Researchers at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Bellville near Cape Town have long known that they can benefit from the arts of the healers. The UWC scientist Ralf Henkel is now reporting on a particularly promising collaboration with sangomas. His team succeeded in developing a drug against testosterone deficiency from a plant extract, which they immediately patented.
Many men suffer from declining testosterone levels as they age. A lack of this sex hormone can result in decreased muscle mass and muscle strength, decreased libido and erectile dysfunction, osteoporosis, and depressed mood. Doctors then speak of testosterone deficiency syndrome. However, the obvious therapy of injecting those affected with additional testosterone has side effects. The blood can thicken, which increases the risk of a heart attack. It also promotes the development and spread of prostate cancer.
Secret plant promotes testosterone production in the testicles
Men with testosterone deficiency usually turn to testosterone boosters like those listed on TwinCities. Do you know that there’s a new study that found an unnamed plant that can actually increase testosterone levels naturally?
With the new plant extract from South Africa, therapy for men with testosterone deficiency could now be revolutionized. It should enable therapy without side effects. Henkel does not reveal which plant he obtained the active ingredient from. Just this much: “The extract has a similar effect to the Malaysian Tongkat Ali, with which we have been able to gain experience for a long time,” explains Henkel.
What people refer to as “Ali’s walking stick” has the scientific name Eurycoma Longifora. This substance, the exact name of which is still a secret, is obtained from a special type of cattail. “Like Tongkat Ali, our plant also stimulates testosterone release in the hormone-producing cells in the testicles. Our extract also inhibits the growth of prostate cancer cells,” explains the andrologist. Henkel hopes that it could even reduce the risk of prostate cancer instead of promoting it. His working group identified the bioactive components of the extract as flavonoids. For patent reasons, the researchers are currently unable to elicit an exact description.
Henkel, who trained in biology, chemistry, and reproductive medicine in Marburg and Giessen, has his sights set on other promising medicinal herbs in addition to this mysterious anti-aging extract. A research project is currently underway in his group to test the anti-inflammatory effect of Nigella sativa oil on diabetes and fat distribution in rats.
It is black cumin oil, also known as black onion seed, from the buttercup family. There are many indications that the substance has anti-diabetic properties and can correct dyslipidemia.
A common problem in older men is the impending derailment of sugar and fat metabolism with increasing body weight, which together with high blood pressure is known as metabolic syndrome. Researchers from the School of Natural Medicine at the UWC also want to treat these ailments with South African medicinal plants.
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The balloon pea is said to stimulate the immune system
Pharmacologist James Syce, who also works at SAHSMI, explains that the key challenge is to choose the right ones from the huge number of possible medicinal plants. He himself deals with Sutherlandia Frutescens, which is also known as the “healing weed from South Africa”. The unspectacular plant is known in German as balloon pea and is related to peanuts and soybeans. Extracts of the plant have long been used to fight inflammation, cancer, and stress, as well as being an immune stimulant.
In recent decades, Sutherlandia Frutescens has gained notoriety because it was taken by AIDS patients in South Africa to treat a wide range of symptoms related to HIV infection. This practice was propagated by dubious activists who explicitly opposed the antiviral therapies of western pharmaceutical companies.