Sweet wormwood Benefits, Usage, Medicinal Properties, Nutrition, Dosage, Preparations, safety, science backed and traditional view

Sweet Wormwood – Arthemisia annua (L.) also known as Sweet sagewort, Sweet annie, Qing Hao, Bylica jednoroczna.

 

Sweet Annie occurs naturally as part of a steppe vegetation in the northern parts of Chahar and Suiyuan provinces in China, at 1000 to 1500 m above sea level. Artemisia annua is a annual, growing to up to 3 m and 1 m wide at fast rate. It is in flower from August to September, and the seeds ripen from September to October. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects.

 

Part used: leaves, flowering steams from top of the plant, cut at 1/3 of mature plant, bottom leaves contain twice less Artemisinin then tops, what plays important role in efficiency of this medication (always make sure that you get your herb from supplier who follows GMP standards).

 

Constituents: sesquiterpenoids incl. Artemisinin and numerous related compounds and derivatives ( Artemisinin 1,2,3,4 and 5, artemisic acid, epoxyarteannuinic acid, artemisinol, and others) flavonoids,polyphenols, coumarins, phenolic acids

 

Flavor/Temps: Very Bitter, Cold.

 

Tropism: -

 

Meridians: Kidney Liver, Gall Bladder.

 

Key actions in western medicine: Anticancer, Antiparasitic

 

Indications: cancer, malaria and other parasites

 

Key actions in eastern medicine: Clears Summer Heat, Clears Fever due to Deficiencies, Cools Blood/Stops Bleeding. Checks Malarial Disorders. 

 

Indications: fever, headache, dizziness, vomiting and stifling feeling in the chest, blood deficiency or febrile diseases with unremitting fever, night fevers, and no sweating. Purpuric rashes, nosebleeds due to heat in the blood. Alternating chills and fevers of malarial disorders. Gastrointestinal symptoms, autoimmune disorders, circulatory disorders, gallbladder disease, diabetes, jaundice, dysmenorrhea, nerve pain, bruises and sprains, infections, lice, scabies, psoriasis, cancer.

 

 

Preparations: Infusion, milk infusion, Tincture, Infused oil, standardised extract

Note: do not boil or decoct Sweet Annie, as it will lose most of the potency

 

Dosage:

Note: it is very important to use sweet wormwood as intermittent therapy, 7 days on 7 days off (perfectly 5 days on 7 days off for woman, and 7 on 7 off for man). Healing potency of herb dropping with every day of use and burden to the liver is increased with every day of use.

Dosage is very differentiated and depends on illness.

For cancer usually is used standardised extract of Artemisinin in connection with tea or tincture to obtain synergy necessary for improving bioavailability, suppressing hepatic enzymes responsible for altering the absorption and metabolism of artemisinin, providing longer half live. Flavonoids which contribute to those actions also by synergistic effect brings more effective treatment in parasites diseases (such as malaria), providing on top of improving Artemisinin actions also immunomodulating and redox regulating opportunities, which reduce oxidative stress induced by Artemisinin.

warm infusion/milk infusion made from 5g of herb and cup of water/milk, and Tincture 1:3 25% ethanol is used for that effect, in combination with standardised extract, dosage vary, and Herbalist will prescribe right dose based on patient liver health and other blood markers. It will be used in combination with few very important supplements responsible for improving healing potency of Artemisia.

 

For parasites warm/milk infusions are very effective. Buhner suggest use of 100g of herb with 1 litre of water/milk.

Infusion - 100g herb add 1 litre warm water, allow to step 12 hours, drink split in 3-4 doses during day

Milk infusion – 100g of herb add to 1 litre of warm milk, allow to step for 4 hours, drink during the day split in 3-4 portions (this preparation has triple strength comparing to water infusion)

 

Tincture 1:2 10 ml twice a day, 45% ethanol

 

Synergy examples:

Grapefruit juice combined with Sweet Annie increase bioavailability and increase half-life.

Cleavers, Milk thistle, Calendula, Burdock will help liver and lymphatic system clearance from toxins arisen from Sweet Annie medicinal actions.

 

Cautions: Sweet Annie must be used in pulse dosing ideally for woman 5 days on 7 off, and for man 7 on 7 off, but 7 on 7 off is also effective for woman and it is more practical following 7 days routine in long term therapy.

