Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Scientist trying to use herbs in alcohol detox

A Vietnamese scientist believes that a product made of common herbs, including centella (Centella asiatica), green tea, plantain (Plantaginaceae Juss), ginger, tamarin and Hibicus Sabdariffa, can help alcoholics stop drinking.


PlantainDr Nguyen Ngoc Khoi from the Pharmacy Faculty under the HCM City Medicine and Pharmacy University on October 9 presented research about alcohol detoxification with an herbal remedy to the HCM City Department of Science and Technology.

Dr Khoi has been working with centella, green tea, plantain, which are tropical plants grown and developed in areas with the temperature of 23-24oC, and ginger and tamarind from the wild to seek a product for alcohol detoxification.

The subjects Khoi is testing the products on are healthy house mice from 20-25gr each which were poisoned with ethanol.

Khoi has asked for VND254.2mil to continue his research, which he expects could be completed within two years.

Scientists participating in the presentation asked Khoi to clarify his method of distilling the herbs and the how the herbal remedy can influence the human liver and brain. Most of the scientists agreed with Khoi’s results, and advocated for the allotment of funds for the continued research of the subject.

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