Can a cup of “Brazilian mint tea” relieve pain? Part 2

Graciela mentions that the Brazilian mint tea is very different to the taste and in fact tastes more like sage rather than mint. She added, "Not that nice, really, but then medicine isn't supposed to be nice, is it?" 

They plan to launch clinical trials to find out how effective the mint is as a pain relief for people.

Experts in pain control say that these are interesting findings and more likely to help a significant number of patients who suffer from pain.

Dr Beverly Collett, chair of the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition, said: "Obviously further work needs to be done to identify the molecule involved, but this is interesting research into what may be a new analgesic for the future. The effects of aspirin-like substances have been known since the ancient Greeks recorded the use of the willow bark as a fever fighter.”

She added, "The leaves and bark of the willow tree contain a substance called salicin, a naturally occurring compound similar to acetylsalicylic acid, the chemical name for aspirin."

But before you stock up on Brazilian mint tea for the holidays, just a final note.  Anecdotal reports claim that the beverage tastes horrible (sucks) and the pain relief is mild and not seen in all individuals.

The study is published in the journal Acta Horticulturae.

Can a cup of “Brazilian tea” relieve pain? Part 1

A recent study from Newcastle University in England suggests that Brazilian mint tea may have pain relieving properties. In fact, the tea may provide as much relief from pain as traditional drugs. For centuries, the herb hyptis crenata has been ingested by people of South America to treat a variety of medical problems including pain relief. Anecdotal reports have circulated for many years that individuals who drink Brazilian mint tea feel relaxed and have a higher tolerance to pain.

Working on mice, researchers in Newcastle proved that this herb may indeed have pain killing properties. The researchers first undertook a survey on Brazilians to determine the quantity and frequency of use of this herb for pain relief. The most common method of ingestion was to boil dried leaves in water for 30 minutes and allow the liquid to cool before drinking it as a beverage.  The researchers found that when the mint was consumed at doses similar to that prescribed by traditional healers, the beverage was as effective at relieving pain as the NSAID, indomethacin. 

Said lead researcher Garciela Rocha, "Since humans first walked the Earth we have looked to plants to provide a cure for our ailments - in fact it is estimated more than 50,000 plants are used worldwide for medicinal purposes. "Besides traditional use, more than half of all prescription drugs are based on a molecule that occurs naturally in a plant.”

She added, "What we have done is to take a plant that is widely used to safely treat pain and scientifically proven that it works as well as some synthetic drugs. Now the next step is to find out how and why the plant works."

IS TENS JUNK THERAPY?

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a very popular chronic pain treatment in society. Almost every family has a TENS machine. Besides mass marketing by medical companies, many physicians constantly recommend TENS for their patients. The business of pain and TENS machines is a billion dollar industry. There are TENS machine which cost a few hundred and there are others which cost a few thousand dollars. While in some cases a prescription is required to get a TENS machine, one can easily buy a TENS from any one of the online cyberspace pharmacies without a prescription. However, despite its wide usage the benefits of TENS is still in question.

A recent review by Cochrane examined both high frequency and low frequency studies in the literature. There were no restriction on where the studies were done or how many people were involved.

A large amount of data was extracted and various types of pain measures were analyzed by the researchers. About 25 studies were analyzed and only nine were found to be controlled. From the nine controlled studies, 7 studies showed no benefit of TENS. Each time a blind and randomized study was analyzed, TENS worked just as well as fake electrical stimulation (just holding a wire to the skin).

As of today in Jan 2010, there is no evidence that TENS does anything for people with chronic pain. There is not a single randomized blind study which has categorically shown that TENS works to decrease pain.

So for the time being TENS cannot definitely not be recommended for pain control. Some health care professionals who recommend these devices often have shares in these companies or are paid to give out positive reviews. The next time you get prescription for a TENS machine from a physician, go get a second opinion. Of course there will always be some who argue otherwise; for these non believers go read Cochrane reviews on this topic. Consumers should save their hard earned money for things that work and not on scam devices.

For those who hate medical jargon- in plain English- TENS is junk therapy.