TAWA TAWA AS DENGUE CURE

TAWA TAWA AS DENGUE CURE

Tawa Tawa [Euphorbia hirta], “Gatas Gatas” or Asthma Plant has Anti-Viral Property.

Tawa Tawa [Euphorbia hirta], “Gatas Gatas” or Asthma Plant has Anti-Viral Property.

Tawa tawa [Euphorbia hirta], “gatas gatas” or asthma plant is a hairy lowly herb usually grown in open grasslands or in backyard gardens, along roadsides and pathways like weeds. This indigenous plant is considered as one of the most popular treatment for dengue in the Philippines.

I experience “Tawa tawa” that is used to treat my sore eyes. This happens when my family goes on a trip to the province to visit our relatives. I have sore eyes. When our relatives know of my sore eyes, they just pick up something from the grasslands and tell me that it will cure my sore eyes with the herb known as “Tawa tawa”. At first, I’m hesitant because the herb comes from the grasslands and I don’t know if it can cause negative side effects on my body.

They use the sap of the herb and drop it on my eye. It only takes about a day for my sore eye to heal. I think it is much better than the eye drops that I’ve been using.

Because of this incident, I decide to make my own research on the Tawa tawa plant to know the other health benefits that it can offer. Aside from the sore eye treatment, I find other health benefits of Tawa tawa.

These are:

1). Treatment for Dengue Fever

As of now, the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Health are still conducting research on the anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties of the Tawa-Tawa plant.

But the University of Santo Tomas [UST] Faculty of Pharmacology is a way ahead of these government agencies on the study of this herb entitles: “Investigation of the anti-thrombocytopenic property of euphorbia hirta linn or Tawa tawa decoction in rat models. The study aims to verify the effects of tawa tawa decoction to the Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) patient showing the symptom of thrombocytopenia or low platelet count due to excessive bleeding. In the study, the students use chloramphenicol, ethanol and heparin to induce thrombocytopenia on rat models, mimicking dengue hemorrhagic fever. They administer Tawa tawa decoction to the sample groups and collected blood samples to check for platelet count, bleeding time or duration of bleeding, and blood clotting times in several stages of the experiment.

Results show that platelet count increase by 47% depending on the drug used to induce thrombocytopenia. Bleeding time is reduced up to 62% while blood clotting time decreases to 58% compare to the control groups. Based on the results, students conclude that administering Tawa tawa decoction to animal models help improve their healing mechanism. Tawa tawa is able to promote cell production, and prevents platelet destruction. Likewise, the improvement in the cell bleeding time and clotting time provide evidence that the indigenous plant can preserve and promote the hemostatic function of platelets. The students also discover phenolic compounds in Tawa tawa, active ingredients suspected to be responsible in the increased platelet counts of tested animals.

In an interview, Mr. Ryan Justin Raynes, one of the student researchers say that through a phenolic determination assay, they are able to identify ‘minute’ phenolic compound in Tawa tawa samples. “Although there were small amount of phenolic compound in Tawa tawa, this was sufficient to exert effect promoting quality and quantity of platelets,” Mr. Raynes says. It finds that this can actually stimulate the production of platelet in the bone marrow, especially for dengue patients.

But according to doctors, even if Tawa tawa plant can help cure Dengue, proper medical treatments are still needed. They still need to ask for the help of a professional doctor.

The fact that this plant can stimulate platelet production is already a great way to treat dengue fever.

2). Treatment for High Blood Pressure

Tawa tawa plant can help counteract high blood pressure. At first, I thought that it is not true, but after taking a little research about this plant, I found out that it has the ability to inhibit the activity of angiotensin converting enzyme that contains vasoconstictive effects on the blood vessels. Your blood pressure will be lowered, heart rate will decrease and increase in cardiac output.

3). Treatment for Digestive Health & Dewormer

I don’t think that medicinal herbs can actually be the good treatment for digestive problems. But most of our medicines are actual herb-based.

So I decide to dig deeper to know on how the Tawa tawa plant can actually help in our digestive health. Because of the active flavonoid constituent that is found in the plant, it has some anti-diarrhea properties. It can also be a great deworming agent.

4). Treatment for Respiratory Health

Tawa tawa is the good herb for people with asthma. If you will combine it with beta 2 blockers like terbutaline sulfate and salbutamol, Tawa tawa can have the ability to dissolve sticky mucus and relax the bronchial muscles that can provide relief to your asthmatic symptoms.

The best thing to do is to take about 3 to 4 cups of boiled Tawa tawa leaves every day or you can try to burn or inhale the smoke from Tawa tawa leaves. If you know anything about incense, you can do the same thing with Tawa tawa leaves for best results.

5). Boosting the Immune System

Tawa tawa leaves are also known to boost the immunity of the body by boosting your immune system and protecting it from infection, oxidative damage and malignancies.

There are a lot of constituents that Tawa-tawa leaves can offer like hexane, flavenoids, interpene and more.

Here’s the procedure on how we prepare our Tawa tawa Tea for our Dengue patients:

1. Take 5 to 6 whole Tawa tawa plants.

2. Wash them thoroughly.

3. Cut off the roots.

4. Put the leaves in a boiling pot and add water.

5. Boil the Tawa tawa on low fire for 5 minutes.

6. Let the concoction cool.

7. Dispose the leaves and stalks. Pour the colored liquid into the container. Cool. Before serving, add honey.

Let the patient drink the tea in a glass. A minimum of 4 or 5 glasses of the tea a day is recommended.