many physicians wrote of improved overall reaction to stimulation.
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Alert older people! Yikes! Horrors!
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Coca Leaf Tea was frequently noted to improve mood and reduce anxiety.
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Keeping the people anxious and surly is part of the program.
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Coca Leaf Tea was frequently noted to help patients with addiction issues involving everything from Opium to Chloral Hydrate to Cocaine.
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My guess is that it would also help reduce the Meth and Opiates epidemics but hey, who gives a shit? Not the US Congress, for sure. Felons can’t vote, and although dead people can and do vote, fresh ones are harder to manipulate.
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A large improvement in physical performance in fatigued subjects under stressful conditions was noted frequently.
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Fewer bone fractures from falling? That’s not gonna happen. It’s almost impossible to get out of bed in a nursing home and go vote, so Congress likes things just the way they are.
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It appears that Coca Leaf Tea’s action on energy levels, mood, digestion, muscle and nerve resiliency, and mental concentration strongly suggest that it would be helpful in reducing and possibly reversing the rate of decline in these functions, and the millions of deaths associated with Dementia and Alzheimer’s.
But the truth? The US Congress doesn’t care. That part is up to you – you know, the caring part.
And by the way, if you don’t want to pay my $3.99 asking price to read the evidence in my 600+ page ebook “Coca Leaf Papers”, then just email me and ask for a free copy. I want to share this information, and I’m not going to get rich off of ebook sales anytime soon anyway, so I’ll be happy to shoot you a copy.
What I want is for you to care enough to look at the evidence.
Are You Trying To Get Grandma To Eat?
My wife and I have cared for both our Mothers at the end of their lives. We were “on the job” for almost 20 years. One of the constant challenges of caring for an older person is making sure that they get enough of the right kind of food. While this may seem to be a matter of strategy – feed them what they like; prepare it attractively and make it tasty; be sure that it is cut up into bite-sized portions; and, in our case, make sure that there isn’t a pack of friendly dogs standing by to volunteer to help Mom clean her plate or be right there when she “accidentally” drops food she doesn’t want on the floor.
But it turns out, as anyone who has tried it knows, that making sure that an elderly person is well-nourished isn’t easy at all, and there are many, many issues that might not occur to any caregiver naturally just because they are a thoughtful and caring person. That was certainly the case with us, and it probably is for a lot of people. Maybe you.
I’ve just been researching the very serious issue of proper nutrition among the elderly, because as readers of this blog know I am very interested in the role that Coca Leaf tea might play in maintaining and even restoring health to the elderly.
I’ve just found a resource that is full of well-written, practical advice that won’t take anyone more than 30 minutes or so to absorb, and is well worth your time if you are caring for an elderly person.
The article, as you’ll see, was written for nurses, but it is equally valuable to anyone who is trying to give an elderly person nourishment along with love and care. The concluding paragraph sums it up:
“Many people assume that anyone can assist another to eat. However, feeding a patient is not a simple procedure that can be assigned to a junior member of staff without experience. Nurses need to be taught how to do it, what the problems are and how they might be overcome. Most importantly, they need to know the danger signs and when help is needed.”
If you are caring for another person, and if helping them eat is part of what you do, please read this article and share it with others. It is not just about technique – it is about how to turn knowledge into loving care that actually works.
The Amazing Healing Power Of Natural Coca Leaf
The range of diseases and conditions that were successfully treated and cured by European and US physicians using Coca Leaf over the course of hundreds of years should be truly amazing to us in the 21st Century, even those of us who have been propagandized into believing that allopathic medicine and modern science have “made great strides”, “revolutionized the treatment of disease”, yada yada.
As you look over the table below you might reflect on how little actual progress has been made in the treatment and cure of so many diseases, although we have certainly developed a lot of impressive technology and there have been some dramatic, if somewhat mixed-blessing advances such as antibiotics.
However, let me point to just one example; with all of our vaunted antibiotic technology huge numbers of people still die of Pneumonia – a deadly condition that doctors of the 18th and 19th centuries who were familiar with Coca leaf (and who didn’t resort to poisonous ‘remedies’ like Mercury, Arsenic and Bleeding) were quite often able to treat and reverse successfully with a few cups a day of Coca Leaf tea.
