Two Indonesian Teens May Have Found a Cure for Cancer
Kids are naturally curious and if you allow their imaginations to soar, they can create almost anything.
Two high school girls demonstrated this when they decided to test folklore about the healing powers of the bajakah tree to see if it was a potential cure for cancer. The girls presented their findings in July at the World Invention Creativity (WICO) event in Seoul, South Korea.
Anggina Rafitri and Aysa Aurealya Maharani who are students at the Palangka Raya State High School in Central Kalimantan presented evidence that they used the roots of the bajakah tree to create a treatment for cancer. Their study showed that they after just two weeks of treatment,a rat with cancerous tumors, was fully cured according to Coconuts Jakarta.
The teens won a gold medal for their work and gave hope that the Bajakah tree contained a possible cure for cancer.
Anggina and Aysa’s achievements were widely celebrated in Indonesia The teens were hosted by Central Kalimantan Governor Sugianto Sabran at the Isen Muland palace upon their return.
“What they found was extraordinary. Not only is it needed by the Central Kalimantan people, but Indonesia and even the world,” said the governor as reported in a translated JawaPos article.
He said that the government will help the girls to continue their research and gave them IDR30 million (US$2,109) each in grant money for their research. The provisional government believes in it so much that is planning to patent bajakah as a cure for cancer according to the JawaPos article.
Kompas TV‘s journalist Aiman Witjaksono featured the girls in an episode of his popular show Aiman to bajakah. He met with the teens and their teacher as well as a man who said that the roots cured his mother of stage four cancer according to Coconuts Jakarta.
While the data is real, Professor Dr. Aru Sudoyo, the Chairperson of the Indonesian Cancer Foundation told Kompas, “The public should not get their hopes up based on the early results of an experiment like that. Remember, there are no miracle drugs.”
He explained, “Testing on a rat is different to human applications. Oftentimes, what works on rats often yield no results in humans.”
Anggina and Aysa will be able to continue their research with the grants that the government gave them, and they will be helped to raise additional funding according to Professor. Dr. Budi Wiweko, the Deputy Director of the Indonesian Medical Education Research Institution (IMERI) and Faculty of Medicine at the University of Indonesia. The university will also mentor the teens as the research progresses.
We are just now learning all the benefits of natural medicine. A study has proven that natural products that have been used since ancient times is effective in curing illnesses and that many of these plant products have been used in current medications.
With continued funding and help from the university, it is very possible that the Indonesian folk bajakah tree roots remedy will prove to be an effective cure for cancer thanks to the two high school girls who introduced it to the world.
