Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that has been thought conquered until recently. New strains resistant to antibiotics are claiming increasing numbers of lives.
Those weakened by AIDS are particularly susceptible but, as an airborne disease, it is very contagious. Neem oil and its isolate nimbidol has shown antitubercular activity in sensitized guinea pigs (Murthy and Sirsi, 1958a).
Another isolate, nimbidin, was extremely effective at controlling the cause of tuberculosis in humans, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.(Chopra, 1958)
The leaf extract was the most effective form of neem and showed inhibition at dilutions of 1 part in 80,000.
Traditional Remedy Traditional treatment involves drinking mild neem tea or breathing steamed neem leaves several times per day. Given the extract of leaves that proved most effective was derived through steam distillation the traditional treatment has been validated.