Also, since many of today’s most destructive diseases did not exist, or didn’t have a name during those earlier centuries, this post is intended to point to the historical record that strongly suggests that if pure, natural Coca Leaf were freely available today as a natural medicine it could lift the immense burden of these modern conditions and diseases from tens of millions of people virtually overnight, with no “side effects”, no risk, and for literally pennies a day.
Freely available Coca Leaf would literally destroy the market for useless, often even dangerous pharmaceuticals as well as the incredibly lucrative market for America’s beloved over-the-counter “remedies” – which, of course, would guarantee strident howls of objection and opposition. Americans spend $625 Billion a year on the over 300,000 “Over The Counter” medicines that promise relief from pain and suffering of all kinds.
Here is a table taken largely from the work of Dr. Golden, whose “History of Coca” (1901) outlines the conditions and diseases that were known in the 1800’s to be treatable and curable by Coca Leaf, along with number of diseases and conditions that have been largely ‘discovered’ in the century since Dr. Golden wrote. I believe that the evidence that he and other physicians and scientists recorded in their times shows that simple natural Coca Leaf infusions and extracts could prevent, treat and perhaps cure these modern diseases and conditions where the products of “Pig Pharma” so often fail.
Please consider the physical, emotional, spiritual and financial impact on the lives of millions of individuals and their families if even one or two of the conditions/diseases in the following table were proven beyond all doubt, using all of our contemporary research powers, to be either effectively treated or actually cured by drinking Coca Leaf Tea alone – no other treatments or medications needed.
And once you have reflected on this, if you are a strong advocate of legal Cannabis perhaps you’ll consider adding Coca Leaf to your demands that the US government and Pig Pharma back off and go away.
If you would like to read Dr. Golden’s extraordinary “History of Coca” I have digitized his book and it is available here. ($1.99 for the full 251 page book plus bibliography).
I have kept all of the original illustrations intact and – most importantly – I have hyperlinked as many of Dr. Golden’s bibliographic references to the original source materials as I could track down, almost all of them freely available in internet historical book archives.
Have fun – I certainly did while tracking down and studying these obscure but critically important resources for treating and healing disease using one of the most amazing natural medicines ever.
Alzheimers/Dementia: What In The World Is Going On?
Readers of this blog know that I have been writing about the potential of pure, natural Coca leaf for the treatment of Alzheimers/Dementia for some time. (See here and here.) Some of you are also probably familiar with my efforts to initiate a program of “Centros de Coca Curación” in Bolivia and Peru where patients from the North could stay for extended periods of Coca leaf and indigenous medicine treatments.
There is no question in my mind that if American seniors, and seniors in all other “Western” countries, had access to a few cups of Coca Leaf tea every day that many of those souls far gone into the depths of Alzheimers/Dementia could benefit and perhaps even recover, and those who have not yet begun their descent into that hellish place could go on to live out their lives free of this scourge.
I cannot begin to describe my feelings about the policies of the US government, and the other governments of the “West” that prevent people from having access to this harmless, non-addictive, natural remedy for what is surely as bad as any form of torture ever dreamed up by our own, or any other government in the world.
In my Alzheimers posts I have noted that the United States is far and away the world leader in the sheer numbers of people who die every year of Alzheimers/Dementia, as well as in the ranking of these diseases as a leading cause of death.
Alzheimers/ementia ranks second only to Coronary Heart Disease as a cause of death in the US, and ranks above Stroke (#4), Diabetes (#6), Breast Cancer (#11), Lung Cancer (#3), Stomach Cancer (#31), Colon-Rectum Cancer (#7), HIV/AIDS (#34), Prostate Cancer (#16) – in fact Alzheimers/Dementia is such a pervasive, and quite possibly preventable cause of death in the US that I found myself wondering where it ranks in other countries around the world.
You may be as surprised as I was. I went to a website that gives comprehensive WHO data on the leading (top 50) causes of death for each country, and here is a sample of what I found. I didn’t include data for every country in the world – you can go to the website if you’re curious about a country not listed here.
Before presenting the data I would like to point to a few things that stand out to me – you may very well see other interesting things in these numbers.
