The authors report that testing various methods of strengthening immunity has been assessed for many years for example, acute respiratory viral infections, diabetes, obesity, prostatitis, cardiovascular diseases and other diseases. The most effective were complex technologies that combined the ideas of healthy nutrition, healthy lifestyle, medical care from specialists, and the use of accessible and safe folk medicine. The authors discuss synanthropic plants with relevance to human settlements: nettle, wormwood, horsetail, plantain, burdock and others. Countries that have established the production of effective herbal medicines will be able to organize the supply of affordable medicines and help stop epidemics for the progress of peoples of the world.

Keywords: .Medicinal herbs, endocrine diseases, Wormwood

During social crises, pandemics and military conflicts, using pharmaceutical products can be very expensive, and sometimes impossible due to problems with logistics and finances. At the same time, there are dozens of available useful plants that are always at hand. Medicinal plants known for thousands of years are especially important. We will name only 9 useful plants out of a thousand that grow in accessible places, are included in the pharmacopoeias of many countries and are used for treatment.

But these useful plants are rarely used by the population due to the lack of healthy lifestyle education in schools. The technologies of using medicinal herbs have almost disappeared from school programs, although they are included in official pharmacopoeias. The famous The Pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh was published by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh back in 1699.

At Pharmaceuticals always lag behind in the emergence of new endocrine, viral and other diseases. The world has recently experienced this problem dramatically (Covid-19). The events of 2019-2021 have shown that no medicine can save a person if he has a weak immune system. Therefore, strengthening your own immunity increases the chances of survival and is a universal resource for longevity. The use of plants from traditional medicine is an important reserve for regions that find themselves in crisis conditions and without a sufficient number of pharmacy drugs.

However, many people do not know and do not use accessible and time-tested recommendations. Thanks to the development of service, gadgets, the Internet, fast food, some people have become lazy and have lost useful physical activity. Survival instincts and skills for personal overcoming of difficulties have been reduced. Millions of people, instead of applying personal efforts, are waiting for new social benefits and "magic" pills, but they are often late and cannot help after a critical accumulation of many problems in our body. For many types of acute respiratory viral infections, endocrine and other diseases, similar universal actions using folk remedies have proven useful: antioxidant therapy, activation of metabolism, detoxification, taking vitamins, adequate fluids and nutrition, use of medicinal herbs, onions and garlic, breathing and physical exercises, and a healthy lifestyle.

The authors have been testing various methods of strengthening immunity for many years in cases of acute respiratory viral infections, diabetes, obesity, prostatitis, cardiovascular diseases and other diseases. In our practice, the most effective were complex technologies that combined the ideas of healthy nutrition, healthy lifestyle, medical care from specialists, and the use of accessible and safe folk medicine. We are talking about synanthropic plants that accompany human settlements: nettle, wormwood, horsetail, plantain, burdock and others (Table 1).

Let's consider the use of synanthropic plants using the example of "Bitter Wormwood". The opinions of therapists boil down to the fact that in overweight and aging patients, wormwood extracts (for example, tea, syrup) improve metabolism, the work of the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, spleen, and the secretion of pancreatic juice and bile/, lymph formation. This strengthens the immune system by improving the processing and removal of food residues. After 40-50 years of life, the pancreas (like many other organs) naturally weakens, a long chain of gradual failures or weakening of many other body systems begins. Mild pancreatitis gradually leads to a long list of serious ailments. Many do not believe that a cheap and accessible herb growing next to us can help us with dozens of diseases. The promotion of effective natural remedies is unprofitable for pharmaceutical corporations. But this problem is quite solvable if they expand the list of drugs from medicinal plants offered for sale.

What is the reason for their effectiveness? During the discussion we came to the following conclusions.

