Alafia bitters

Clinical data
Administration of a leaf decoction to a 49-year-old female diabetic patient caused her fasting blood sugar level to fall from 242 mg/dl to about 120 mg/dl after 12 weeks, remaining at this level for eight weeks (Addae-Mensah, 1992). A 45-year old hypertensive woman, who had diabetes diagnosed on routine examination had her fasting blood sugar level of 370 mg/dl reduced to 250 mg/dl after one week and continued to fall until it normalized after eleven weeks on immediate administration of B. ferruginea. No medication was prescribed for her hypertension, but her blood pressure fell from 180/90 to 140/90 during the treatment period (Addae-Mensah, 1992; Ampofo, 1977). Aqueous extracts of the leaves were able to normalize the fasting blood glucose levels and helped in eliminating glycosuria of patients with maturity-onset diabetes (Iwu, 1993).