First, the hugely disproportionate numbers of people dying of Alzheimers/Dementia in the US don’t appear to be a function of life expectancy. Many of the countries in every part of the world have the same or longer life expectancy as the US, and nowhere near the numbers of people dying of A/D.
Second, although most of the countries listed have fewer people than the US, the “Rank In Country” number levels that playing field. The “Rank” indicates the number of Alzheimers/Dementia deaths per 100,000 population, which corrects for differences in the absolute numbers of people between countries. When we see that Alzheimers/Dementia ranks #2 in the US and #60 in Peru, for example, it is irrelevant that Peru has far fewer people than the US.
Another aspect of the data that smacks me in the face is that with the exception of Australia and Germany, almost all of the “Western” countries rank pretty high in deaths attributable to Alzheimers/Dementia – although only Switzerland also ranks A/D deaths as #2. But then when you look at Asian, Latin American and African rankings only Uruguay and Chile ( #5 and #4 respectively) come anywhere near the rankings of the industrialized countries of the Western Northern hemisphere. In fact in most of the rest of the world deaths from Alzheimers/Dementia rank WAY down the scale.
So what is going on? What is it that the countries of the “West”, primarily in the Northern hemisphere, have in common with each other but not with the rest of the world?
A highly industrialized food chain comes to mind. A medical industry dominated by corporate pharmaceutical companies is another distinguishing factor. Recently we have learned of the impact of RoundUp in the food chain – could this whole atrocity be something as simple as Monsanto being a mass murderer for profit?
It certainly can’t be environmental pollution – many of the countries with very low rankings for deaths from Alzheimers/Dementia have far more polluted air, water and soil than the “West”.
It also probably cannot be genetics, because many of the countries in the West now have highly diverse demographics, and unless data can be found that shows that people of Anglo-Saxon origin are the reason for the high rankings of the Western countries, we can probably dismiss race as a factor.
I don’t have any solutions to propose regarding the “Why”, but I am adamant that we should find out whether or not Coca leaf therapy could be effective in reversing and/or preventing Alzheimers/Dementia. If the US won’t do it, why not one of the more enlightened countries in the “West” bloc – say The Netherlands, or France? I know that this blog has readers from all of the countries in the “West”, so please take a look at the numbers for your country and try to break open the inexplicable resistance to Coca leaf therapy at the highest levels of your own governments.
It doesn’t matter, as far as Alzheimers/Dementia goes, that Coca Leaf is readily accessible in Peru and Bolivia – Alzheimers/Dementia is not a significant problem in those countries. But in every one of the countries in the “West” these diseases are the cause of the suffering and deaths of so many individuals and the horrible suffering of those who love and try to care for them – why must this continue?
And what is the cause – because there clearly is a cause, and it has to do with something that the countries of the “West” have in common with each other and not with the rest of the world.
Coca Leaf & Death – The USA Top Ten & The Peru Top 50
I thought that it might be useful to present the arguments for the healing powers of pure, natural Coca Leaf by looking at the top ten causes of death in the US, and the impact that Coca Leaf might have on this cruel slaughter.
As readers of this blog know, I have written on the healing potential of Coca Leaf for many of these leading causes of death in previous posts, including Congestive Heart Failure, Stroke and Hypertension, Alzheimer’s/Dementia, and HIV/AIDS. But somehow when you take a look at the human toll caused by these treatable, and possibly preventable causes of death in one place the impact is greater.
So here is the graphic that, combined with the evidence that I have been presenting for about a year now here on PanaceaChronicles, leaves me asking why this simple, pure, non-addictive, safe and efficacious natural medicine isn’t available to everyone on the planet. Does it impact you in the same way? Then let’s do something about it together, the same way that we have worked together to make Medical Marijuana a reality. (Note that I don’t include Recreational Marijuana here – that’s because Coca Leaf has virtually zero psychoactive effects. All it does is heal the human heart and mind, or help keep them healthy in the first place.)
For my readers in other countries, know that I am as concerned that your governments are keeping this healing herb from you as I am regarding the situation here in the US. In fact, if you feel that I ought to create some additional “Top Ten” graphics for your country please say so in a comment and I will do just that.
