Neem supreme: this evergreen tree, called a "village pharmacy," is a mainstay of Eastern medicine

IT MEANS "bestower of good health," from the Sanskrit nimba. Its medical use can be traced to India's ancient spiritual texts, the Vedas, which called the tree sarva toga nivarini, or "one that cures all ailments." That's a stretch, but today's researchers continue to rhapsodize over neem (Azadirachta indica). In a recent report in the journal ChemBioChem, one scientist extolled this member of the mahogany family as "omnipotent ... a wonder tree because of its diverse utility." A National Research Council member said that neem, which has blocked HIV transmission in 1ab testing, "may eventually benefit every person on the planet." Here's a short list of what neem can do.

treat skin conditions

Because of its antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal activity, the plant is an ingredient in about 75 percent of traditional ayurvedic medical formulas, according to the Neem Foundation in Mumbai, India. For example, neem extracts and essential oils have been used for centuries to treat all manner of skin conditions, including ache, eczema, psoriasis, warts, athlete's foot, and chicken pox. And oil from the seeds is commonly applied to the scalp to prevent or treat head lice. (For a variety of neem soaps, creams, and lotions, visit bytheplanet.com.)

boost oral health

Neem extract kills the bacteria that cause dental plaque, tooth decay, and gum disease. Writing in the International Dental Journal, researchers in Gujarat, India, assessed the amount of plaque and gum inflammation in 48 volunteers, then asked them to use toothpaste with neem extract or toothpaste with a pharmaceutical anti-plaque ingredient. After six weeks, the neem product was as effective as the pharmaceutical paste. (Neem oral care products are available in health-food stores or at theraneem.com.)

heal ulcers

Research indicates that neem reduces the secretion of stomach acid and helps treat ulcers. One animal study at the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology in Kolkata showed neem leaf extract to work as well as the drug Zantac. Another study measured stomach-acid secretion in people with ulcers, then gave them neem bark extract (30 milligrams twice a day). After 10 days, a highly significant decrease in acid secretion was seen. When subjects took 30 to 60 mg of neem bark extract twice a day for 10 weeks, their ulcers "almost completely healed," the IICB reported. There were no serious side effects. (To find organic neem leaf or bark extract, visit neemtreefarms.com.)

ELIMINATE PESTS

Recently, one of my houseplants became bug-infested. I sprayed it with two applications of diluted neem oil, and the bugs were gone. Widely marketed as a natural pesticide, neem repels, kills, or disrupts the reproduction of a large number of agricultural pests, including cotton-infesting boll weevils and citrus-threatening Florida beetles, Neem may also help worldwide efforts to eradicate malaria, which kills more than 700,000 people a year; Korean researchers have shown that at concentrations as low as one part per million, the neem constituent azadirachtin completely kills the larvae of mosquitoes that transmit the disease. (Neem oil pesticide is sold at most garden-supply stores; read the label carefully and keep the oil away from children.)