those arteseminins...
Hi, fans of the artemisinins, there is an interesting review article on these substances: Thomas Efferth et al, The Antiviral Activities of Artemisinin and Artesunate, available on the web at this link: 1.
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/do...:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub=ncbi.nlm.nih.gov--then click on the "full text PDF" tab and you will get the whole thing.
I shall give a few quotes, but think the whole thing is worth reading if you are going to try one of these (I am following my own advice!). They appear to have some activity against cancer cells; artemisinin is largely metabolized by P-450 enzymes, meaning that there is considerable possibility for drug interactionsfor instance, many statins are metabolized through this pathway, leading to the dangers of combining them with grapefruit or even pomegranate.
There can be side effects: mild and reversible hematological and electrocardiographic abnormalities, such as neutropenia and first-degree heart block, have been observed infrequently. Neurotoxic effects have been repeatedly reported in experiments with mice, rats, and dogs....
A longer exposure time to a lower peak blood concentration of an artemisinin is more neurotoxic than a shorter duration of a higher peak blood concentration ....
However, long experience shows that they are generally safe, and though ataxia, slurred speech, and hearing loss have been reported in a few patients treated with artemisinin ..( at levels up to 500 mg orally), artesunate seems considerably less toxic ( I must get some!).
Artesunate inhibits in vitro replication of a good many viruses, including HCMV. This activity can be enhanced by the addition of ferrous iron in the form of Ferrosanol. Second, the antiviral activity of artesunate is additive in combination with conventional drugs, such ganciclovir, cidofovir, and foscarnet. It was demonstrated in vivo in a rat CMV model.
Finally, Artesunate has been observed to have activity against HIV-1"; this of course does not show that it is active against our new friend XMRV, but one can certainly hope, and Cheneys report of success with it may depend partly on just this.
Anyway, if you are going to use either of these wormwood derivatives, reading this article is well worth the little time it takes; it has a good bibliography, which I have not yet explored. And take note of the possibilities of negative side effects; as nearly always, anything powerful enough to do some good may also do some harm. Note the advice about pulsing, and it really would be advisable to work quite closely with a doctor. Now to get me some artesunate....and a cooperative doctor.
Best wishes, Chris