I’m adding to this post in response to a number of inquiries from readers. The chart you see below lists the top 50 causes of death in Peru.
A number of things leap right out, don’t they. Influenza/Pneumonia is a leading cause of death. On the surface that would appear to undercut my argument that there is plenty of historical evidence that Coca Leaf is an effective treatment for inflamed, congested lungs. But when you dig a little into these figures you find that almost all of the influenza/pneumonia deaths are among Indians in the Amazonian part of Peru who have no natural immunity to some of the most recent virulent strains of flu like H1N1, and the rest appear to be largely among infants exposed to harsh environmental conditions and poverty. So IMO the thesis is still valid that Coca Leaf could be a specific treatment not for the flu virus but for the inflammation and congestion that are the real killers.
And yes, cardiovascular disease and stroke are also leading causes of death, but again when you look closely these deaths are almost exclusively among the sedentary people of the cities who eat a “Western” diet and who are as stressed as anyone in New York or LA. And who, by the way, rarely chew Coca Leaf. So my suspicion that Coca Leaf can be very helpful in treating disease like Congestive Heart Failure still stands, at least in my mind. And by the way, these very people would be among the first populations who should be targeted by Peruvian researchers to see if Coca Leaf treatment can help treat the symptoms of CHF and reduce the deaths from heart disease and stroke.
But what really caught my eye, and the main reason I am revising this blog post, is that when you look at the US Top 10 just notice that Alzheimer’s/Dementia come raging in at #2. Now check out all 50 of the leading causes of death in Peru. See any hint of Alzheimer’s/Dementia anywhere in the top 50. And I do mean any hint – perhaps Alzheimer’s/Dementia are called something else in Peru. Checking. Checking. …. Nope, not a hint.
So OK, maybe it isn’t because so many people in Peru chew Coca Leaf and drink Coca Leaf tea. After all, there are all those CHF and stroke deaths to account for. But Alzheimer’s/Dementia are nowhere in the top 50 leading causes of death. Hmmmmm. I wonder what that means. Don’t you?
Coca Leaf Tea – A Possible Treatment/Cure for Alzheimer’s & Dementia?
The Scope Of The Problem
While the negative effects of aging on mental performance have been part of the human experience seemingly forever, as with many other diseases and conditions both Alzheimer’s and Dementia seem to be getting more widespread. Whether this is because people are living longer, or because they are being systematically poisoned by our industrial foods, polluted environment, and artificial lifestyles, the outcome is the same – millions of people worldwide spend the last years of their lives in a drooling, hopeless fog.
Please don’t think I am cruel or heartless when I describe the last years of life this way. My wife and I have cared for three of our four parents in our home during their last years and we have first-hand experience with the terrible downsides of the deterioration of mind, body and spirit that aging people (and their families) must endure.
Update! Lisa Gonzalez has just sent me an excellent set of resources that she has complied for caregivers, which I include here with my thanks:
Parent’s Guide: Helping Children & Teens Understand Alzheimer’s
Preparing Your Home for a Loved One with Alzheimer’s: A Caregiver’s Guide
Another World: People With Alzheimer’s Share Their Perspectives
Alzheimer’s Aggression: Causes & Management
Guide to Addiction Prevention for Seniors
Caring for the Alzheimer’s Caregiver
Helping Alzheimer’s Sufferers Cope with the Loss of a Loved One: A Guide for Caregivers
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, over 5 Million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and 500,000 die each year from causes linked directly to the disease, while 1 out of 3 people die of either Alzheimer’s or one of the other forms of Dementia. Alzheimer’s alone is the 6th leading cause of death in the US. In some ways an even more important stat is that 15.5 million Americans provide 17.7 Billions hours of unpaid care to their elderly family members with these Dementias. This statistic alone means that at a wage level of $10/hour, Alzheimer’s and related Dementias cost the United States $180 Billion in lost productivity – what these 15.5 million care-givers could theoretically make at a minimum wage job rather than caring for their elderly family member without compensation.