Monitoring Liver enzymes is very important in Sweet Annie therapy. Avoid if liver is already weak. Not to be used by pregnant, especially first trimester of pregnancy and breastfeeding woman`s due to insufficient clinical data, in vivo test run on mouse and rats at first trimester of pregnancy shows several undesirable effects, on contrary clinical tests with 16 patients first trimester of pregnancy the miscarriage rate was found to be the same as in the general population.

 

Contradictions: Consult herbalist in case of liver deficiency. Consult herbalist if pregnant of breastfeeding.

 

Interaction with drugs: Artemisia interfere with sucralfate, antacids, proton pomp inhibitors and histamine receptor antagonists due to increase production of stomach acids. Artemisia may induce drug clearance for pharmaceuticals which undergo same clearance pathway, rising risk for them to be cleared more rapidly, which mean that drugs with narrow therapeutic index may fall below critical threshold and be no more effective. Sweet Annie may alter plasma levels and clinical effects of drugs metabolized by CYP3A4. Sweet Annie may alter plasma levels and clinical effects of drugs metabolized by CYP2B6. Sweet Annie may alter plasma levels and clinical effects of drugs metabolized by CYP 2C19.

 

Side effects:  Orally, Sweet Annie is generally well-tolerated.

Orally: Nausea and vomiting.

Topically: may cause dermatitis and possibly photosensitivity

Serious Adverse Effects (extremely Rare if used within recommendation's):

Orally: Hepatotoxicity.

 

History folklore:

Qing Hao (A. annuae), is named after the plant’s dark green leaves and its tall stalks. It is a common weed in Southern China. It has a sweet aroma that gives the plant its common western name of “sweet wormwood” and it has also been used to kill lice, brighten the eyes, and heal itchy scabs and oozing sores as well as ease what the Chinese call “heat lodged in the joints.”

One of the largest research efforts for any Chinese herb was taken to study the powerful antimalarial effects of Qing Hao (Artemisia annuae) by Professor Yu Youyou in Beijing. The study isolated a new type of sesquiterpene lactone that resolved the problem of drug-resistant malarial strains. The compound was later named artemisinin and is found in the plant’s leaves. It is at its highest levels when the plant is in flower. This compound has also been found to be excellent for treating certain parasitic diseases (schistosomiasis and clonorchiasis) commonly encountered in China and Africa.

Artemisia Annua is systemic remedy which mean it is not organ specified but it is working on all body tissues and cross blood-brain barier, what make that herb extremely useful. 

The oil produced after the artemisinin has been removed, called huang hua oil (yellow flower oil) has been shown to have strong antifungal capabilities for treating funguses that attack the skin.

Traditional uses of Sweet Annie include gastrointestinal symptoms, autoimmune disorders, circulatory disorders, gallbladder disease, diabetes, jaundice, dysmenorrhea, nerve pain, bruises and sprains, infections, lice, scabies, psoriasis, and others.

Semisynthetic derivatives of the Sweet Annie constituent artemisinin, such as artemether and artesunate, are used as prescription antimalarial drugs in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Theoretically, Sweet Annie might worsen liver function in people with liver disease. There is some concern that Sweet Annie can adversely affect the liver.

There is great interest in Sweet Annie for cancer. Preliminary evidence suggests that artemisinin and quercetagetin 6,',3',4'-tetramethyl ether might have cytotoxic effects against many tumor cells.

Artesunate seems to be most active against leukemia and colon cancer cell lines, even cell lines resistant to doxorubicin, vincristine, methotrexate, or hydroxyurea.

Sweet Annie is of interest for diabetes. In an animal diabetic model, Sweet Annie extracts improved insulin resistance and the ratio of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and reduced levels of free fatty acids and inflammatory factors.

Laboratory research shows that Sweet Annie extracts have bacteriostatic properties, with artemisinin being responsible for these effects.

Animal and in vitro research shows that a water-soluble derivative of artemisinin has immunosuppressive activity.

Laboratory research shows that Sweet Annie extracts have anti-inflammatory effects. In an animal diabetic model, Sweet Annie extracts reduced levels of the inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin (IL)-6. In vitro research also suggests that the essential oil of Sweet Annie aerial parts has antioxidant effects.

 

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