By 
Aloe Vera was discovered by me three years ago. I was working as a full-time General Practitioner. This was something I had done for the past twenty-eight years.
Although I had heard it mentioned in a few cosmetic products, I didn’t know much about its history or its effects. Its fabled medicinal qualities were not something I knew about. I am a conventional doctor and I have no interest in alternative or complementary Medicine. I actually dismissed claims by alternative practitioners as being a waste of time and believed that they were largely able to achieve their ‘cure’ through a placebo effect. I decided to let others try acupuncture and kinesiology. What was that anyway?
If anyone had told me, three years after my first encounter with a mother whose son’s eczema was completely cleared using an Aloe Vera Botanical Cleansing and Bee Propolis creams, that I would be researching its medicinal benefits full-time, I would have laughed. It happened. It was a meeting that changed my entire medical outlook and actually made a significant impact on my life.
Aloe Vera and Bee Propolis, the sticky resinous substance taken from different tree barks and bee buds and used to line their hives to create a sterile environment, could treat this juvenile or atopic eczema. This was something I didn’t believe before. All my creams and moisturisers had failed. This was made worse by the fact that my specialty in Medicine was dermatology, and I believed I had some knowledge about it. What was the point of all this? It worked! It wasn’t a placebo effect, so I began my scientific search.
Aloe Vera plant
I started my search by researching the history of the plant. I was already aware that it was a succulent (Liliaceae sub species aloinae), which is a member of the onion and lily family. There are over three hundred varieties, but only a handful of them have medicinal properties. Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller is the most potent.
Aloe Vera and True Aloe are likely derived from the Arabic word Allah, which means “Shining bitter substance”. Today, we still refer to “bitter Aloes”, which is the name of the laxative drug that is still in use by the U.S. Pharmacopoeia. The sap of the plant was used to make this drug. It is located under the hard green skin. It is mainly made up of aloin, which is chemically an anthraquinone. This compound has been proven to have a powerful purgative effect if taken in its pure form. It is no surprise that Aloe Vera extract was prized for its ability to prevent severe constipation, which was a serious problem back then.
Aloe Vera has been used for thousands of years by humans. Over the centuries, there have been numerous references to it in many cultures, including the literature of Indian and Chinese peoples as well as the Greeks, Romans, and ancient Egyptians. Galen, Dioscorides, and Pliny, the father of modern Medicine who first described the circulatory system, used Aloe Vera in their therapeutic arsenal.
It is also the subject of romantic stories, suggesting that Nefertiti and Cleopatra, Egyptian queens, used it in their beauty regimens. Alexander the Great, 333 B.C. Aristotle, his mentor, persuaded him to capture the Island of Socotra on the Indian Ocean to obtain the famed Aloe supply. This was needed to treat his wounded soldiers. Aloe Vera is also mentioned in the Bible a few times. Lignin Aloe was a tree whose scented bark was used to incense and as an ingredient in embalming the deceased.
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