Chinese Traditional (think herbal) medicine.

Nope, haven’t tried it. Failed the question, I guess.

I only found one or two references on-line. In one study ‘they’ concluded this-

“CONCLUSION: CSF level of IL-6 could be taken as one of the criteria for severity evaluation of patient’s condition. TP is superior in suppressing abnormal immune reaction to adrenal corticosteroid in GBS patients.”

And where, can you guess, was the study performed? A mainland China Traditional Chinese Medical college.

A brief excerpt from Wikipedia “[I]Tripterygium wilfordii, or lei gong teng (Chin. 雷公藤), sometimes called Thunder God Vine, is a vine used in traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of fever, chills, edema and carbuncle. Tripterygium wilfordii recently has been investigated as a treatment for a variety of disorders including rheumatoid arthritis, chronic hepatitis, chronic nephritis, ankylosing spondylitis, as well as several skin disorders.

It is also under investigation for its apparent antifertility effects, which it is speculated, may provide a basis for a Male oral contraceptive.[/I]”

Personally, I give a lot of credit to the Chinese ‘grandma’ folklore healing methods. In fact, I have taken several Chinese herbal remedies over the years.

And, for more on this see the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). Yep, it is government sponsored and a part of the National Institutes of Health.

p.s. the plant’s leaves, flowers and skin of the root are highly poisonous.

Nope, I probably wouldn’t take it either. Not yet.