Monday 4 March 2013

Pokok Kapalterbang or Chromolaena odorata...a remedy to relieve the pain of Gout?

 A plant that i had always tried to destroy...tried to fully eliminate from my garden.....
.....not knowing that it is actually a very useful plant....
However information gathered from the net is rather confusing..... this website :

  says that it is poisonous....while this one : 
http://sw.my/sw.html says taking it can increase the body's production of collagen......  

My own experience...... i had just been inflicted by Gout....after a few weeks of some very disturbing pains in my left leg...somewhere around the upper part of the calf to lower part of the thigh....but not really the joint...though the knee too feels rather uncomfortable....one day i find my big toe red and swollen....and vey painful....the next day....i have a workshop to handle ....as only one of the facilitators....i was contemplating backing out due to the pain in my left foot....but was worried the team may have difficulties as it was rather too late to look for someone to replace me.... 

Alhamdullillah....unknown to me there was a blessing in my ignoring my pain to fullfil this duty of which i had previously committed myself to.... one of the participants....named  Masniza i think..... noticing i was having difficulty walking....asked about my foot....to cut the story short ....she told me her mother had long suffered from Gout but now has stopped taking hospital medications...she told me her mother drinks a home brew containing 3 leaves of Chromolaena odorata (CO) which she and her friends....the group i was facilitating in the workshop ...jokingly called aeroplane leaves...a literal translation the local common name.

Now....i did not know that this plant is supposed to be poisonous....so ...that night when i got home... the foot was really bothering me....but i was too tired to go to the clinic....i decided to boil 3 leaves in a medium sized pot.....drank a glass....before going to sleep i drank another glass...the next morning another glass....surprisingly the pain and the swelling subsided...in fact i was even able to put on my shoes....before this i could only put on slippers/flip flops....then i googled the plant...and found out that it was supposed to be poisonous....errmmmm think this plant should be thoroughly researched.....those in the know please share your knowledge here.......should i stop taking the brew of CO ......???  Well.....i have just drunk another glass....have drunk may be a total of9 - 10 glasses already......should i stop....?? i suppose if the pain has stopped i should stop drinking it....Masniza did say as much......said her mother drinks it only when the pain bothers her......