Thunder God Vine Extract Soothing the Pain of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Thunder god vine extract, also known as lei gong teng, or thunder duke vine (Tripterygium wilfordii) is a vine-like, flowering plant native to China, Japan, and Korea. This plant has been used in Chinese medicinal practices for centuries, treating many conditions, including inflammation and problems with the immune system.

For human consumption, only the skinned root of the thunder god vine plant is used. The rest of the plant is poisonous, and can be effectively used as an all-natural, organic pesticide for those who do not want to use cancer causing products like Round Up.

Thunder god vine has been in the spotlight lately in the scientific community for a number of reasons, one of which is how it relieves pain in cases of rheumatic conditions such as arthritis, lupus, psoriasis and other inflammatory conditions. One such study done at the American College of Rheumatology showed a clinical response in patients given doses from 180 to 570 mg/day using a thunder god vine extract.

What exactly is a “clinical response”? A clinical response is when the patient’s body responds to a medication in a way that can be detected by a change in the symptoms or signs produced by the disease.

The doctors in the study found both an immunological response and an anti-inflammatory response, which means that the thunder god vine extract is having an impact on the immune system, as in preventing an immune response, which causes pain and destruction of the body tissue in rheumatic conditions. It is also is having an anti-inflammatory response, which will help bring down pain and swelling.

What makes Thunder God Vine Extract WORK for rheumatoid arthritis? According to the researchers, has been shown to be one of the major compounds responsible for both the immunological and anti-inflammatory responses. “Tripdiolide, another diterpenoid, was also found to exert an immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory effect similar in potency to that of triptolide, both in vitro and in vivo). Our previous studies found that the sum of the content of the two diterpenoid components accounted for most of the in vitro and in vivo activities of the extracts of [Thunder God Vine Root Extract]” (Tao, et al.)

The most common adverse side effect of the treatment was diarrhea, and the second most common side effect was amenorrhea in women (absence of a menstrual period).

For each side effect, as soon as the dosage was stopped, the side effects went away.

References
Tao, X., Younger, J., Fan, F. Z., Wang, B. and Lipsky, P. E. (2002), Benefit of an extract of Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Arthritis & Rheumatism, 46: 1735–1743. doi: 10.1002/art.10411