1. The bodies of city dwellers, who receive food from lands depleted over centuries, lack the substances that our ancestors, who lived on their land with natural fertilizers, received.
2. Many herbs are more universal than indicated in Table 1 in recognized medical sources (and pharmacopoeias). We are convinced (and have tested it ourselves) that Nature has laid down numerous little-studied immunomodulatory properties in them. The body receives amazing help from the Universe from plants and an incentive to form those substances that it needs during periods of illness. This idea is becoming more and more widespread and is being implemented in the design of new “automatically targeted” medical technologies.
3. The Divine attitude towards healing is also important; those who with great desire embark on the path of a healthy way of physical and spiritual life will consciously (with prayer) begin to follow the relevant recommendations, consistent with both traditional and folk medicine.
4. Our long-term observations show that the preventive and therapeutic resources of various herbal teas have not yet been fully revealed, although they are clearly effective for 99% of people.
5. Everyone can observe their body's reaction to different types of herbal extracts (tea, tincture, syrup), keep a record of the readings and sensations, and consult with a doctor in order to adhere to the principle: "do no harm."
6. Each person who uses their own individual testing when obvious symptoms of the disease appear can (in agreement with the doctor) increase the dose 2-3 times for 5-6 days. Then a break is needed. It is necessary to be able to stop until the causes and consequences of a particular reaction of our body are clarified.

Our proposals are supported not only by personal experience, but also by the works of other authors, which are cited in many references, including this journal, Wikipedia, and other publications. For example, since 2020, many publications have appeared on the treatment of acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The effectiveness of Artemisia annua extracts in vitro against SARS-CoV-2 has been reported.^1–4 It is a variety of Wormwood.

When evaluating the activity of Artemisia annua, it was found that the selectivity indices (SI) calculated from treatment and cell viability assays were mostly below 10 (range 2-54), indicating a small therapeutic window. It was also found that peak plasma drug concentrations exceeding EC50 values could be achieved. Artemisinin-based drugs are attractive for repurposing given their safety profile and availability at a low cost (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Artemisinin and related API derivatives artesunate and artemether.

The efficacy of Artemisia extracts in concentration-response antiviral therapy assays in VeroE6 cells was assessed at Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre. The Danish SARS-CoV-2 isolate SARS-CoV-2/human/Denmark/DK-AHH1/2020 was used, using a 96-well plate-based antiviral therapy assay allowing multiple replicates for each concentration.^5–7

Almost complete inhibition of the virus was achieved at high concentrations: for the ethanol extract of A. annua at 333 μg/ml (pt) and 444 μg/ml (t) and for the aqueous extract of A. annua at 875 μg/ml (pt) and 1009 μg/ml (t). Cell viability assays revealed mean cytotoxic concentrations (CC50) of 1044 μg/ml (ethanol extract of A. annua) and 2721 μg/ml (aqueous extract of A. annua). Selectivity indices (SI) were determined by dividing CC50 by EC50 and showed similar results for A. annua ethanol extract (6 (pt) and 7 (t)) and A. annua aqueous extract (7 (pt) and 10 (t)). Danish scientists agree that the antiviral effects of wormwood extracts for various diseases and the mechanisms of action remain to be elucidated.⁸

Artesunate, an API in FDA-approved antimalarial drugs, showed high potency of extracts and pure compounds tested in VeroE6, Huh7.5, and A549-hACE2 cells, followed by artemether, A. annua extracts, and artemisinin. The SI of the extracts and compounds tested was relatively low (mostly <10). The drug digoxin, with an SI value below 2, is successfully used in the clinic.⁹

At commonly used intravenous doses of 2 to 2.4 mg/kg, peak plasma concentrations (C_max) in patients ranged from 19.4 to 29.7 μg/mL27. Based on these observations and our treatment data in VeroE6, Huh7.5 and A549-ACE2 cells, the calculated C_max/EC50 values range from 1.6 to 4.2. In animal studies, following administration of a single dose of artesunate, concentrations in tissues including the lungs, kidneys, intestines, and spleen were several-fold higher than plasma concentrations.¹⁰

