https://phys.org/news/2023-11-willow-bark-broad-spectrum-antiviral-effect.html
From a seasonal cold to a stomach bug, nobody likes catching a virus—and epidemics can be devastating. We need safe, sustainable antiviral options to treat the outbreaks of the future. Scientists in Finland have now shown that an extract of willow bark—a plant that has already provided several medicines, including the precursor to modern aspirin—has a broad-spectrum antiviral effect in cell sample experiments.
The extract worked both on enveloped coronaviruses, which cause colds as well as COVID-19, and non-enveloped enteroviruses, which cause infections such as flu and meningitis. There are no clinically approved drugs that work against enteroviruses directly, so this extract could be a future game-changer.
"We need broadly acting and efficient tools to combat the virus load in our everyday life," said Prof Varpu Marjomäki of the University of Jyväskylä, senior author of the study in Frontiers in Microbiology. "Vaccinations are important, but they cannot deal with many of the newly emerging serotypes early enough to be effective on their own."
The scientists had previously tested willow bark extract on enteroviruses, and found it was highly successful. In this new study, they expanded the remit of their research to look at additional kinds of virus and to try to understand the mechanism of the extract's action.
To make the extract, they harvested commercially grown willow branches. The bark was cut into pieces, frozen, ground, and then extracted using hot water. This produced the extract samples that the scientists tested against enteroviruses—strains of Coxsackievirus A and B—and coronaviruses—a seasonal coronavirus and COVID-19.
More information: Willow (Salix spp.) bark hot extracts inhibit both enveloped and nonenveloped viruses: study on its anti-coronavirus and anti-enterovirus activities, Frontiers in Microbiology (2023). DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1249794
(Score: 2) by looorg on Thursday November 09 2023, @09:57PM (19 children)
Bark-tea. Doesn't sound very delicious. But I could be wrong. Most of it is just twigs and leafs. No word on taste? Sweet? Still I would prefer a good cup over shots, not the fun kind. Also better then bark bread.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by dwilson98052 on Thursday November 09 2023, @09:59PM
It does NOT taste good on it's own... my grandmother used to make willow tea for fevers, and poppy tea for aches and pains.
Both work, neither tastes very good on it's own though the poppy tea wasn't nearly as bad as the willow tea.... and it was a lot more "fun" when it kicked in.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday November 09 2023, @10:09PM (7 children)
Isn't willow bark the source of good old fashioned aspirin?
Aspirin is the original NSAID, but it also has a side effect profile that would probably get it shelved if it were developed as a modern drug.
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(Score: 4, Informative) by Freeman on Thursday November 09 2023, @10:30PM (1 child)
Apparently one of the main ingredients for Aspirin and Pepto is salicylic acid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicylic_acid [wikipedia.org]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Tork on Thursday November 09 2023, @10:50PM
And it's a Ghostbusters quote!!
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(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2023, @12:48AM
Yes, related to aspirin, but I've had unpleasant effects after taking aspirin (mental fog), so I don't take that anymore. Worked well as a pain killer when I had a bad toothache (once I could get to the dentist, antibiotics killed the infection).
I had willow bark in capsule form, no nasty taste or other effects that I noticed except the pain was lessened.
It's nothing new as this quote from Mt. Sinai hospital says:
From https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/herb/willow-bark [mountsinai.org]
> Willow bark
> :
> Crack willow; European willow; Liu-zhi; Purple willow; Pussy willow; Salix alba; Salix nigra; Wheeping willow; White willow
>
> The use of willow bark dates to the time of Hippocrates (400 BC) when people were advised to chew on the bark to reduce fever and inflammation. Willow bark has been used throughout the centuries in China and Europe, and continues to be used today for the treatment of pain (particularly low back pain and osteoarthritis), headache, and inflammatory conditions, such as bursitis and tendinitis. The bark of white willow contains salicin, which is a chemical similar to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). In combination with the herb's powerful anti-inflammatory plant compounds (called flavonoids), salicin is thought to be responsible for the pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects of the herb. In fact, in the 1800s, salicin was used to develop aspirin. White willow appears to bring pain relief more slowly than aspirin, but its effects may last longer.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday November 10 2023, @01:25AM
IIUC, the main advantage of aspirin over willow bark tea is that it causes less stomach upset.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by Reziac on Friday November 10 2023, @03:27AM
Back in the dawn of time I noted that aspirin seems to be mildly virucidal. During the first couple hours of that "not quite sore throat" of an oncoming flu, sometimes sucking an aspirin prevents fullblown infection, but the window is very short. I expect it's a surface contact effect, and once replication begins it's too late.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Friday November 10 2023, @10:32AM (1 child)
And that's what this story completely omits, how does it compare to any other over-the-counter antiviral meds? Is it "it beats all OTC meds" or is it "with very careful measurements we were able to just barely detect an effect"? There's some natural product here that's sold as being antibacterial or something like that but the effect is so insignificant that they had to invent their own scale for it in order to make it sound good, and you never, ever see it compared to any OTC antibacterial compound.
