Aloe Vera gel

Aloe Vera gel is a most ingenious mixture of an antibiotic, an astringent coagulating agent, a pain inhibitor and a growth stimulator (also called a “wound hormone”), whose function is to accelerate the healing of injured surfaces.

It is used for pain relief and healing of ‘hemorrhoids, applied externally and internally. Aloe-based pharmaceutical products are being used to control female yeast infections.

Physicians have greatly reduced external scarring with the use of Aloe Vera. It is effective, also, for sunburn, scratches, cuts and a cleansing purge for the body or skin. It is an aid to growing new tissue and alleviating the advance of skin cancer caused by the sun. It is a treatment for ringworm, boils, inflamed joints, scalds, itchy allergic conditions, insect stings and bites. It creates a definite softening of external skin, relief from dry or sensitive skin and skin diseases. Dentists and oral surgeons employ Aloe Vera Gelly for surgery, swift healing, relief of pain and other oral treatment, including mouth ulcers, fever blisters, cold sores and cankers.
The Aloe is believed to improve digestion and assimilation of food eaten, so that elimination is naturally normalized. This concept is in accordance with the Chinese or Asian philosophy of medicine, and goes back more than 5,000 years in their recorded history.

We now know, through research, that the gel from the Aloe Vera leaf is capable of penetrating to the water-retaining second layer of skin, helping to slough off the dead cells gathered there (causing beauty marring); also in dissolving the roots of infection. Possibly, aloe vera’s mysterious properties may come from what many consider to be its biggest secret and most magical medical mystery: the ENZYMES ACTION working speedily within the gel seems to foster the growth of healthy new tissue. It is reported by many to have this amazing ability to penetrate, giving quick relief from pain, both topically and below the skin. People testify to its internal, magical properties, too, in the reduction of arthritis, ulcers, indigestion, constipation and many other uncomfortable conditions.
From the dim history of the Greeks and Egyptians and other civilizations through the ages, gel has been used in cosmetics. Today, you will find many aloe-based cosmetics and skin care items on the market. Hundreds of people have reported that the enzyme activity actually reduces and eliminates scars, liver spots, age lines, marks and blotches, etc. The ability of new cell growth should eventually produce younger skin for women of any age. Many cosmetics have promised this in the past with other natural products, but never has one had the background of historical proof and testimonials that the Aloe Vera true and natural plant now does!!!

The manner in which the Aloe Vera plant heals itself is really wonderful to observe. The leaves have no stalks or woody parts and are kept upright by the water pressure of the gel. A leaf, slashed across with a sharp knife, first spurts out its life-blood as the turgid flesh is opened. A few seconds later the wound films over. The next few minutes a rubber-like, protective coating effectively seals off loss of water. In a short time, the wound heals completely. The plant contains a wound healing substance which accomplishes this.
Aloe Vera gel is an extraordinary demulcent compound, composed of mannuronic and glucuronic units combined to form a polymer of high molecular weight. Gastric mucin contains only glucuronic units in its carbohydrate moiety. The uronic acids are natural detoxicants, and as they are released by the hydrolytic cleavage of Aloe Vera gel, they may take part in the healing process by stripping toxic materials of their harmful irritation. The gel is tenacious to a marked degree, in which property it excels over all other known gums, including methylcellulose. Unlike Methylcellulose, which is biochemically inert, Aloe Vera gel is certainly reactive. It serves as a biochemical “bandage” and is protectively helpful in restraining aggravating irritants from reaching the sensitive ulcer.

The gel coacervates (a chemical action resulting in physical change) pepsin in the same fashion that quince seed gel coacervates pepsin. Coacervated pepsin is reversible and can release its enzyme at the proper electrical charge. In coacervated form, pepsin loses its proteolvtic effectiveness but regains it when released. Food reverses the coacervation so that after the administration of the gel, the pepsin remains inert so long as the stomach is devoid of food, but on introducing food (particularly protein) the coacervate reverses and the pepsin is set free to digest the nutrients. The gel inhibits the secretion of hydrochloric acid by the parietal cells of the stomach. The acid develops at the membrane surface through the interaction of sodium chloride and carbonic acid. This reaction is halted by Aloe Vera gel. It thus acts as an antihistamine. The Aloe Vera gel also acts as a mild laxative, and since most peptic ulcer patients are also constipated, it helps this condition as well. Tests conducted on ulcer patients in Florida in 1962, as reported in the Journal A.O.A., Vol. 62, April 1963, showed that the clinical administration of Aloe Vera gel emulsion resulted in permanent relief for 94% of ulcer patients who had had the condition for an extended period of time.