In contrast, after artemether administration, Cmax values of 6 to 190 ng/mL were reported, which are two or more orders of magnitude lower than the determined EC50 values. After ingestion of artemisinin and A. annua tea, Cmax values of 240 to 776 ng/mL were reported, which are two to three orders of magnitude lower than the determined EC50 values. The plasma and tissue concentrations that can be achieved with the standardized high-artemisinin A. annua extracts used in this study remain to be determined. In vivo, an immunomodulatory effect of artemisinin-based treatments has been reported for this class of drugs.¹¹

The use of the medicinal product "Bitter Wormwood Herb" allowed the authors and their relatives to effectively protect themselves from acute respiratory viral infections in the most difficult conditions, including periods of seasonal epidemics since about the 2010s. Contraindications for the use of wormwood preparations are minimal and are easily determined by the patient himself, for example, when signs of allergy appear. With excessive use, the body itself will signal you about the need for a break or a reduction in dosage: heartburn, gastralgia, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting. Moreover, this happens gradually and without sharp consequences. If you notice adverse reactions not specified in the instructions, reduce the dosage and tell your doctor about it.

We believe that treatment with various herbs is relevant for:

1. Diseases of the thyroid gland, including nodular formations
2. Diabetes mellitus and other carbohydrate metabolism disorders
3. Metabolic disorders, including obesity and overweight
4. Diseases associated with calcium-phosphorus metabolism
5. Diseases of the hypothalamic-pituitary system
6. Vitamin D deficiency and others

The proportion of patients with various endocrine pathologies is constantly increasing. There is a shortage of specialists. Therefore, resorting to safe tea procedures under supervision seems more productive than waiting for an examination. One does not interfere with the other.

"Bitter wormwood" and other proven herbs are a safe, affordable and effective source of harmoniously balanced vitamins, micro and macro elements, and active substances that are necessary for a person to protect him from pathogens, poisons, free radicals, as well as for the prevention of diseases of various organs and systems of the body, including: endocrine, immune, cardiovascular, lymphatic, respiratory, nervous, digestive, excretory, reproductive, muscular and other systems.

If the correct regimen of application and dosage of "Bitter Wormwood Herb" is observed, a person can maintain their health until old age, prolong active longevity, slowing down the natural aging processes of the body. The use of "Wormwood" in small doses in food as a seasoning, as well as an additional source of natural vitamins, micro, macroelements and active substances will have a beneficial effect on all body systems. Therefore, "Wormwood" has been used for thousands of years in the past and will continue to be used to create safe and affordable medicines, cosmetics and food products for children and adults.

The wide range of therapeutic action of "Bitter Wormwood" is due to the diversity of dozens of biologically active substances contained in it. However, official recommendations for the use of "Bitter Wormwood Herb" preparations record only 2-3 leading effects, which narrows the range of its medicinal use. The results of modern scientific research into the biological activity of "Wormwood absinthium" indicate the possibility of significantly expanding the scope of its application.

In the context of the rapid emergence of new strains of viral infections, pharmaceuticals always lag behind. This negatively affects the psyche of society, causing damage to any country. Even when vaccines appear, it is impossible to vaccinate everyone at once, and the vaccines themselves are not always effective against new mutations of the coronavirus, which will constantly change. Sometimes vaccination is contraindicated, delayed or unavailable. In these conditions, a particularly important means of protection from ARVI (viral respiratory infections) is to strengthen natural immunity, which increases everyone's chances and is a universal resource for resisting new strains of coronaviruses.

The society and governments of all countries of the world are faced with the task of reliably supplying their population with accessible, safe and effective substances, necessary understandable methods, and technologies for agitation for them. The authors of the article have been testing different methods of strengthening the immune system for many years during ARVI. They note the psychological difficulties of their personal long-term experience of fighting viruses and complications. Many know that during ARVI it is recommended to remove toxins from the body that the virus secretes, as well as to conduct antioxidant therapy aimed at normalizing processes in the body. We recommend more fluids: vitamins, fractional and healthy nutrition, and inhalation of onion and garlic infusions. However, many simply do not follow the most accessible recommendations for healthy eating and auxiliary physical exercises.

