Artenimol (also known as dihydroqinghaosu, dihydroartemisinin or DHA) is the active metabolite of all artemisinin compounds (artemisinin, artesunate, artemether, etc.) and is also available as a drug used to treat malaria. The proposed mechanism of action of artemisinin involves cleavage of endoperoxide bridges by iron, producing free radicals (hypervalent iron-oxo species, epoxides, aldehydes, and dicarbonyl compounds) which damage biological macromolecules causing oxidative stress in the cells of the parasite. Malaria is caused by apicomplexans, primarily Plasmodium falciparum, which largely reside in red blood cells and itself contains iron-rich heme-groups (in the form of hemozoin). Recent mechanism research discovered that artemisinin targets a broad spectrum of proteins in the human cancer cell proteome through heme-activated radical alkylation. Dihydroartemisinin is used to treat malaria, generally as a combination drug with piperaquine. In a systematic review of randomized controlled trials, both dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine and artemether-lumefantrine are very effective at treating malaria (high-quality evidence). However, dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine cures slightly more patients than artemether-lumefantrine, and it also prevents further malaria infections for longer after treatment (high-quality evidence). Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine and artemether-lumefantrine probably have similar side effects (moderate-quality evidence). The studies were all conducted in Africa. In studies of people living in Asia, dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is as effective as artesunate plus mefloquine at treating malaria (moderate-quality evidence). Artesunate plus mefloquine probably causes more nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sleeplessness, and palpitations than dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (moderate-quality evidence).