by John Toscano

Created on: February 22, 2009

"It's official!" These were the imploring words of my enthusiastic colleague, "They have found a cure for diabetes here in Nigeria!" It seemed like poor manners to meet this claim with anything other than delight, yet experience has taught me to be very sceptical in such matters. The bearer of this happy news clearly felt great pride at the notion that a medical scientist in his country had been responsible for finding a cure for Diabetes Mellitus, a disease which afflicts well over 100 million people worldwide. The condition is especially prevalent in West Africa and is listed as the sixth largest killer in Nigeria. I resolved to find out more about this astounding claim which, if true, would represent one of the greatest worldwide medical advances of modern times.

True enough, the claims of a drug that cures diabetes had appeared in several leading Nigerian dailies that week. The drug under question is being developed by Dr. Louis Obyo Obyo Nelson, a graduate of Chemistry from the University of Ibadan. In 2003 he was granted a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for a "Medicament for the Treatment of Diabetes". The drug has already been the subject of two clinical trials within Nigeria. The results of the trials show that insulin deficient patients treated with an extract derived from the herb Vernonia amygdalina, orally administered, showed remission of the disease after three months. These promising results appear to be the basis for the sensational "Diabetes cure", announcement that had captured Nigerian news headlines.

It turns out that V. amygdalina has long been used in traditional herbal medicine in Nigeria and its effectiveness as an antioxidant has been well-researched and documented. It has been variously used as a treatment for constipation, fever, high blood pressure, certain infectious diseases and has even been used to treat erectile dysfunction. Studies from the early 1990s proved it effective when administered orally in lowering blood sugar levels in diabetic laboratory rats. This is an important point; the anti-diabetic properties of this herb were known within the medical community for well over a decade prior to the issue of the 2003 patent, so there has been no new discovery to justify the sudden spate of headlines proclaiming a miracle cure.

The vast majority of research on V.amygdalina has been done within Nigeria but international drug companies seem reluctant to take this, or other African herbal remedies, seriously. There is

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>