Wed, 09 Jun 2004

Lowly weeds may hold promise for curing host of common health woes

Maybe the medical researchers are finally getting a clue. The "weeds" they talk about include poppies and daturas (source of scopolamine), which are well known psychoactive herbs. It's apparently a newly useful "weed" if scientists investigate it, but a dangerous herb if it's been used for centuries.

Unwanted, pulled or poisoned, the lowly weed is sometimes better than its highly touted ''herbal'' cousins for preventing and curing a host of diseases, according to University of Florida research. ''If I had one place to go to find medicinal plants, it wouldn't be the forest,'' said John Richard Stepp, a UF anthropologist who did the study. ''There are probably hundreds of weeds growing right outside people's doors they could use.

(link) [Science Blog - Science News Stories]

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