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Active Compounds
Active Compounds 1  Used to treat cancer, stomach, intestine pain and inflammation, rheumatism, skin complaints, liver diseases and the circulatory system
Description According to Said et al. (2002), Urtica Dioica’s foliage is used in Israel, the Golan Heights and the West Bank region to treat various ailments such as cancer, stomach, intestine pain and inflammation, liver diseases and circulatory system, and its seeds are used to treat bed wetting. Moreover, Ziyyat el al. (1997) reported that Urtica Dioica is one of the most used plant to treat hypertension in Morocco. In Germany it is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (Obertreis et al., 1996). An infusion of the plant is very valuable in stemming internal bleeding; it is also used to treat anaemia, excessive menstruation, haemorrhoids, arthritis, rheumatism and skin complaints, especially eczema (Plants for a future, 2002). Externally, the plant is used to treat skin complaints, arthritic pain, gout, sciatica, neuralgia, haemorrhoids, and hair problems (Plants for a future, 2002). The fresh leaves of nettles have been rubbed or beaten onto the skin in the treatment of rheumatism. This practice, called urtification, causes intense irritation to the skin as it is stung by the nettles. It is believed that this treatment works in two ways. Firstly, it acts as a counter-irritant, bringing more blood to the area to help remove the toxins that cause rheumatism. Secondly, the formic acid from the nettles is believed to have a beneficial effect upon the rheumatic joints (Plants for a future, 2002).
Reference
• Basaran AA, Yu TW, Plewa MJ, Anderson D. (1996) An investigation of some Turkish herbal medicines in Salmonella typhimurium and in the COMET assay in human lymphocytes, Teratog Carcinog Mutagen. , 16(2), 125-38.
• Obertreis B, Giller K, Teucher
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