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DoH sees hope in 'tawa-tawa' as dengue cure
By JENNY F. MANONGDO
August 26, 2011, 7:14pm

MANILA, Philippines — Department of Health (DoH) Secretary Enrique T. Ona announced Friday that preliminary laboratory testing of the plant “tawa-tawa” (scientific name: euphorbia hirta) suggests that it may have “some effect” in treating dengue patients.

While Ona said these tests remain inconclusive, the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) will continue its research on the active ingredient in the plant that appears to be effective in beating the virus.

“It looks like they (DoST scientists) have already isolated the active ingredient in the plant and it appears that it really has some effect,” Ona told the press during a forum organized by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in Quezon City.

Believers in herbal medication have long claimed that tawa-tawa is effective in curing dengue patients but there had been no formal scientific research to confirm it.

Dengue survivors who claim they were cured by the plant professed that their blood platelets count increased after drinking water from the boiled plant.

Ona said it is better to have a research-backed method of using the plant rather than just using it as one would use any tea – boiling the leaves and drinking the juice.

“It is scientific to find the component, the active ingredients... hopefully, they will be able to isolate it and come up with a concentrated form,” he said.

Ona said he has not heard of any side-effects from drinking the water from the boiled plant and that doing so serves well for rehydrating a dengue patient.

The website “factoidz.com” describes tawa-tawa as a weed with numerous flowers measuring between 5 and 8 centimeters each, with sepals and petals that are obovate-oblong, yellowish green and covered with large, reddish-brown blotches.

Herbalists recommend that

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