A few additional pieces of information before we get into the purpose of this blog post:
1. Almost 65% of Americans with Alzheimer’s are women
2. More than 60% of caregivers for Alzheimer’s and related Dementia victims are women
3. Women are 2.5 times more likely to be providing 24/7 unpaid care for an Alzheimer’s/Dementia victim than men
4. For a women in her 60s, her estimated lifetime risk for Alzheimer’s is 1 in 6, compared with 1 in 11 for breast cancer.
5. It is estimated that by 2050 the number of victims of Alzheimer’s/Dementia in the US alone will triple to nearly 50 million people.
Could There Really Be A Simple Solution?
The conservative answer is – probably not, but maybe.
The optimistic answer, based on what I have learned about the effects of Coca Leaf tea and tonics on mental function – almost certainly yes, at least to some degree.
I believe that Coca Leaf can provide at least a partial solution, and at least some relief from the steady, inexorable deterioration that is the hallmark of these horrendous plagues. Equally important, Coca Leaf can offer at least some relief for those who love those who suffer this terrible, and possibly avoidable fate, and are willing to dedicate their lives to caring for them.
Parenthetically, if you are a caretaker for a parent who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, and if your family has the financial means to do so, why not consider taking your parent on a 30 day trip to a nice spa in either Peru or Bolivia, where Coca Leaf Tea is readily available and simply see if 6 cups a day might make a difference? If you do, please document the results and let me know so that I can share them on this blog. In a few months I plan to set up a CrowdSourcing campaign on either Indiegogo or KickStarter to raise funds to allow me to go to Peru and Bolivia and set up a network of participating spas, therapists, healers and physicians for families who could benefit from 30 days of CLT treatment, but in the meanwhile if you are caring for a loved one with the beginnings of this terrible condition and can afford the trip, please consider trying this approach.
OK – big claims here. What’s the evidence? For that we have to look at the research and writings of physicians and scientists from the 1800s who were working and healing people using Coca Leaf tea and tonics long before Alzheimer’s was a known diagnosis, but who were intimately familiar with the process of mental deterioration with age.
The following brief citations are just a small selection of the observations of many talented physicians and scientists writing primarily in the 1800s about their experiences in treating people for a wide range of diseases and conditions with Coca Leaf. If you would like to browse an extensive collection of these writings, along with an equally extensive bibliography that I’ve hyperlinked to original source materials from the 1700s and 1800s, you’ll probably find my ebook “The Coca leaf Papers” worth reading.
You can order this ebook for $3.99 from Amazon by clicking here or, if you would rather not have to buy the book I will send you the complete ebook for free. You can request your free copy by clicking here. PLEASE NOTE – You must fill in the contact form so that I can have the right email address to send you your free book. Thanks!
“Erythroxylon Coca: A Treatise On Brain Exhaustion As The Cause Of Disease”, By William Tibbles, MD (1877)
Case 3. In 1875, a lady aged 78 years was suffering from extreme debility with sickness, faintness, loss of memory, and fretfulness; her friends expected every hour her decease, but, to the surprise and wonder of her friends, after a month’s treatment with coca she was restored to her usual health and activity.
I have, with success, treated hundreds of cases of debility, of which the above are examples. In some cases I have used “cocaine”, the active principle of Erythroxylon coca. I can fully endorse the statements of the scientific gentlemen quoted in your article in respect to the efficacy of coca in prolonged exertion.
“An Essay On Erythrolylon Coca” (in) “A New Form Of Nervous Disease” By W.S. Searle, M.D. (1881)
Coca regulates and greatly assists in maintaining that equilibrium of action of the heart and capillary circulation, which is so necessary to the maintenance of an un-exhausted state of the body. The muscles brought into action during the performance of manual labour are frequently eager for a greatly increased supply of arterial blood. To supply this increased want of blood necessarily entails an increase of vaso-motor action; thus in persons who have to make a little extra muscular exertion, the capillary vessels will necessarily dilate excessively, and if the action of the heart does not correspondingly increase in frequency and force, the tension of the vessels will fall, and if, in such a case, the pulse be felt, the artery conveys the sensation of a double or rebounding pulse. If, on the other hand, the heart be working excitedly, as when an individual receives some exciting impressions during the time he is performing simple labour which does not require a great increase in the supply of blood to the muscles; or, in other words, while the muscles do not require a supply of blood much greater than on ordinary occasions, the tension of the arteries, or the force of the blood contained in them, may be greatly raised, and the amount of heart-work further increased in order to force the circulation of the blood at the increased speed.