The clinical use of Aloe Vera gel for ulcer treatment is relatively new. The properties which make it valuable for this purpose, however, also make it a miraculous treatment for burns. Medical research on this phase of Aloe Vera was done in the early 1930’s when the crude X-ray techniques of that time often resulted in painful and disfiguring keloids and burns. The fresh gel was used to promote healing of the injured tissue. As X-ray techniques improved, and other methods for curing diseases previously treated by X-ray (antibiotics, fungicides, etc.) were developed, interest in Aloe Vera again declined because no good method had been worked out for preserving and storing the essential curative elements for general use. Recent research, however, has revealed that Aloe Vera gel can be concentrated andabilized in a powerful form. Many commercial preparations containing it are now he market, in the form of ointments and creams for topical surface applications, and in a variety of surfactants for internal use.

MEDICAL REFERENCES

• Aloe vera gel in peptic ulcer therapy; Preliminary report, Julian J. Blitz, 0.0., James W. Smith, D.O., and Jack R. Gerard, D.O., Danie, Fla. Journal A.O.A., Vol. 62, April 1963.
• Alien, J.G.: Physiology and treatment of peptic ulcer, University of Chicago, Press, Chicago, 1959.
• Sysoev, A.F.: Uchenye Zapiski Ukraine, Ekspitl. Inst. Graznykh. Bolezenei Filatov. 3:15, 1955.
• Freytag, A.: Filatovs Gewebs-nachwels einder Wundhormonwirkung am Traumantinsaure-Bohnenschalentest bei nach Filatov Konservierton Geweben, Aloe und Lebertran. Pharmazie 9:705-710, Sept. 1954.
• Collins, C.E., and Collins, C: Roentgen dermatitis treated with fresh whole leaf of Aloe Vera. Am. Roentgenol. 33:396-397, March 1935.
• Tchou, M.T.: Aloe vera (jelly leeks). Arch. Dermat & Syph. 47:249, Feb., 1943.
• Loveman, A.B.: Leaf of Aloe vera in treatment of roentgen ray ulcers; report of 2 additional cases, Arch Dermat. & Syph. 36:838-843, Oct., 1937.
• Goldberg, H.C.: Aloe vera plant. Arch Dermat & Syph. 49:46, Jan., 1944.
• Fine, A. and Brown, S: Cultivation and clinical application of Aloe vera leaf. Radiology 31:735-736, Dec., 1938.
• Manderville, F.B.: Aloe vera in treatment of radiation ulcers of mucous membranes. Radiology 32:598-599, May,1939.
• Rowe, T.D.: Effect of fresh Aloe vera gel in treatment of third-degree roentgen reaction on white rats; preliminary report J. Am. Pharm. A. (Scient. Ed.) 29:348-350, Aug., 1940.
• Rowe, T.D., Lovell, B.L., and Parks, L.M.: Further observation on use of Aloe vera leaf in treatment of third degree x-ray reactions. J. Am. Pharm. A. (Scient. Ed.) 30-266-269, Oct., 1941.
• Wright, C.S.: Aloe vera in treatment of roetgen ulcers and telangiectasis. J. Am. M.A. 106:1363-1364. April 19, 1936.
• Lushbaugh, C.C., and Hale, D.D.: Experimental acute radiodermatitis following beta irradiation; histopathological study of mode of action of therapy with Aloe vera. Cancer 6:690-696, July, 1953.
• Sukhorukov, K., and Bolshakova, N.: Free and bound hormone of cell division in plants. Compt. rend.acad. ac. U.S.S.R. 53:471-474, Aug. 20, 1946.
• Partially Reprinted from Herbs and Fruits.