Many do not believe that the cheap herb "Bitter Wormwood" can help with dozens of diseases. For pharmacists, this is a possible reduction in profits, and therefore they will always be against inexpensive folk remedies. The voices of manufacturers about the ineffectiveness of "Bitter Wormwood" sound louder than the description of a huge number of successful experiments.

Sages have long said: "If you want a sweet life, eat and drink bitter things. If you want a bitter life in illness, consume a lot of sweet things." During the spring-autumn epidemics of acute respiratory viral infections, it is useful to take (for prevention) a relatively small amount of this remedy as an additive to tea or coffee. Observations of loved ones show that the "wormwood" resource is effective for many. But everyone needs to consult with their doctor to identify individual contraindications and adhere to the principle: "do no harm."

"Bitter wormwood" has been considered the "Elixir of Health" by many people for several thousand years. It is mentioned in the papyri of Ancient Egypt (1550 BC) and in the Bible. The Latin name of Wormwood (Artemisia) is derived from the name of the ancient Greek Goddess Artemis- patroness of all living things on Earth.

Wormwood contains essential oil, which includes more than 90 substances; organic acids; vitamins (B1, B2, B6, K, C, PP, carotene); proteins, starch, tannins, many microelements and biologically active substances, as well as absinthine. The bitter taste of "Bitter Wormwood" is used to produce Vermouth, as well as Absinthe, which was made for the French army 200 years ago as a remedy for dysentery and malaria, as well as a disinfectant for the transportation and storage of drinking water.

Also prepared from "Bitter Wormwood" and its components are: jam and jellied desserts, syrups, which have a positive effect on strengthening human health. In some countries, crushed "Bitter Wormwood" is used as a seasoning instead of pepper, especially when eating fatty foods (turkey, duck, goose, etc.).

Wormwood is effective: for gastritis with low acidity; for enterocolitis; diarrhea; gastric ulcer; dysentery; rheumatism; anemia; for nervous diseases; jaundice; obesity; flatulence; for diseases of the liver and gallbladder as a choleretic and diuretic agent, in the complex treatment of food allergies, migraines, hypertension, tuberculosis and diseases of the lungs and lymph nodes, tonsillitis, edema, ulcerative colitis, inflammation in the cecum, stomach and spleen, hemorrhoids, fever, dropsy, depression, bad breath, epilepsy, articular rheumatism, gout, conjunctivitis, cholera, treatment of alcoholism. Effective externally - as a hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and wound-healing, for lotions and compresses for bruises, purulent wounds and ulcers, as an analgesic effect for bruises, sprains, dislocations, spasms and inflammation of the colon, arthritis, arthrosis, osteochondrosis, vertebral hernia, etc.

Our personal experience and the works of scientists from many countries are reviewed in a publication with our participation, and there are also links to many other studies.¹² Studies have shown that combinations of components included in the composition of Wormwood act synergistically and therefore are capable in some cases of blocking viral infections, as well as ensuring rapid cleansing of the body from pathogens and toxins. Wormwood has high biological activity and belongs to the class of sesquiterpene lactones, among which the most important are: artemisinin; anabsinthin; artemolin; artabsin, absinthin; anabsin, matricin, etc.

Sesquiterpene lactones of Wormwood have a wide range of pharmacological activity - antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, phytoncidal (antifungal, antibacterial, including against microbes resistant to antibiotics), antitumor, cardiotonic, antimalarial, anthelmintic, analgesic, antidiabetic, choleretic, etc.

Recently, it became known about the results of research by scientists who proved that “artemisinin” and its derivatives contained in “Annual Wormwood” (Artemisia Annua L) effectively block the reproduction of the Covid-19 virus in the body’s cells.¹ Several countries are introducing Covid-Organics, a medicinal syrup based on Artemisia annua, developed at the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA), to their citizens starting from childhood. This Madagascar medicine is being distributed to neighboring West African countries.

