The Aloe Vera plant is often considered a cactus like plant because it grows in warm dry climates much like the cactus. The same property that allows the Aloe to prosper in dry climates also provides the agent that makes it an effective moisturizer. Aloe has the ability to absorb moisture from the air around it. Many moisturizers contain primarily water which evaporates back into the atmosphere leaving the skin as dry as if it had no moisture. Aloe’s ability to absorb moisture from the air has a somewhat opposite effect.

The Aloe Vera plant is an extraordinary plant. It is both a moisturizer and a healer. It is so remarkable that no other plant has been so thoroughly studied for its beneficial qualities to the human body. There is evidence of the use of Aloe Vera as a healing agent as far back as the fourth Century BC.

Aloe Vera’s anti-cancer value has been proven in study after study. For example Dr Faith Strickland of the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas suggests that it can not only stop the damage done to the immune system of the skin from a sunburn but it may actually restore the system to full working order.

The Aloe Vera plant produces at least six antiseptic agents: Lupsol, asalicylic acid, urea nitrogen, cinnamonic acid, phenois, and sulphur. Each of these agents is considered antiseptic because it kills or controls mold, bacteria, fungus and viruses. This helps to explain the ability of Aloe Vera to eliminate many infections, both internal and external. Lupeol and salicylic acid are also known pain killers giving Aloe its pain killing properties.

Another reason Aloe Vera is so effective in treating burns, cuts, scrapes, abrasion etc is that it contains at least three anti-inflammatory fatty acids, including cholesterol, ampersterol and B-sitosterol (plant sterois). Largely due to these components Aloe Vera has also been used to treat allergic reactions, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic fever, acid indigestion, ulcers, as well as various inflammatory conditions of the digestive tract and other internal organs.

Because it also contains at least 23 poly peptides, which stimulate the immune system, it is easy to see why Aloe has also been used to help control a broad spectrum of immune system disorders.

There are more than 100 species of aloe but according to Dr Ian Tizard, professor of immunology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University, Aloe Vera is the one that has drawn the most scientific interest. Tizard explains that "When Aloe Vera is placed on many types of wounds, such as bedsores, it can often heal the wound quickly and the likely reason is the special polysaccharide in it. Many plants contain this polysaccharide, but the kind found in Aloe Vera works differently, we’ve learned. It seems to bind growth factors in wounds wheras normally they would be destroyed. Aloe vera polysaccharide seems to speed along the healing process much quicker."

The Aloe Vera plant has long pointed leaves consisting of the green rind and the clear pulp. It is the pulp found inside the rind that contains the healing agents. Talking about how the pulp works, Tizard says "It comes out of the plant like a clear liquid, but when it touches human skin it becomes a gel, it acts like a wound sealant in this gel state and no other plants do so."

Whether you’re fighting dry skin, infection, scrapes, burns, ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, immune system disorders, general pain, or even cancer, the Aloe Vera plant has been used effectively in the healing process. All of this together proves beyond a doubt the reason that over time laypersons as well as physicians have proclaimed the healing powers of Aloe Vera. It is easy to see how it has earned the name the "Medicine Plant".