Artemisia

Artemisia annua anamed, “A-3 Tea”

Artemisia annua anamed is a special breed (not gen manipulated) which has three advantages:

The dried leaves are used against a multiplicity of sicknesses, as it is recorded in the pharmacopoeia of  Vietnam.

  • it grows in the tropics where malaria is prevalent
  • it has a high yield of leaves
  • it has, if the artemisinin is measured, a 20 times higher content as the average wild form of Artemisia
A-3 Tea in a bowl
A-3 Tea “broken”

artemisia, (genus Artemisia), any of a genus (Artemisia) of aromatic herbs and shrubs in the Asteraceae family. Examples include wormwood, sagebrush, and tarragon. Many species are valued as ornamentals for their attractive silvery gray foliage, which is frequently used in horticultural plantings to create contrast or to smooth the transition between intense colors. The leaves of common wormwood (A. absinthium) have been used in medicines and beverages such as absinthe and vermouth. An extract from the Eurasian A. annua is used to treat quinine-resistant malaria.

Commonly known as wormwood or sweet sagewort, Artemisia annua has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for fevers, inflammation, headaches, bleeding, and malaria. In vitro studies indicate that artemisinin, the active principle of A. annua, may be an effective treatment for protozoal infections including leishmaniasis (8), Chagas’ disease, and African sleeping sickness (9). Cytotoxic effects of A. annua compounds have also been evaluated in tumor cell lines (1) (18) (19) (20) (25) (26).

Artemisinin-based combination therapies are part of the standard treatment arsenal for malaria. Systematic reviews have shown it to be as effective as quinine for both uncomplicated and severe malaria (4) (5), but increased risk of relapse may limit its uses (6) (7). It is also unclear whether it is effective against quinine-resistant malaria strains. Other reports of artemisinin-based therapy resistance are also emerging, prompting additional drug development (28). Large superiority trials of artemisia tea infusions found them equivalent or superior to artesunate-amodiaquine against malaria (29) and effective against schistosomiasis compared with standard praziquantel treatment (30).

Studies of artemisia for other conditions are limited. In one RCT, a low-dose artemisia formulation produced clinically relevant pain reductions in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis (3). A subsesquent open-label continuation study demonstrated long-term safety with maintained improvements at 6 months (10). A few safety studies in advanced cancer patients suggest oral add-on artesunate, a semisynthetic artemisinin derivative, is well tolerated, although monitoring for ototoxicity is needed (13) (21). In other studies, oral or intravenous artesunate did not produce a response (31) (32), although modest clinical activity was observed with intravenous administration (32). More studies are needed to determine the conditions under which compounds derived from artemisia may be safe and effective.