Podophyllin resin is derived from the rhizome of the Mayapple, a plant that grows wild in eastern North America. Podophyllum hexandrum that grows in India's mountains has even more of the active component. Podophyllin was used as a medicine by native Americans. Doctors in New Orleans started using it for the treatment of genital warts in the 1930's.

In 1942 the first description of this practice was published in the medical literature, the first topical treatment of genital warts. Podophyllin is reliable, inexpensive, easily obtainable, physician-applied treatment for genital warts. In the United States, podophyllin is sold to physicians as a 10-25 percent suspension in tincture of benzoin. The biochemical basis for the effectiveness of podophyllin has been defined. Podophyllin is an antimitotic agent that disrupts viral activity by inducing local tissue necrosis.

The disadvantages to the use of podophyllin include unstandardized preparation, side effects, lower effectiveness, failure to induce lasting remission, and teratogenicity. Podophyllin preparations vary greatly in their active component and contaminant concentrations. The shelf life and stability of podophyllin are unknown, and well-standardized preparations are not consistently available.

In rare instances the use of podophyllin is associated with side effects. It can be absorbed systemically; toxicity increases when it is applied to areas greater than 110 mm² or to skin surfaces that favor systemic absorption. Over-application or failure to air dry can spread the podophyllin and increase the rate of local reaction, in particular on uninvolved skin.

Very rare side effects include bone-marrow suppression, liver dysfunction, neurological compromise, podophyllin hallucinations, psychosis, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and genital burns. To minimize side effects, a thin layer of podophyllin should be applied to warts and allowed to air-dry completely.

Head-to-head studies conflict as to the relative effectiveness of podophyllin. A randomized comparison with once weekly podophyllin shows initial complete clearance of 93 percent versus 77 percent for surgical excision, and recurrence rates at 6 months of 22 percent versus 56 percent for excision.

Other studies find that podophyllin resin is less effective than surgery. When compared individually with podofilox, cryotherapy, and electrosurgery, or when used with intralesional interferon as an adjunct therapy, podophyllin alone appears less effective. Recurrences are reported for 23-65 percent of clinical trial participants. The use of podophyllin is contraindicated in pregnancy.

Over the years, medical professionals and the general public have been showing greater interest in the development of plant medicines. And here at Bcured, our goal is to provide as much information as possible on the plant-based medicinal products. In fact, before modern pharmaceutical drugs were introduced in the 1930s, physicians in the United States have long been providing extracts from plants to their patients.

A particularly growing area of study concerns the potential of plant medicines to cure skin diseases, including warts. And with improving analytical methods, developers of plant medicines have also been able to determine the traceability and safety of these natural products. As a result, it is also becoming increasingly acceptable to use plant medicines for more serious illnesses.

CURED researchers have analyzed several hundred antiviral medicinal plant extracts to find out about their ability to cure genital warts. Organic extracts that demonstrated the greatest antiviral effect as HPV cures in comprehensive scientific trials, while having the least side effects on genital tissue, have been blended to create HPVCurative .

We have included anti-tumor plant material in our HPV cure, as HPV causes tumor development. In late 1999, in a collaborative published study conducted by the Department of Oncology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, it was demonstrated that the naturally occurring monoterpenoids in our genital warts cures prevented mammary carcinomas in rodents, both at the initiation and progression stages.

Further, it was reported that the sesquiterpenes in HPVCurative demonstrated anti-tumor effects both in vitro (in the lab) and in vivo (on human subjects). These naturally occurring substances are extracted from plants that are not readily available in the commercial market. However, CURED has secured them in Madagascar and concentrated them in HPVCurative in order to cure genital warts quickly and safely.

CURED remains one of the only companies with the advanced know-how required to effectively concentrate these naturally occurring anti-tumor compounds in a HPV cure. HPVCurative is truly a powerful and highly developed way to cure genital warts. To learn more, please go to .