Brain-eating amoeba are proven vulnerable to extracts of an extraordinary, yet common Midwest American Indian plant

Saturday, September 21, 2013 by: Cody L
Tags: brain-eating amoeba, golden dalea, medicinal plants

(NaturalNews) Recently, quite a stir has been created over so called "brain-eating amoeba" found in the water supplies of Louisiana. The species, known as Naegleria fowleri, has also been shown to occur in 70% of lakes around the United States. It is especially easy to acquire when water levels are low and have been heating in the sun, and soil on the lakebed becomes stirred from swimmers. Many people are continuing to die from these infections, especially children. It has been shown to kill as soon as one day after infection and within 12 days. Children may be more likely to get water up their noses, which greatly enhances the spread of this amoeba, which uniquely does not seek to colonize the intestines. Upon infection, when the immune system is no longer generating oxidative signals to destroy Naegleria, it seeks to take up residence in the brain. This produces a condition being clinically referred to as "primary amebic meningoencephalitis." The meninges are located on the back of the neck, and the very first symptom is a stiff neck. This is followed by headache nausea, fever, vomiting, confusion, loss of awareness of surroundings, loss of balance, seizures, and vivid visual and auditory deliria. Less than 1% have been shown to survive this brain infection. Fortunately, there may be a cure, and perhaps not surprisingly, it has been left out of all commentary and news publications.

A sole flower stands strong, a unique source between all amoebicidal plants to target brain-eating amoeba

Just 400 miles to the west of New Orleans, the site of the latest onslaught by Naegleria this September in St. Bernard Parish, where a 4-year-old boy was infected and died after playing on a toy water slide, grows a special type of Native American medicinal flower. As far east as Texas and all over the prairie states and Midwest are bountiful stands of Dalea aurea, or the golden dalea (Golden prairie clover). This flower of the bean family was studied in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2006 by Belofsky G. and others, and their results were published in March that year in Planta Medica. Importantly, they tested an extract produced by crushing the flowers into dust and submerging them in methanol. The methanolic extract of golden dalea was found to be superior to amphotericin B, the synthetic antifungal that is the preferred treatment for N. fowleri infections, in a trial over 7 days, proving to be more potent than the drug starting on day four.

Almost beyond belief, just one more flower was found endowed with selective anti-Naegleria action

While the results are promising, and after thoroughly scouring the archives, it can be seen that there are no other plant extracts shown to be tested on this brain-eating amoeba, these results are preliminary. It would be inhumane to infect humans with this pathogen even in laboratory settings, so there will never be clinical trials. Therefore, it seems that the Native Americans living on Midwestern reservations may be the only source of testimony for the efficacy of alcohol extracts of golden dalea. Interestingly, while it may prove controversial, as far back as 1979, Cannabis sativa or marijuana extracts were tested for "anti-naeglerial activity." At 5 to 50 micrograms per milliliter, delta 9-THC, the (partly) illegal and psychoactive component was found to be "amoebostatic" and halted it's growth in liquid media. THC was not the only active component, as they found that 16 of 17 tested cannabinoids were potent against the brain-eating amoeba strain. In the full paper, it is stated "Delta-9-THC afforded some protection in mice to naeglerial infection. The protection afforded by Delta-9-THC involved both extension of life and 25% fewer deaths." This was groundbreaking, but devastatingly neglected for preventing the hundreds of deaths that would occur over the next few decades. There are literally no other plant extracts ever shown to target N. fowleri. There comes a time when chlorine and antifungals don't cut it. Taking it a step further, one could prepare alcohol extracts of golden dalea and Cannabis sativa together to generate combined additive effects.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

http://www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com

http://www.discoverlife.org

http://www.seedsource.com

About the author:
Cody Lakeland is a freelance writer in fields such as nutrition, phytomedicine, neurology, gerontology, epigenetics, and toxicology. He currently helps to coordinate the formulas for a internet/home-based community business specializing in customized alternative therapies.