What Exactly Does Aloe Cure

Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) is a frequently used alternative medicine, and manufacturers of its related products certainly run an exceptionally successful advertising campaign (Fig. 3.28). However, the amoimt or intensity of marketing seldom correlates with the medicinal value of the product advertised. Leaflets or magazine articles about /oe vera are next to useless as sources of credible information. Their claims are often ridicitlously inflated, or even scientifically absurd. 

Readers of such sensationahst articles or product promotion leaflets may have the feeling that one of the dreams of Middle age alchemist has finally come true 

A myriad of ways have been developed to mislead customers, and some of them are, in fact, quite sophisticated. It is typical for a label to describe the properties of the plant instead of the product. Explicit medical recommendations are often missing, but there is a wealth of information about what consumers typically use the product for, which is not exactly the same, and—needless to say—much less verifiable. Patients with positive experience are often quoted and some independentlooking experts are cited in magazine articles. Digging a little deeper into these claims often reveals that the experts are not independent (for example, they were paid by the manufacturer) or they were not even experts, and patients are usually difftcult to locate for a verification interview. 

Listing a large number of putative medicinal uses makes the impression that a product is a registered medicine. Infact, there are no Aloe vera containing medicines for internal use in the European Uttion, and even if there were, their reeonmiended 

Hundreds of scientific articles have been devoted to Aloe vera gel. Most of them have yielded evidence of anti-inflammatory, irmnunological and woimd-healing properties, which is expected if the gel is used directly on the skin (externally). Some studies also found beneficial effects in treating other skin problems. The use of Aloe vera gel in cosmetics seems to be justified. The World Health Organization (WHO) published a monograph on the plant more than a decade ago, which only mentions the dermatological use, but finds the evidence weak. 

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