Mental labour is frequently productive of such arterial tension – an exhausted Brain, whereby its influence over the heart’s action is diminished, will give rise to it; the diminution of nervous influence over the excretory organs whereby an increased amount of urea is produced and collected in the blood will give rise to it; as will also abnormal nutrition during exertion. These variations are abnormal and give rise to ill effects. In extremely low tension of the arterial and capillary vessels, the increased supply of blood to the muscles causes anemia of (being a deficiency of supply of blood to) the brain, and there is produced a feeling of fatigue, giddiness, or fainting. In this condition there is abnormal rise in the internal temperature. On the other hand, if the arterial tension be increased, then the strain will fall upon the heart, which will become overtaxed, dilated, and in some cases entire failure will be produced, either by over-distention and paralysis, or, by gradually increasing signs of dilatation, producing breathlessness, a sensation of lightness in the head, coldness of the extremities, pallor of face, anxious expression, and the temperature is abnormally decreased. These are the results of discordant action of the circulatory system, produced by exertion or excitement.
It may be asked, what has all this to do with the action of coca-leaf? Well, it is found by experiment that coca-leaf regulates the action of the heart and circulatory system and thereby nearly altogether preventing such results as above recorded as the consequence of muscular exertion or mental excitement.”
“An Essay On Erythrolylon Coca” (in) “A New Form Of Nervous Disease” By W.S. Searle, M.D. (1881)
Now to the question as to how and in what manner coca-leaf accomplishes the results which are consequent upon its use. It has been shown that all the various processes are under the influence and governance of the force conveyed through the medium of the brain, spinal cord, and their continuations – the nerves. Such being the case we may justly infer that Erythroxylon Coca influences the various functions by its action upon the great centres of the body; for it is only through these that a restorative action can be induced.
What I here want to show is that coca-leaf produces these results by imparting nerve food which is converted into nervous energy and thus increasing the total amount of nervous energy and consequent governing force. The functions of the nerves are only restored, when they have become exhausted by physical or mental toil or disease, till after rest etc., proportioned to the amount of exhaustion. And if it can be shown, as we have done, that coca-leaf is capable of either retarding or preventing the condition of exhaustion, and likewise of restoring an actually exhausted body; and if this can only be done by restoring the natural or normal condition of the brain and nervous system, then, we may fairly conclude that the results proved to be consequent upon the use of Erythroxylon coca are brought about simply and only by its imparting to that centre and diverging branches an amount of force which otherwise might only be obtained after partaking of rest and other things proportioned to the exhaustion.
It is evident, therefore, that the prevention of that vacillating action of the internal organs generally consequent upon exertion, and likewise that the restorative action in cases of physical or mental exhaustion and in disease, is due to this increase in the governing force of the nervous system.
Editor’s Note: Perhaps it isn’t so far-fetched to think that Coca Leaf tea could play an important role in treating Alzheimer’s when you consider the following two research studies on other natural medicinal plants. Neither of these studies deal with Coca, of course, but the fact that there appear to be multiple promising natural medicines from various parts of the world argues in a powerful way for testing of the potential of Coca for this purpose.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2014 Jun 24. pii: S0378-8741(14)00494-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2014.06.046. [Epub ahead of print]
Screening and identification of neuroprotective compounds relevant to Alzheimer׳s disease from medicinal plants of S. Tomé e Príncipe.
Currais A1, Chiruta C2, Goujon-Svrzic M2, Costa G3, Santos T3, Batista MT3, Paiva J4, Céu Madureira MD4, Maher P2.
Author information
• 1The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. Electronic address: acurrais@salk.edu.
• 2The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
• 3Center for Pharmaceutical Studies, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal; Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Largo Marquês de Pombal, 3004-517 Coimbra, Portugal.
• 4Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3004-516 Coimbra, Portugal.
