Aloe vera: a systematic review of its clinical effectiveness

Background. The use of aloe vera is being promoted for a large variety of c onditions. Often general practitioners seem to know less than their patient s about its alleged benefits. Aim. To define the clinical effectiveness of aloe vera, a popular herbal re medy in the United Kingdom. Method. Four independent literature searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMB ASE, Biosis, and the Cochrane Library. Only controlled clinical trials (on any indication) were included. There were no restrictions on the language o f publication. All trials were read by both authors and data were extracted in a standardized, pre-defined manner. Results. Ten studies were located. They suggest that oral administration of aloe vera might be a useful adjunct for lowering blood glucose in diabetic patients as well as for reducing blood lipid levels in patients with hyper lipidaemia. Topical application of aloe vera is not an effective preventati ve for radiation-induced injuries. It might be effective for genital herpes and psoriasis. Whether it promotes wound healing is unclear. There are maj or caveats associated with all of these statements. Conclusion. Even though there are some promising results, clinical effectiv eness of oral or topical aloe vera is not sufficiently defined at present.