NEEM AND PERIODONTAL DISEASE:

Neem has been used in India and all of south Asia for thousands of years as the preferred method for maintaining healthy teeth and gums. The people of India chew a neem twig until the end becomes bristles then brush with the natural "toothbrush" to clean their teeth after meals. The bark and sap within the twig help clean the teeth and protect the mouth from disease. For those not inclined to chew neem twigs, toothpastes and mouthwashes containing neem are now available. Neem toothpastes and mouthwashes prevent cavities, heal gum diseases and rejuvenate the tissues of the mouth, verifying the Ayurvedic practice of prescribing neem for dental care.

In a study to determine the most effective method for reducing plaque formation and the level of bacteria on tooth surfaces researchers compared antibiotics to a number of plant materials with known antibacterial properties, including neem. They found that microorganisms found in inflamed gums and resistant to penicillin (44%) and tetracycline (30%) but were not resistant to antibacterial plant extracts like neem. And unlike antibiotics, antibacterial plant extracts produced no allergy in the gingiva that could inhibit their effectiveness.

In a follow-up clinical study fifty patients with confirmed gingivitis were selected, forty of whom had showed severe bleeding and pustular discharges from the gums. After just three weeks of brushing twice a day with a paste that included leaf extracts 80% showed significant improvement. The patients also showed a 50% reduction in bacterial populations, elimination of halitosis (bad breath) with no side effects.

NEEM AND PYORRHEA:

Pyorrhea is characterised by an inflammation of the gums and membranes that cover the roots of the teeth. More teeth are lost by people over age 35 because of this disease than any other cause. In a German study of 70 patients with pyorrhea of varying stages, after just 5 to 10 treatments with a neem-based toothpaste and mouthwash there are significant improvement. Bleeding gums are healed and the secretion from pockets around the teeth had stopped. The bluish coloured gums returned to a healthy pale pink color. Neem bark is more active than the leaves against certain bacteria and is considerably less bitter making it the neem ingredient of choice in toothpastes and mouthwashes.

NEEM AND CAVITIES:

Neem extracts have helped millions of people in south Asia avoid cavities despite a very limited access to modern dental care. Brushing with neem twigs and chewing neem leaves and seeds after a meal has been he traditional dental care practice in this area. With available modern preparations many people are now using commercial products that contain the same basic neem compounds.

GINGIVITIS ( bleeding gums ):

Neem bark extracts can reduce the ability of some streptococci to colonize tooth surfaces. Gingivitis has been prevented or even reversed with regular use of neem toothpaste and mouthwash. One person even reported a reversal of the loss of gum tissue by chewing fresh neem leaves. Scientists believe that antibacterial compounds and neem's ability to improve the immune response in the gums and tissues of the mouth account for these results.

NEEM HELPING FARMERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES:

Neem's "soft" pesticide is improving the lives of impoverished farmers throughout the tropical range of the neem tree. Substituting crude neem extracts for expensive chemical controls saves both money and lives. In developing countries, it is estimated 500,000 people are poisoned and up to 20,000 die annually from using agricultural chemicals. To protect their crops, most of the earnings of farmers in developing countries are spent on these chemicals, producing a cycle that leads not to more food and a better life, but to continued poverty, ill health and environmental degradation.

To break this cycle and to improve the farmer's lives, agencies such as CARE, AID and AFGRO are actively promoting the introduction and use of neem in Southeast Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and both South and Central America. Seedlings and educational programs give the farmers the means and methods for easily making a cheap safe and effective product that protects their crops from over 200 different insect pests, including the desert locust.

Farmers in Mexico and Haiti and shepherds in Australia have begun switching to simple neem-based sprays from the synthetic chemical pest controls. This has allowed the farmers to export mangoes and other fruit to the United States without the chemical residues that often stopped their shipments at inspection stations. Neem-based sprays have similarly allowed the shepherds in Australia to produce a pesticide-free wool that is being sold to European buyers for a considerable premium over the standard wool impregnated with chemical pesticides.

FOOD STORAGE:

Throughout the tropics much of the food harvested is lost during storage. More affluent farmers can and do spray their stored food crops with chemical pesticides to prevent worms, beetles and other infestations. Neem offers the impoverished farmers and even affluent armers wanting to replace pesticides a natural and inexpensive alternative. A light coating of neem oil protects stored food crops for up to twenty months from all types of infestations with no deterioration or loss of palatability.