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE:
Alzheimer׳s disease (AD) neuropathology is strongly associated with the activation of inflammatory pathways, and long-term use of anti-inflammatory drugs reduces the risk of developing the disease. In S. Tomé e Príncipe (STP), several medicinal plants are used both for their positive effects in the nervous system (treatment of mental disorders, analgesics) and their anti-inflammatory properties. The goal of this study was to determine whether a phenotypic, cell-based screening approach can be applied to selected plants from STP (Voacanga africana, Tarenna nitiduloides, Sacosperma paniculatum, Psychotria principensis, Psychotria subobliqua) in order to identify natural compounds with multiple biological activities of interest for AD therapeutics.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Plant hydroethanolic extracts were prepared and tested in a panel of phenotypic screening assays that reflect multiple neurotoxicity pathways relevant to AD-oxytosis in hippocampal nerve cells, in vitro ischemia, intracellular amyloid toxicity, inhibition of microglial inflammation and nerve cell differentiation. HPLC fractions from the extract that performed the best in all of the assays were tested in the oxytosis assay, our primary screen, and the most protective fraction was analyzed by mass spectrometry. The predominant compound was purified, its identity confirmed by ESI mass spectrometry and NMR, and then tested in all of the screening assays to determine its efficacy.
RESULTS:
An extract from the bark of Voacanga africana was more protective than any other plant extract in all of the assays (EC50s≤2.4µg/mL). The HPLC fraction from the extract that was most protective against oxytosis contained the alkaloid voacamine (MW=704.90) as the predominant compound. Purified voacamine was very protective at low doses in all of the assays (EC50s≤3.4µM).
CONCLUSION:
These findings validate the use of our phenotypic screening, cell-based assays to identify potential compounds to treat AD from plant extracts with ethnopharmacological relevance. Our study identifies the alkaloid voacamine as a major compound in Voacanga africana with potent neuroprotective activities in these assays.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2014 Mar 28;152(3):403-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2013.12.053. Epub 2014 Jan 9.
The treatment of Alzheimer’s disease using Chinese medicinal plants: from disease models to potential clinical applications.
Su Y1, Wang Q2, Wang C1, Chan K3, Sun Y1, Kuang H4.
Author information
• 1Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Department of Pharmacology, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China.
• 2Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Department of Pharmacology, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China. Electronic address: qhwang668@sina.com.
• 3Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, University of Western Sydney, NSW 2560, Australia; Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
• 4Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Department of Pharmacology, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China. Electronic address: hxkuang@hotmail.com.
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE:
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the sustained higher nervous disorders of the activities and functions of the brain. Due to its heavy burden on society and the patients’ families, it is urgent to review the treatments for AD to provide basic data for further research and new drug development. Among these treatments, Chinese Material Medica (CMM) has been traditionally clinical used in China to treat AD for a long time with obvious efficacy. With the further research reports of CMM, new therapeutic materials may be recovered from troves of CMM. However, So far, little or no review work has been reported to conclude anti-AD drugs from CMM in literature. Therefore, a systematic introduction of CMM anti-AD research progress is of great importance and necessity. This paper strives to systematically describe the progress of CMM in the treatment of AD, and lays a basis data for anti-AD drug development from CMM, and provides the essential theoretical support for the further development and utilization of CMM resources through a more comprehensive research of the variety of databases regarding CMM anti-AD effects reports.
MATERIAL AND METHODS:
Literature survey was performed via electronic search (SciFinder®, Pubmed®, Google Scholar and Web of Science) on papers and patents and by systematic research in ethnopharmacological literature at various university libraries.
RESULTS:
This review mainly introduces the current research on the Chinese Material Medica (CMM) theoretical research on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), anti-AD active constituent of CMM, anti-AD effects on AD models, anti-AD mechanism of CMM, and anti-AD effect of CMM formula.
CONCLUSION:
Scholars around the world have made studies on the anti-AD molecular mechanism of CMM from different pathways, and have made substantial progress. The progress not only enriched the anti-AD theory of CMM, but also provided clinical practical significance and development prospects in using CMM to treat AD. Western pure drugs cannot replace the advantages of CMM in the anti-AD aspect. Therefore, in the near future, the development of CMM anti-AD drugs with a more clearly role and practical data will be a major trend in the field of AD drug development, and it will promote the use of CMM.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
