Speaking of Herbals

Lester Mitscher believes that the claims for various herbals should be studied objectively to separate the valid from the fanciful.

Mitscher, a distinguished professor of medicinal chemistry, is researching echinacea, the most frequently used medication of High Plains indigenous peoples. Mitscher has found that extracts from the plant enlarge the number and stimulate the activity of T-4 and T-8 immune-system cells. "If we could enhance immune activity, that would lessen the odds of people developing dangerous diseases that require antibiotics," Mitscher says. "I've become increasingly enchanted with the idea of preventive measures."

He also has presented research before the American Chemical Society and in reviewed journals about the antioxidants in green tea. One antioxidant, called EGCG, Mitscher declares, is the "champion among a wide variety of other known antioxidants. It's up to 100 times more potent than vitamin C and up to 75 times more potent than vitamin E." Antioxidants fight free radicals, out-of-kilter oxygen-containing molecules that lay us open to diabetes, some forms of cancer and arthritis, Alzheimer's, ALS and cardiovascular disease.

Mitscher travels the Third World looking for leads on plants that might contain healing compounds. One of his arguments for herbals is that they're cheap. In Ghana, he says, where average income is about $30 a year, three-quarters of the medicines taken by locals are herbals.