Dandelion and plants examined for healing

Scientists at the Royal Botanical Gardens, in London,say the humble dandelion may be a source of preventing cancer.

Scientists at the Royal Botanical Gardens, in London,say the humble dandelion may be a source of preventing cancer.The dandelion is part of a larger project to examine the medicinal properties of native British plants and flowers, the BBC reported Saturday.”We are looking at plants which we know have a long history of being used to treat certain medical problems — plants used for their medicinal properties pre-National Health Service (in 1945), which was when Western medicine really took over,” said study leader Monique Simmonds, head of the Sustainable Uses of Plants Group at Kew Gardens.”At Kew we have extensive literature on the traditional uses of plants and hope to use this information to guide our selection of plants.”Another promising plant targeted by the Kew team is Figwort, which shows promise as a wound-healing remedy,particularly useful for patients with hard-to-heal leg ulcers caused by diabetes. (Source: United Press, August 2004)