A rare plant found in the Amazon is set to revolutionise dental treatment across the world.
A rare plant found in the Amazon could become the new pain relief for toothache- revolutionising dental treatment and even replacing anaesthetic injections.
Dr Francoise Barbira Freedman, an anthropologist from Cambridge University came across the ancient herbal remedy, Achmella oleracea, thirty years ago when living with an indigenous Peruvian community. After suffering from severe pain in her wisdom teeth she was given the plant and the discomfort ‘went away immediately’.
Years later, Dr Freedman was asked to provide Cambridge with some examples of rainforest remedies. Bizarrely, she added the plant as an afterthought. ‘It was added to the bottom of the list, but somehow the list got reversed, and it was the first one tested back in the UK. It was immediately successful and we’ve never looked back.’
Researches have developed a pain-relieving gel using extracts from the plant which blocks the pain receptors found in nerve ending. The gel could be on the market within two years.
Scientists estimate that only 1% of rainforest species have so far been studied and fear that continued deforestation may mean treatments such as this are lost.
Source: The Daily Mail
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