Africa: Neem (Azadirachta indica) used to treat terminal AIDS patients
Dear Mark,
About NEEM, I don’t know if I could praise it enough. We recommend it to all patients at Abha Light. We’ve had incidents of bedridden patients getting up after two-four weeks of using only Neem tea and returning to energetic & productive life. I should add that I don’t know of any actual cures at this time. . Some people may discontinue using Neem prematurely when they start feeling better. Perhaps they should pulse the treatment - one month on followed by one month off.
Neem (Azadirachta indica. Melia azadirachta indica. Nim or Neem. Margosa Bark) is a tree native to South Asia (India, Thailand) and has been used in India for thousands of years. It is extremely well researched & documented (mainly from India) see www.neemfoundation.org for more information. It’s been transplanted to Africa, where it grows plentifully. It’s Swahili name is “muraurabaini” which means “cures 40 diseases” — the “40” meaning “so many, all”.  Its’ traditional uses have been as anti-malaria and for skin. It is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral.
Traditionally, in India, it is usual for a housewife to serve with a meal a spoonful or two of the leaves fried in ghee to her family at least once a week. The leaves, bark and seeds are used in medicine. All have similar properties and all can be used effectively for everything, but traditionally the leaves are primarily used for skin diseases, the bark as anti-malarial, and the seeds for everything & for birth control.
Neem is extremely bitter (like grapefruit seed extract). It is its bitterness that cleans the liver, spleen, kidneys & blood. The bitterness creates a negative environment for malaria & other parasites, killing them off or sterilizing them.
Neem will temporarily cause sterility in eggs and sperm. That is why it’s also used as an agricultural insecticide & fertilizer. It doesn’t kill the pests, it makes them sterile. Therefore after a generation (a few weeks in an insect’s life), one’s garden/farm becomes pest free. Long-term use - internally - of Neem will cause temporary sterility in men & women. One will harmlessly revert to fertility after stopping it. It’s been used as a birth control for centuries in India.
Neem oil can be applied inside the vagina and it will work as a spermicide! That is, it will prevent birth. It will cure the vaginitis someone may be suffering from and it probably will prevent the transmission of STDs possibly including HIV. A real 3-in-1! At Abha Light I make a tincture of the leaves and bark. I find this to be effective & economical for our patients. I would advise taking anything from 10 drops to 1 teaspoon a day. There is no known toxicity of Neem. (Though don’t be overeager and overdose yourself! It’s not necessary & why go looking for toxicity levels!)
To make a herbal tincture you put the powdered leaves & bark with alcohol in a sterile glass jar for 2-4 weeks. Shake the jar daily. Then strain through a cheese cloth or coffee filter. Keep in a cool dark place. Vodka can be used in a pinch. Better would be pure alcohol- ethanol (NOT methanol!) but I don’t know if that’s available to the common folk. Use 300 grams of leaves (about 10 ounces) to 1 liter alcohol or vodka) Alternatively, the Neem oil (nasty tasting & bitter!!!) could be put into capsules — “1” “0” or “00” and 1-3 caps a day would be quite enough. You know, Mark, my clients live on the “lower” end of the economic scale, & we find 5-10 drops (a single “1” or “0” capsule) is plenty.
To make a home-made oil suitable for skin (but nasty smelling & tasting) you could put powdered leaves into ordinary oil (olive, coconut, sunflower, etc.) and filter it out two weeks later. This homemade oil can be taken internally if you dare (yechh by taste). For external use, you can deodorize it by adding some tea tree oil to it. This will add to its healing properties. (Use 300 grams of leaves to 1 liter of olive oil).
You can dilute pure Neem-seed oil with cooking oil by 50-70% (1:2 or 1:3 parts) and it will still be effective on the skin. This would be economical or add it into a base-cream of any kind.
Alternatively, 5 -10 leaves a day either boiled as a tea or powdered in capsules (I’d guess about 6 “0” capsules?) daily would be enough. One could also lightly roast the leaves and eat it at the beginning of a meal (Ayurvedic -Indian way)


How to make and use Neem Tea

If you are boiling the leaves, then do so the Chinese way — that is use 3 cups of water for 10 leaves (2 teaspoons powder) and gently boil it down to two cups. Drink one cup in the morning & one in the night.
Anybody with skin diseases should use Neem soap (surely available at health shops & Indian markets in USA). Tooth disease & gingivitis patients could use Neem toothpaste (also at health & Indian shops) or wash the mouth out with Neem tea.
Neem will purify the liver, spleen, kidneys, blood, skin. It’s been used effectively to cure diabetes, high blood pressure, liver ailments. Pancreas, kidney, spleen ailments too. It is used against psoriasis, eczema, HIV septic eruptions. I will take a guess and say it can be effective against Kaposi’s. It will destroy parasites of all kinds (through pH factor or sterility) where ever they may be found. I think there is no end to the number of diseases that Neem cures.
HIV+ persons should consider using Neem as a general prophylactic. That is, one could take it daily - for a period —say 1 month - in order to purify the blood. Then take a one month break and resume the treatment for another month. (Note: unless taken daily don’t count on it as birth control).
For other questions, ask the Neem foundation http://www.neemfoundation.org/
Didi Ananda Rucira PO Box 6919 Nairobi, Kenya (Africa) This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Editor’s Note: Scientific research has found Neem to be a powerful inducer of TH1 cytokines. This was reported in Positive Health News, Report No 18.
Didi gives a lot of recommendations on using Neem so as to almost be confusing. However, her email says that the Neem tea alone has revived bedridden AIDS patients as a monotherapy by drinking 2 cups of Neem tea daily. This is made by adding 10 Neem leaves or 2 teaspoons of Neem leaf powder and gently boil it down to two cups. Drink one cup in the morning & one in the night.
Didi also mentions using Neem bark or Neem seed oil. Neem leaf is widely available in capsules. Neemdirect lists over a dozen manufacturers of Neem capsules and markets several Neem products. One capsule three times daily is a standard dose on some bottles but is this enough or should this dose be about 6 capsules daily as Didi suggested?
For Neem powder or capsules, you can write to Neemdirect, 16776 Bernardo Center Dr, #209, San Diego, CA 92128 or check with your local health food store, supplement supplier or health care practitioner.
I have been unable to find any reports or information on adverse effects of using Neem. This herb long used in Indian medicine appears to be relatively safe. One article on Neem is found at the NLM by Talwar Gp et al Immunol Cell Biol. 1997 Apr 75(2):190-2. I part Talwar states:
“A transient increase in CD4 and more significantly in CD8 cells in noticed…..a rise in TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma in draining lymph nodes…is observed. Another interesting property is their inhibitory action on a wide spectrum of micro-organisms, including Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, gonorrhoeae, drug-resistant Staphylococcus, e-coli, Herpes simplex and HIV-1.”
Pregnant women should not use Neem, as it is known to induce abortions. It is a strong promoter of TH-1 cytokine responses (IL-12, IL-2 and IFN-gamma) and may help with many other TH-1 deficient conditions like cancer.

Source: Abha Light Foundation (Kenya, Africa)