Aloe vera

Aloe vera is a desert succulent plant, which produces a soothing gel used to calm skin pain and nerve flares. The gel is extracted from the leaves of the plant and is often included in cosmetics and topical creams. Aloe vera is used in traditional medicine as a skin treatment.

It is a component of the Cusack Protocol, a proposed alternative treatment for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

Components
Aloe contains more than 75 potential active components including vitamins, enzymes, minerals, sugars, lignin, saponins, salicylic acids and amino acids.

Tissue healing
Aloe’s tissue-healing properties are thought to come from its rich polysaccharide content. Mannose-rich aloe polysaccharides, like glucomannan and acemmanan, along with gibberellin, a growth hormone, interact with growth factor receptors on fibroblasts, a type of cell that synthesizes collagen and extracellular matrix. This has been found to significantly increase collagen synthesis in in vitro and in vivo animal studies,  and in in vitro human studies. Aloe polysaccharides may also promote fibroblast proliferation. Acemannan has been found in animal studies to increase expression of bone matrix protein-2 and accelerate bone formation.

Other applications
Applied to the skin, aloe vera has been used to prevent UV damage. It also has anti-inflammatory, immune modulating, and antiviral effects.

Cusack Protocol
The Cusack Protocol, which was devised for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, requires 100% fractionally distilled aloe vera or aloe vera juice capsules, or maitake mushrooms.