Common Wormwood (*Artemisia absinthium*) – therapeutic properties, medicinal applications, and its role in combating intestinal and systemic parasitic infections
Mia Hoffmann
2026-05-28
4 min. read
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While many individuals associate common wormwood (*Artemisia absinthium*) with the infamous spirit known as "absinthe"—a beverage long rumored to induce hallucinogenic states and psychological disturbances—contemporary scientific research decisively dismisses these claims as mythological fabrications. Although genuine absinthe contains a minimum of 45% ethanol by volume, its effects are confined solely to the conventional symptoms of alcohol intoxication, devoid of any supplementary psychoactive properties [1]. The phenomenon termed "absinthism," originating in 19th-century France and described as a syndrome combining visual hallucinations, chronic insomnia, convulsive seizures, and profound mental disorders, has since been re-evaluated by researchers and reclassified as a severe, complicated manifestation of alcohol dependence accompanied by pronounced somatic and neurological symptoms. Modern chemical analyses have demonstrated that the thujone content (the presumed primary psychoactive agent) in traditionally produced absinthe is insufficient to elicit the previously documented effects, thereby definitively debunking the long-standing myths surrounding this beverage.
It's the poison
The potential of plants in the astrophyll family can be demonstrated by the fact that in 2015 Professor Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize for her work on the isolation and use of compounds present in the plant against malaria.[2] The plant was known for its medicinal uses as early as the Roman Empire, and its occurrence is mainly limited to the northern hemisphere.
It has medicinal properties
Because the use of inappropriate doses of pyelonephrine may result in toxic effects, most studies of its medicinal potential are carried out on rodents. Its positive effects on the health and functioning of the digestive system deserve the utmost attention. In rodent studies, it has been observed that many of them have a protective effect against damage to the stomach and its glands [35]. The properties of such a family of plants are due to the presence of pectins and antioxidants that promote the health of the intestine and its intestines, etc. For example, low levels of glutathione and low cytokine resistance can have such effects on health that they can have a particularly negative effect on the lives of people with proliferative effects.
Poultry shall be used
In addition to the production of alcoholic beverages, poison is used in a variety of ways. It can be used as a spice, to prepare steams, as well as to produce extracts with high antioxidant potential. Extracts seem to be the most valuable to health. Cell-line studies have shown a positive effect on the apoptosis of cancer cells, while studies in rats have shown positive effects on the process of wound healing or neuroprotection [68]. There are also suggestions that sugar can have anticancer effects by stabilizing blood sugar levels, and these effects have also been observed in studies involving humans [9].
It's a parasite poison
The study of the chemical composition of plants from the family of mosquitoes was the basis for the award of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine to a professor from China. These studies were so important because they addressed new perspectives in the fight against malaria, which is the world's most common communicable disease, transmitted by mosquitos and caused by their parasitic way of life and nutrition. Similar effects were observed in another case of a potentially harmful infection of the skin.
