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Genital Warts: A natural option
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An interesting new product for genital warts, Veregen, was launched at the American Academy of Dermatology meeting this weekend, right here in San Francisco. There are already several topical therapies for genital warts, but what makes this one different is that it is a botanical, derived from green tea, and is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In fact, it is the first and only botanical approved by the FDA.
The medicinal uses of green tea have been reported in traditional Chinese medicine as far back as 200 BC. Green tea has been promoted to help wounds heal, control blood sugar, and aid in digestion. The health benefits from green tea are primarily due to a group of substances called the polyphenols. Veregen is a concentrated form of the most important tea phenols, the catechins.
So why a new product for genital warts and it is any better than what is currently available?
Genitals warts are a sexually transmitted infection caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). More than 20 million Americans carry this virus resulting in 1 million new cases of genital warts every year. Treating warts is difficult because the virus sets up shop inside the nucleus of a cell, an effective hiding place from the body's natural defense mechanisms. In addition, HPV infects a large area of genital skin and cells that appear normal can also have the virus. Even if you remove the warts the virus is still around, so recurrences are unfortunately uncommon.
Most current therapies involve burning or freezing the warts (this is called cytodestructive therapy, because the cell is killed along with the virus). They can be painful, cause scarring, and recurrence rates range from 20% to 90%. There is also a topical chemical called imiquimod that stimulates the immune system to fight the virus. It does a better job, but recurrence rates are still 13% to 20%.
So how does Mother Nature stack up?
Medical studies indicate Veregen is at least as effective against genital warts, although to be fair, there are no head-to-head studies. It also appears to have the lowest recurrence rate, 6% to 7%, of all currently available therapies.
So how does this green tea extract work?
Tea catechins are powerful antioxidants (important disease fighting weapons), but they also work directly against HPV as well as stimulating the immune system to attack the virus. There are probably other effects as well. Because the cream augments the body's natural defense mechanisms it not only tackles the virus in the warts, but also the HPV hidden in the normal looking skin.
It is very exciting to see a completely new therapeutic class of medication for genital warts, especially one that is botanical and can hold its' own (and more) against the pharmaceuticals.
I'll raise a cup of tea to that.
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