This is Alasdair Barcroft's third book on the subject of aloe vera and he believes the aloe vera topic will run and run as more and more people, both lay people and professional healthcare specialists and therapists alike, begin fully to understand the powerful healing and health-giving properties of this amazing plant. He believes that 'we are still scratching the surface' in terms of aloe vera's vast potential.

Aloe vera has been around for over 4,000 years - it has stood the test of time - and it still continues to confound and very often baffle the medical profession and scientific researchers with its complex, silent actions, potent properties and powerful healing benefits.

We hope that you enjoy the book and as I say to everyone I meet - get aloe vera in you and on you and you'll soon see the difference.

Aloe vera truly is nature's silent healer. Aloe vera has been known for its wide-ranging healing properties for over 4,000 years, but it is only in the last few decades that scientists have really begun both to realise and understand the enormous scope of this amazing plant's actions and benefits.
Medical practitioners, vets, dentists, therapists, nutritionists and many others involved in healthcare throughout the world are finally realising that the anecdotal evidence of the powers of this ancient plant that have been handed down through the millennia are as valid and relevant today as they were in places like ancient Egypt, where aloe vera was revered as the 'plant of immortality', or in the ancient Greece of Alexander the Great's time.

This book provides the reader, whether lay or a health professional, with an in-depth introduction to one of nature's most potent healing plants. 'Myth, magic or medicine?' is a phrase or a question that has often been asked about aloe vera.

This book firmly establishes the facts about aloe vera, defining:
- its history through the millennia
- its botanical pedigree
- its track record over the years as a healing plant
- its use in studies and scientific trials since 1935
- the numerous case histories of people who have benefited from its use, both internally and externally
- the many illnesses, ailments and conditions that aloe vera can help manage
- its properties, uses and benefits from internal conditions, illnesses and diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), arthritis, candida, colitis, ulcers and Crohn's disease, to external problems, ailments and disorders such as burns, sunburn, acne, eczema and psoriasis
- the comments and reports by doctors, dentists, therapists, nutritionists, veterinary surgeons and others involved in health
- the future as more people consider a more balanced and holistic approach to healthcare

This is a detailed and practical book, which gives the reader a unique insight into a healing plant that has stood the test of millennia and continues to surprise professional health specialists across the healing spectrum as they attempt to unlock more and more of its secrets. Aloe vera's true potential as a healer will continue to expand across the globe as more people use it internally or externally, and more doctors and the wider medical fraternity become more receptive to a holistic approach to general health and well-being, and disease and illness prevention, rather than just treatment of the symptoms.

BAAM Publishing Ltd supports the Olivia Hodson Fellowship Fund (to support research of childhood cancers and palliative care projects at Great Ormond Street Hospital).