The truth is, it is considered medicinal by many native herbolarios. In folk medicine, the more bitter this vegetable is, the more medicinal value it has. It's really an ugly looking vegetable and considered an acquired taste because of its bitterness. Momordica charantia is a plant used for centuries in traditional Indian, Chinese, and African pharmacopeia as laxative, anthelminthic and abortive.
Fruit is useful in gout, rheumatism and sub-acute cases of the spleen and liver.
Doctors in India are so confident of bitter melon's positive effect on diabetics, they dispense bitter melon in some of the most modern hospitals.