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Difference between revisions of "Tawa tawa"
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==News About Tawa Tawa == | ==News About Tawa Tawa == | ||
'''‘Tawa-Tawa' Study Fast-tracked''' | |||
*Source:http://www.science.ph/full_story.php?type=News&key=7056:tawa-tawa-study-fast-tracked | |||
:By EDD K. USMAN | |||
Is a cure for the dreaded dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) coming? | |||
This question cropped up as the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), told the Manila Bulletin that a research on tawa-tawa (Euphorbia hirta) is being fasttracked. | |||
PCHRD is an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCHRD). | |||
Along with DOST's two other sectoral planning councils, its tasks include the formulation of policies, plans, projects and strategies for Science and Technology (S&T), among others. | |||
Dr. Jose Montoya, PCHRD executive director, said the research on tawa-tawa as a potential herbal medicine for dengue is being hastened. | |||
"That is because there is a need," he says. | |||
He said PCHRD is funding the research on tawa-tawa, a plant of the genus Euphorbia, to find out if it can increase the number of platelet count of a dengue patient. | |||
Tawa-tawa, also known as "gatas-gatas," is a hairy herb that normally grows in grounds at home, in grasslands, roadsides, or pathways. | |||
As a folkloric treatment in the Philippines for dengue, tawa-tawa has earned many anecdotal testimonies from those who purportedly became well from the plant's concoction: its leaves boiled like a tea and taken orally like, well, a tea. | |||
Understandably, many others are skeptical of tawa-tawa's alleged healing properties against dengue; this is because there is no scientific evidence yet backing up claims. | |||
The government, through the DOST-PCHRD, embarked on a new study to ascertain the science of tawa-tawa's therapeutic properties. | |||
"We are the ones (PCHRD) funding the research," said Montoya, an academician and one of the recipients of the 2012 Presidential Lingkod Bayan Awards. | |||
"It is like this," he said, "the first study done showed (tawa-tawa) has effect on the dengue virus; that is killing the virus." | |||
"The second question is, does it raise platelet count in dengue patients? That is still being studied," Montoya said. | |||
He said the result of the study might be known within the year, or early next year. | |||
"So, the research on the platelet is still ongoing; but the one on the (dengue) virus is already finished," he added. | |||
Montoya was referring to the study done by students of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), titled "Investigation of the anti-thrombocytopenic property of Euphorbia hirta linn (Tawa-Tawa) decoction in rat models." | |||
In their study, they found out that the herbal plant has active ingredients that may aid in the treatment of DHF patients. | |||
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'''Euphorbia hirta – a possible cure for dengue''' | '''Euphorbia hirta – a possible cure for dengue''' | ||
*Source:http://specialty.mims.com/topic/euphorbia-hirta---a-possible-cure-for-dengue | *Source:http://specialty.mims.com/topic/euphorbia-hirta---a-possible-cure-for-dengue | ||