It is also necessary to note the very important role of the spleen in the immune system's work against ARVI viruses, including covid-19 strains. The spleen is the largest lymphoid organ of the immune system. The main role of the spleen is participation in hematopoiesis and the creation of immune cells. The spleen is a kind of archive of human diseases, which stores the history of all his diseases associated with the entry of pathogens into the body, including those that cause ARVI, including Covid-19. Archive data in the spleen helps the body to quickly turn on its defense and with the correct use of "Bitter Wormwood" or "artemisinin" extract (which is present in it in sufficient quantity), the spleen is activated and accelerates the production of cellular immunity to counteract attacks of known and unknown viruses, pathogens, poisons and free radicals penetrating the body.

Use of "Wormwood" agreed upon with a doctor:

1) Ensures improved well-being and recovery without subsequent complications and post-COVID syndromes, which can complicate the body's condition already 3-4 weeks after recovery.

2) supports the body's defenses, the functioning of the pancreas, liver, spleen, kidneys, circulatory system, central nervous system, as well as other organs and systems of the body, and therefore will be effective for use in the rehabilitation of those who have recovered from acute respiratory viral infections, for the treatment of post-COVID syndrome, which can become active months after the illness.

Methods of preparation and use of "Bitter Wormwood": discussed in more detail in our work¹²

Centuries of experience in the prevention and treatment of many diseases is almost lost, although it is undoubtedly a historical treasure.¹³

1. We propose to include more knowledge and skills on current survival issues in school and university textbooks. Students should receive more useful practical skills in safety, biology and chemistry lessons. This will increase interest in learning at school and increase the resources of national systems in the fight against diseases.¹⁴ We encourage regular schools to make greater use of the experience of medical colleges and other vocational schools. It is useful for regular school graduates to receive certificates of mastery (optional) of a number of relevant competencies, such as: driver, electrician, nurse, cashier, cook, lab technician, mechanic, volunteer rescuer, etc. Work in this direction was successfully carried out according to the programs of the polytechnic schools of the USSR. Outstanding veterans of labor, science, military service, art, who received such certificates of profession in a general school, note that they were very useful in their work and personal life.
2. More hours should be devoted to preparing teenagers for adult life. Studying health issues significantly increases the interest of young people in learning. It is time for parents, doctors and businessmen to conduct (together with government bodies) comparative analyses of the relevance and appropriateness of certain topics, to reduce exercises that have been outdated for hundreds of years, in order to give graduates not only traditional knowledge, but also new, in-demand competencies with the issuance of certificates and diplomas. This is a good psychological incentive for students and their parents.¹⁴
3. We believe that it is necessary to continue scientific research into the mechanisms of biological activity of medicinal plants to develop new methods of treating various endocrine diseases. The introduction of medicinal herbs will reduce the burden on the healthcare budget, improve social sentiment during epidemics and pandemics due to the reduction of restrictive quarantine measures.
4. The first research results already allow us to expand the production of new types of medicinal and food products (additives, sweets, syrups, jams), including those using plants from Table 1, and to create new jobs.
5. It is advisable for universities to train specialists taking into account new concepts of immunomodulation in virology, immunology, and endocrinology, with more intensive involvement of students in scientific research from the very first semesters.
6. The dissemination of budgetary methods of combating infections and other diseases in different countries of the world will provide savings for more effective socio-economic participation of the state in solving urgent problems of society.
7. Countries that have established the production of effective herbal medicines will be able to organize the supply of affordable medicines to countries in need in order to help stop epidemics and pandemics, which will help ensure favorable conditions for the progress of all the peoples of the world.
8. The new authors may discuss the role of these herbal medicines with relevance to genetics and regulation of the immune system. The anti-aging gene Sirtuin 1 is critical for the prevention of various chronic diseases and autoimmune disease. For example Artemisinin is a Sirtuin 1 and its use in the combat of COVID-19 is important to treat patients. The new authors may discuss the mechanism of actions of these herbal medicines in the treatment of these global diseases.^15–18

None.

Nothing to declare.

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