MAIL FROM CANADA:

Can you connect me with an integral person who can provide me with a sample of quality non chemical or heat extracted oil in fresh condition. I wish to impress upon the Government here the power of neem. They have been stalling passing approval of neem and now I find out it can be viewed as religious discrimination one of the Canadian Charter rights that put Turbans on the RCMP. Please pursue this Godsent loophole that may redeem our soils and people from the devastating effects of chemicals. Sections 15 of our Charter prohibits discrimination on a religious level. The preamble to our Charter Declares God is Supreme. Read genesis 1:29 of the Christian Bible. I am sure that most religious texts around the world concurr that Gods gift was all vegetation. That Gift must not be restricting to non harming agents. The answers are obviously Money and they will not change. Religion is the only power they cannot overcome, it is the peoples last refuge.Please help me find suitable oil for testing and for publicity purposes. I do not have much money but have phenomenol conviction courage passion and tenacity when it is involving supresses truth. I have a fast Computer, Fax, Modem, Printer, Scanner Software and would like to make career out of promoting this inspiring plant. I have twenty years study of holistic natural medicine. I also have three years of Art College and a degree in Philosophy. I have a dream that using children as a medium and religion as a universal canvas the common picture they paint will be so large and vivid that Monsanto and the Alimentarius commision will fade into oblivian. "The Squeaky Wheel will get the Oil as nature and God would have it!"

Received via. email - Robin Belanger

Neem in Kenya
Wamirithu Herbal Clinic

In rural Kenya there are few hospitals and a limited access to Western medicines. There are, however, fine doctors and medical practitioners who want to help people and who use whatever they have available that can help heal. Kenya and the rest of Africa has a long tradition of using the many medicinal plants of the region. in addition, in the last century neem trees were introduced by Indian immigrants to the area.

AFTER ONE YEAR OF USING NEEM FOR SOME OF THE AILMENTS THE WAMIRITHU HERBAL CLINIC REPORTED THE FOLLOWING:

ULCERS:
Resolution of 80% of the cases. Drink one glass three times a day of neem leaf extract made by boiling 5gms of neem leaves, 15gms of brown olives ( for taste ) in 3 liters of water for 20 minutes.

GOUT:
Elimination of the problem within one week. Drink one glass three times a day of neem leaf extract made by boiling 5gms of neem leaves in 2 litres of water for 20 minutes.

DIABETES:
Effective at managing the disease and in some cases healing after sometime. Drink one glass a day of neem leaf extract made by boiling 10gms of neem leaves in 2 litres of water for 20 minutes.

PNEUMONIA:
Completely cured in 3 weeks. Drink one glass a day of hot neem leaf extract made by boiling 2gms of neem leaves in one cup of water for 20 minutes.

CHEST RELATED CASES:
Clears the chest within 3 days. drink one glass a day of hot neem leaf extract made by boiling 2gms of neem leaves in one cup of water for 20 minutes.

MALARIA:
Cures the disease completely in one week, very good in persistent cases. Drink one glass three times a day of neem leaf extract made by boiling 30gms of neem leaves in 3 liters of water for 20 minute

The Kenya Herbal Clinic continues to use neem as a part of their pharmacopia and have treated other diseases with neem which are being documented for future reports.


NEEM EVENT

NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON "NEEM BASED INDUSTRY TECHNO COMMERCIAL ASPECTS & EXPOSITION".

Fragrance & Flavour Development Centre in collaboration with Defence Materials Store Research and Development Establishment (DMSRDE), Kanpur, Directorate of Industries, Kanpur and National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow is organizing a National Workshop on "Neem Based Industry - Techno Commercial Aspects & Exposition" on 26th - 27th Oct. '99 at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. This programme is being sponsored by Development Commissioner ( Small Scale Industries ), Dept. of SSI & ARI, Ministry of Industry, Govt. of India, New Delhi.

It is hoped that such an event would help in giving new directions to rural economy by inspiring collection of neem seeds and their gainful utilization in production of neem oil and isolates by small scale industries.