Another thing for people outside Europe, many European countries are obsessed with anything "natural", so if you go into a pharmacy you'll see entire shelves full of homeopathic "medicines" and herbal remedies with no identifiable active ingredient (honey is popular, as is anything extracted from berries). So this could well fly off the shelves in Europe even if its antiviral activity is barely measureable.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Friday November 10 2023, @02:47PM
Well, there's obviously something to honey - all that food energy left out more or less exposed to bacterial contamination, yet relatively little grows in it. As opposed to simple sugar water like people feed hummingbirds with, or mammalian milk for that matter.
As for the willow - it brings to mind Ganges water... put something in a mucky nasty exposed to everything that runs off the surface of the surrounding land (if a bear poops in the woods, does it wash down into the nearest creek?) it seems bound to develop some resistance to that high power microbial assault. In the Ganges the water itself carries anti-bacterial viruses which attack things that would otherwise spoil the water. For a willow that spends its life getting washed over by creek and river waters... that's gotta require something more effective than your average tree bark.
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(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday November 09 2023, @10:18PM (5 children)
To put things into perspective, Cinnamon is bark. Still, I doubt most "barks" taste that good. I also saw an episode of "You vs Wild" (which kiddo loves) with Bear Grylls on Netflix where he ate the inner bark of a tree. Which according to him didn't taste bad. Though, I did note the reply from dwilson98052. Probably the nastiest "health" product I've tasted has got to be hands down "Wheat Grass". No matter what you do, it still tastes like you're out in the front lawn mowing the grass with your mouth.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2023, @01:23AM (3 children)
What do you think about green tea or sugar cane juice? These have grassy tastes too.
This one probably doesn't taste grassy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3WFkaKpSr4 [youtube.com]
(Score: 2, Funny) by driverless on Friday November 10 2023, @10:35AM (2 children)
I would recommend tea made from manchineel bark, that should cure whatever issues you have fairly effectively.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday November 10 2023, @03:14PM (1 child)
That's "helpful" (not actually helpful, since the whole thing is poisonous): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchineel [wikipedia.org]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2023, @08:18PM
In tropical Americas, wood carves you:
{from the wiki article}
> In the film Wind Across the Everglades (1958), a notorious poacher named Cottonmouth (played by Burl Ives) ties a victim to the trunk of a manchineel tree, which a character explains as "the only tree that carves its initials into you."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ChrisMaple on Sunday November 12 2023, @06:07PM
The green layer of the bark of black birch twigs has a minty taste, and sometimes "birch beer" soda is available. The relevant chemical is methyl salicylate, also known as wintergreen oil.
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 10 2023, @01:25AM
Amazon Vine program makes a lot of teas available for review. Overall, I have to say that bark teas are not very palatable. In fact, some are downright nasty tasting. However, the addition of a half teaspoon of honey makes many of them alright to drink. A slice of lemon also helps some of them taste better. I must add that if I were in need of the medicinal properties of any of the teas I've sampled, I could and would tolerate a bad taste.
I can't speak for willow tea, I haven't tried it. I plan to, soon.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 3, Funny) by coolgopher on Friday November 10 2023, @02:00AM (2 children)
What? Bark bread can be delicious!
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday November 10 2023, @03:17PM (1 child)
I mean, I like Cinnamon Rolls and Cinnamon Raisin Bread. However, bread where the main ingredient is bark, is not likely to be on my list of favorite things.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Interesting) by coolgopher on Friday November 10 2023, @10:18PM
Back in school, for a history project some of my class mates baked bark bread, which I think was a 50% flour 50% ground pine bark mix. It was really really tasty. Went great with the mead that another group had brewed 👀
(Score: -1, Troll) by melyan on Thursday November 09 2023, @10:03PM (1 child)
is broad spectrum as well.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 09 2023, @10:27PM
You're on the spectrum. Deep ultra-autism.
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 10 2023, @01:33AM (1 child)
I've done a few searches to see which willows they are using. A willow native to Finland, I can only presume to be Salix lanata. Well, are other willows equal to their native lanata? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salix_lanata [wikipedia.org] This subarctic shrub probably shares some characteristics with most other willows, but, it may have some unique characteristics that affect the anti-viral studies.
There are a lot of willow extracts available online, but how to determine if any of them are the right willow?
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 10 2023, @01:45AM
My error - they use 3 different willows, and a hybrid. https://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/1249794/fmicb-14-1249794-HTML-r1/image_m/fmicb-14-1249794-t001.jpg [frontiersin.org]
Apparently, I skimmed right past that image multiple times.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz