Seaweed can help in the treatment of arthritis
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Tablets from seaweed can help in the treatment of arthritis - one of the most common inflammatory joint diseases. This conclusion was reached by the scientists of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego (Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego).
Specialists have discovered that algae that destroy coral reefs in Hawaii, produce a substance that has a powerful anti-inflammatory property. According to them, it can be used in medicine to treat other chronic diseases - from cancer and to heart disease.
Algae are filled with tiny photosynthesizing microorganisms - cyanobacteria, which also produce promising compounds that are effective in fighting bacterial infections. For the first time they were found by researchers in 2008. On the coast of Kona (Hawaii). Experts took samples of algae during the "flowering" period in 2009, as they expanded and "choked" the corals. In addition, they also produced a chemical that bleached corals. As a result of many years of research, they managed to establish that algae contain a substance called honaucins, which has anti-inflammatory properties.
"These compounds can be useful in many areas of medicine, for example, in the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, because at the moment there are not enough effective drugs (only painkillers and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used to relieve symptoms.) Some types of cyanobacteria and algae are known to produce new promising substances that can be used to develop medicines, as well as for other purposes, "- commented Professor William Gervik.
According to U. Hervik, the results of the work are a good illustration of how closely people should look to the environment, because even pests, as it turned out, may not be so. "There is a long way to go before applying the results of the work in practice, but it is the only one that can lead to the creation of more effective medicines," U. Gervik said.
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