Dr. Řádek

JERGÓN SACHA


Jergón sacha is a rainforest understory plant that consists of a single, giant, deeply-divided leaf borne from an underground tuber on a long, thick stem which resembles the trunk of a sapling. When fertile, the flower stem emerges from near the base of the plant and rises up to 1–2 m in height. At the end is a large, maroon spathe (a single, petal-like sheath) with bright red-orange, berry-like seeds crowded on a fleshy stalk inside. This bloom resembles that of a caladium or dieffenbachia plant—only much larger. While it is considered a herbaceous perennial, it’s quite large for an herb—2–4 m tall! Thirteen species of Dracontium grow in the South and Latin American tropics. Four of these Amazonian species look almost identical and are used interchangeably in tropical herbal medicine systems: Dracontium longipes, D. loretense, D. peruviuanum, and D. asperum.
Jergón sacha made its way out of the jungle and into herbal medicine systems of South America for other purposes. In addition to snakebite, the powdered tuberous rhizome is taken internally for asthma, menstrual disorders, chlorosis, and whooping cough in Brazilian herbal medicine. The root powder is used topically for scabies and the juice of the fresh rhizome is applied externally to treat sores caused by blowflies (and put directly on the site of a snakebite). The whole plant is also decocted and put in baths for gout. Jergón sacha is also well known in current Peruvian herbal medicine systems; tablets, capsules, and tinctures of the rhizome can be found in many natural pharmacies and stores. It is touted there as a natural remedy for HIV/AIDS, cancerous tumors, gastrointestinal problems, hernias (as a decoction applied topically), hand tremors, heart palpitations, and to enhance immune function.
The use of jergón sacha for AIDS and HIV in Peru was fueled by several newspaper articles published in Peruvian newspapers and magazines beginning in the early 1990s. The subject of the articles was a Peruvian physician, Dr. Roberto Inchuastegui Gonzales, who was president of the Committee of AIDS and Transmissible Diseases at the Peruvian Institute of Social Security in Iquitos, Peru. The media reported that, in experiments with AIDS patients conducted from 1989 to 1993, the doctor administered two plant extracts with remarkable results. One was a rhizome extract of jergón sacha (D. peruviuanum) as an antiviral, and the other was an extract of two cat's clawvines (Uncaria tomentosa and U. guianensis, which are also featured in this book) as immunostimulants. Dr. Inchuastegui reported that a majority of HIV patients treated had tested negative for the HIV virus and returned to normal lives after taking these two plant extracts for an average of six months. He has yet to publish any clinical trials. His work in Iquitos with AIDS patients has surfaced periodically in news and media reports over the last decade which continues to purport the use of jergón sacha for HIV and other viruses. This has fueled the market in Peru for the sale of jergón sacha and, in the late 1990s, news of his work was disseminated in Eastern Europe.
Thousands of kilos of jergón sacha rhizome have been exported annually to Poland, Russia, and other countries since. This type of large scale sales necessitated cultivation methods to be developed for the plant. Since the entire rhizome is harvested (which destroys the plant), it isn't sustainable for wild harvesting in the rainforest. In the last five years, two Peruvian universities have developed sound cultivation methods for replanting jergón sacha into the rainforest as it is harvested. New venues - old coca plantations and previously deforested lands - were developed for its new market as a cash crop for local farmers in organic cultivation programs.
Despite the large and growing market for jergón sacha, not a single clinical study has been published on its actions. If jergón sacha's longstanding use as an effective snakebite remedy was clinically validated, it may explain its more recent use as an antiviral for HIV as well. The most recent class of drugs developed for HIV are called protease inhibitors. Protease inhibitors work by blocking an active component in HIV-its protease enzyme. With the protease enzyme blocked, HIV makes copies of its virus that are defective and can't infect new cells. In current (mainstream) HIV therapy, protease inhibitor drugs are usually combined with other antiviral drugs (which kill the virus directly) after the protease inhibitors have disabled its replication. Proteases are ubiquitously present in every cell of every living organism: they are enzymes that digest proteins.
It is well known that proteases are also main ingredients in snake venom. Typically the snakebite site is a necrotic area - the skin sloughs off due to action by proteases in the venom, which first turn the area bruised and swollen before digesting skin and tissue. The stronger the protease in the venom and its quantity relate directly to how much skin and tissue damage results at the site of the bite. For this reason, many herbal remedies that have been validated as snakebite remedies (especially those employed at the site of the bite) have been shown to be natural protease inhibitors also. In fact, many pharmaceutical company researchers bio-prospecting for new chemicals and drugs in the Amazon are very interested in those plants the Indians employ as snakebite remedies for just this reason. It may be possible that Dr. Inchuastegui stumbled across one of these natural protease inhibitors in his work with HIV patients and jergón sacha. Clinical research is still required however, to verify the mechanisms of action in jergón sacha against viruses and against snakebite and, particularly, if they are one and the same.

Main Uses:
•for snakebite
•for viral infections (HIV, hepatitis, whooping cough, influenza, parvovirus, and others)
•for upper respiratory problems (cough, bronchitis, asthma, etc)
•for spider, bee, scorpion, and other venomous insect bites