Sis, the first time I visited West Africa, I was frightened that malaria was going to take me out. Why? Mosquitoes like me way too much. But I wasn’t feeling the medication option either. So I put together a malaria prevention protocol which included some supplementation a month before my trip, and then mixed together my own wearable sure-fire mosquito repellent using neem and essential oils. While in Ghana for months, I only got bit once on a day that rained, and thankfully survived the trip without malaria.
Malaria could be eradicated altogether if there was more education around simple natural ways to prevent mosquito bites in the first place, along with additional alternatives to medications for treatment. Did you know many malaria medications are actually derived from herbs? Chile, yes they are…
Cinchona and Artemisia annua have been used to create pharmaceutical anti-malaria drugs, but you can use both of these in an infusion to fight malaria naturally.
Cinchona bark, or Jesuit bark, comes from a tree native to the Andean rainforests. It was used by natives as a fever remedy before eventually being used to create malaria drugs. Research has found that the whole bark may be more effective than the drugs derived from it, and cause fewer side effects.
Like Cinchona, Artemisia annua, also known as “Sweet Annie,” “Sweet Wormwood”, and “Qing Hao,” had been used traditionally in Chinese medicine for fevers before it was found to be an effective antimalarial. Studies focusing on the use of the whole herb suggest that it’s best combined with other treatments or used frequently throughout the day to reduce the risk of recurrence.
Some native African herbs that can be used under a herbalists supervision are n’dribala root powder, which performed almost as well as a pharmaceutical antimalarial in a trial which tested the root as a decoction, and the traditional West African fever remedy Khaya bark and seeds.
In short, there’s hope and we need to start spreading the word that there are alternatives to treat and prevent malaria. Until the word gets out, you’ll spot me with my bag full of herbs in tow whenever I’m on the continent. -XO