What is Hoodia Gordonii?

Hoodia Gordonii a appetite suppressant used in Africa is considered as good for abdominal cramps,  hemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.

Hoodia is a genus of succulent plants in the family Apocynaceae that is  widely used traditionally by the San people of southern Africa as an appetite  suppressant, thirst quencher and as a cure for severe abdominal cramps,  haemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes. Various uses  have been recorded among Anikhwe (Northern Botswana), Hai om (northern Namibia  ), Khomani (north western South Africa ), and the !Xun and Khwe (originally from  Angola ) communities. Less is known about the use of this group of plants by  other indigenous people, but some records show limited use of Hoodia parts as  food items, albeit not as preferred food items. Hoodias are known to be used for  cultural purposes in some areas (Hargreaves and Turner, 2002). Although  relatively difficult to cultivate, Hoodia ' s are attractive plants and are also  used for horticultural purposes.

Hoodia Gordonii CSIRThe Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa  isolated an active compound (P57) for appetite suppression from H. gordonii .  The CSIR licensed the rights for further development of P57 and the setting up  of a sustainable production system to Phytopharm in the UK . Phytopharm in turn  sub licensed the rights to Pfizer for the development and global  commercialization. Pfizer has recently returned the clinical developmental  rights.