Leaves from a plant that can be found “in backyards across Samoa” could be as effective as ibuprofen in lowering inflammation and could even be used to treat illnesses such as Parkinson’s and cancer, a new study has found.
For centuries, the leaves of the Psychotria insularum plant, known locally in Samoan as matalafi, have been used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation associated with fever, body aches, swellings, elephantiasis and respiratory infections.
“I was skeptical at first, when researching” said Seeseei Molimau-Samasoni, the study’s author, and the manager of the plants and post-harvest technologies division at the Scientific Research Organization of Samoa.
“There was a lot of superstition around this plant particularly, even in traditional medicine, but I was eager to find out if I could provide scientific merit to the traditional medicines of the Samoan people,” she said. “We can now highlight not only its potential as an anti-inflammatory agent, but also its potential as a treatment for cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, as well as COVID-19.”
Molimau-Samasoni and her colleagues’ findings have been peer-reviewed and are due to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
“The leaves are chopped up and the juice is squeezed out. Traditional healers use that juice as drink for their patients. Sometimes they also use the leaves to rub on a person who is unwell or apply it to a wound that needs healing,” Molimau-Samasoni said, adding that traditional medicine runs in her family.
“I grew up with my maternal grandmother and she was a traditional healer,” she said. “When she passed away, she passed on her treatments to me, so I’m now kind of a traditional healer myself.”
Molimau-Samasoni said that there was a lot of skepticism and hesitancy shown toward traditional medicine.
“The challenge between modern medicine and traditional medicine is the instances where people focus on just one type of medicine before seeking the other — so a case where people seek anti-cancer treatments from traditional healers, but then present to the hospital later on with stage 4 cancer, when it’s too late for modern medicine to do anything,” she said.
“So I know many people think traditional medicine is just people mashing leaves together and that people are taking it just for the placebo effect, but you need to remember that traditional medicine has made significant contributions to the world of modern pharmaceuticals, examples of which include aspirin,” she added.
Molimau-Samasoni said that it would likely be years before it is available as an approved medicine, but said she also believes that it is just the beginning for broader research into how Samoa’s traditional medicines could be used today.
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
ANGER: Unrest worsened after a taxi driver was killed by a police vehicle on Thursday, as protesters set alight government buildings across the nation Protests worsened overnight across major cities of Indonesia, far beyond the capital, Jakarta, as demonstrators defied Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s call for calm. The most serious unrest was seen in the eastern city of Makassar, while protests also unfolded in Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta. By yesterday morning, crowds had dispersed in Jakarta. Troops patrolled the streets with tactical vehicles and helped civilians clear trash, although smoke was still rising in various protest sites. Three people died and five were injured in Makassar when protesters set fire to the regional parliament building during a plenary session on Friday evening, according to
STILL AFLOAT: Satellite images show that a Chinese ship damaged in a collision earlier this month was under repair on Hainan, but Beijing has not commented on the incident Australia, Canada and the Philippines on Wednesday deployed three warships and aircraft for drills against simulated aerial threats off a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese forces have used risky maneuvers to try to drive away Manila’s aircraft and ships. The Philippine military said the naval drills east of Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) were concluded safely, and it did not mention any encounter with China’s coast guard, navy or suspected militia ships, which have been closely guarding the uninhabited fishing atoll off northwestern Philippines for years. Chinese officials did not immediately issue any comment on the naval drills, but they
RSS