Traditionally used for the promotion of good health and for many ailments, including fever, immune system, common cold, asthma, rheumatism, immune disorders, metabolic disorders, microbial infections, intestinal worms, cardiovascular complaints, headaches etc..

The traditional uses for Black seed have been the foundation for many of the studies so far made and have clarified its popularity as a natural remedy for so many centuries in so many lands.

In February 1995, Dr’s at the King's College London, U.K. (1) tested Black seed oil’s use for rheumatism and inflammatory diseases.

They concluded that their studies supported the traditional use of Nigella sativa as a treatment for rheumatism and related inflammatory diseases.

In 1960, Professor El-Dakhakny reported that black seed oil has an anti-inflammatory effect and that it could be useful for relieving the effects of arthritis.

In 2002, at the Alexandria Medical Faculty, Alexandria, Egypt (56) he also studied the effectiveness of nigellone and thymoquinone whereby his research partly explained the mode of action of Black seed’s volatile oils in ameliorating inflammatory diseases.

In 2001, Drs at the Aga Khan University Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan, (6) investigated the uses of Black seed for its Bronchodilator and spasmolytic qualities.

Their studies concluded that Black seed’s usefulness for diarrhoea and asthma in traditional medicine appeared to be based on a sound mechanistic background.

As a natural remedy people take Black seed or oil as a promoter of good health and for the prevention of common cold and asthma.

In 1986, Drs El-Kadi and Kandil at I.I.M.E.R. Panama City, Florida, investigated the effect of Black seed on the immune system and studied the effect of 1g taken twice daily in human volunteers.

They concluded, "These findings may be of great practical significance since a natural immune enhancer like the black seed could play an important role in the treatment of cancer, AIDS, and other disease conditions associated with immune deficiency states."

These results were confirmed by a study published in the Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal in 1993 by Dr. Basil Ali and his colleagues from the College of Medicine at King Faisal University.

The oil proved to be more effective against many strains of bacteria, including those known to be highly resistant to drugs.

V. cholera, E. coli (a common infectious agent found in undercooked meats), and all strains of Shigella spp., except Shigella dysentriae.

Most strains of Shigella have been shown to rapidly become resistant to commonly used antibiotics and chemotheraputic agents.

These results are effective enough to consider the oil being used in the treatment of AIDS and the findings of this paper caught the attention of the Archives of AIDS where they were duly published.

Analgesic

In 2001 at the King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, Dr Al-Ghamdi investigated black seed’s anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities.

He concluded “This study therefore, supports its use in folk medicine both as analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent and calls for further investigations to elucidate its mechanism of action."

The anti inflammatory effects were also supported by research in 2003 at the King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.

Anti Biotics

In 2005 at the King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia they studied the effects of black seed in conjunction with the anti biotic oxytetracycline (OXT) in pigeons

(An anti biotic commonly used to treat infections of the respiratory and urinary tracts.)

They concluded the addition of Black seed to the feed of pigeons could act as an immunoprotective agent when chronic administration of antibiotics are considered.

In most Asian countries Black seed and it’s oil are commonly used for the treatment of asthma. Nigellone (a carbonyl polymer of thymoquinone) has proved to be an excellent prophylactic agent for both bronchial asthma and asthmatic bronchitis and has proved to be more effective in children than adults.

Black seed has been treated as a serious herbal remedy for the treatment of cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have granted 2 patents for treating cancer, preventing the side effects of anti cancer chemotherapy, and forincreasing the immune system functions in humans. U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,711 and 5,653,981.

At the Amala Cancer Research Centre, Kerala, India in 1991 studies suggested that Black seed has efficacy as a chemotherapeutic agent. In other studies made it was found that Black seed diminishes toxic side effects caused by several other chemotherapeutic drugs such as cisplatin and doxorubicin.

In 1997 at the Cancer Research Laboratory of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA, it was proven that Black seed oil had enormous success in tumour therapy without the negative side effects of common chemo-therapy.

They found that it increased the growth rate of bone marrow cells by a staggering 250% and it inhibited tumour growth by 50%. It stimulated immune cells and raised the interferon production which protect cells from the cell destroying effect of viruses.

They confirmed the strongly anti-bacterial and anti-mycotic effects and that it has an effect in lowering the blood sugar level which is essential for the treatment of diabetes.

They concluded that a healthy immune system will detect and destroy cancer cells before the cancer endangers the patient. They concluded that Black seed oil is an ideal candidate for use in cancer prevention and cure and that it has remarkable promises for clinical use.

In 2003 at the Jackson State University, USA, Dr,s who were interested how Black seed had been used for such a long time for the treatment of so many acute ailments decided to study Black seed’s effectiveness in cancer prevention.

They exposed breast cancer cells to black seed extracts, the breast cancer cells were inactivated whereby they concluded that Black seed had promising results in the field of prevention and treatment of cancer.

Also in the same year Dr,s at the Osaka City University Medical School in Japan, tested Black seed for cancer of the colon where there studies displayed that Black seed inhibited the growth of cancer in the postinitiation stage.

In 2004 at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, thymoquinone extracted from black seed was investigated to see if it triggers apoptotic cell death in human colorectal cancer cells. They concluded that thymoquinone has the potential for the treatment of colon cancer.

Anti fungal ; Anti bacterial (candida)

In 2003 at the Aga Khan University Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan, the anti fungal activity of Black seed was studied. Candida was inoculated in mice whereby the spleen liver and kidneys were infected.

Extracts from Black seed were fed to the mice which caused a considerable inhibitory effect on the growth of the organism in all organs.

They concluded that aqueous extract of Black seed exhibited inhibitory effect against candidiasis and that the traditional use of the plant in fungal infections was valid.

In 2005, in the Pakistan Journal of Medical Science, a paper was published where the antibacterial and antifungal effects of black seed were tested against standard and hospital strains of Candida albicans.nd Pseudomonas aeroginosa.

They were also investigated and compared with standard drugs, clotrimazole (an anti-fungal ointment used to topically treat vaginal candidiasis and candida of the scrotum and anus.), cloxacillin (a semisynthetic antibiotic in the same class as penicillin.) and gentamicin (an anti biotic.) respectively.

They concluded that their results are in agreement with others who showed that Black seed extracts produce antimicrobial activity against a broad range of microbes and especially on multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Diabetes

In 2002 at the Gifu University, Japan, studies concluded that Black seed may be of significant value to sufferers of Diabetes 2.

In1991 at the Kuwait University, the mechanism of action was studied for Black seed whereby they concluded that extracts may prove to be a useful therapeutic agent in the treatment of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

In 2003 three faculties in Van, Turkey came together and confirmed that black seed brought the lowered sugar level was brought back to the control level in diabetic rabbits.

In 2004 at the Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Zonguldak, Turkey they tested the effects of Nigella sativa on diabetic rats.

They concluded that black seed treatment exerts a therapeutic protective effect in diabetes.

Thrombosis

Hematological studies on Black seed oil were made in 2001 at the Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo, Japan. They concluded that there was more potent activity than aspirin, well known as a remedy for thrombosis.

Cestodes (worms) in children

In 1991 at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, the anticestodal effect of Black seed was studied in children who had been naturally infected. They concluded that black seed contained active principles effective against these worms.

In 2007, Abdulelah and Zainal-Abidin investigated the anti-malarial activities of different extracts of N.sativa seeds against P. berghei. Results indicated strong biocidal effects against the parasite.

Black seed was found to have an anthelmintic activity against tapeworm comparable tothat of piperazine. The pure essential oil showed activity against Monezia insheep comparable to niclosamide