Ruth Winter
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 Calamus root is an ancient Indian and Chinese herbal medicine used to treat stomach acid, irregular heart rhythm, low blood pressure, coughs, and lack of mental focus. Native Americans would chew the root to enable them to run long distances with increased stamina. Externally, it was used to induce a state of tranquility. Banned as a food additive by the FDA.
CALCIUM ACETATE • Brown Acetate of Lime. A white amorphous powder that has been used medicinally as a source of calcium. |
Ruth Winter, M.S.
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 Calamus root is an ancient Indian and Chinese herbal medicine used to treat acid stomach, irregular heart rhythm, low blood pressure, lack of mental focus, and for coughs. Native Americans would chew the root to enable them to run long distances with increased stamina. Externally, it was used to induce a state of tranquility. It is used in "organic" cosmetics. CALCIFEROL • Vitamin D
CALCIUM • The adult body contains about three pounds of calcium, 99 percent of which provides hardness for bones and teeth. |
Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.
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 Gotu kola—This herb has been used in India and China for hundreds of years, where it is part of traditional herbal medicine. Recent studies show that gotu kola has a positive effect on the circulatory system by strengthening the veins and capillaries, thereby improving the flow of blood throughout the body, including to the brain.
Siberian ginseng—This form of ginseng has been known to ancient Chinese for more than three thousand years. |
Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
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 Fungal metabolites and Chinese herbal medicine as im-munostimulants. Prog Drug Res.l990;34:395-420.
24. Maekawa S, et al. [A case report of advanced gastric cancer remarkably responding to mitomycin C, aclacinomycin A, SF-SP and lentinan combination therapy]. Gan To Kagaku Ryoho.l990;17:137-40.
25. Tanabe H, et al. [Studies on usefulness of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with lentinan in patients with gastrointestinal cancer]. Nippon Gan Chiryo Gakkai Shi.l990;25:1657-67.
26. Yoshino S, et al. |
Sheldon Saul Hendler
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 Colleges teaching herbal medicine are more prominent and magazines discussing herbs, as well as advertising them, are being seen more frequently on the newsstands. In fact, there have been some very positive articles on herbs in conservative newspapers and medical journals. And it is no longer just a handful of familiar herbs that is being discussed. Chinese traditional herbs, as well as herbs used in Ayurvedic (traditional Indian) medicine, have now also entered the U.S. marketplace.
There are many reasons for the increased interest in herbs. |
| Chamomile has been used in herbal medicine since the early Roman days and is commonly used worldwide. There are two kinds of chamomile (sometimes spelled camomile). Roman chamomile and chamomile are the common names used for the plant Anthemis nobilis. German chamomile, matricaria and manzanilla are common names for the plant Matricaria chamomilla.
Roman chamomile flowers have been used as an aromatic bitter (an appetite stimulant). Large doses can cause nausea and vomiting. A tea prepared from the flowers is sometimes helpful for indigestion. |
James A. Duke, Ph.D.
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 The Scientific Validation of herbal medicine and Herbal Tonic Therapies. (A standard dose of penicillin is around 180 units.)
You take this herb orally, either in a tea or in capsules, rather than using it in a compress. (Although echinacea can cause your tongue to tingle or go numb temporarily, this effect is harmless.)
VVV Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis). Like echinacea, goldenseal is both an immune booster and an antibiotic. |
| The Scientific Validation of herbal medicine and Herbal Tonic Therapies. The leaves are a diuretic, meaning that they help flush excess water from the body. And the roots have been used for centuries to treat jaundice, the yellowing of the skin that occurs as a result of a seriously malfunctioning liver.
I recommend using both the leaves and flowers. Dandelion flowers are well-endowed with lecithin, a nutrient that has been proven useful in various liver ailments. |
| German medical herbalists and author of herbal medicine. If you have access to the fresh plant, you might apply the yellow juice direcdy to the wart once or twice a day for five to seven days. Otherwise, you can try applying a strong tea made from the dried herb.
VV Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Several prominent herbalists recommend treating warts with milky dandelion latex, the substance that oozes out when you tear the leaves and stems. I suggest applying the white milk once a day for five to seven days. It didn't work for me, but you can give it a try if you like. |
| One jungle meat, namely turtle, greatly increased my growing respect for herbal medicine. On one collecting trip, we camped on the banks of Rio Pirre, and our guides caught some turtles for stew. (They weren't considered endangered then.)
Soon after that meal, I developed a bad case of salmonella food poisoning. (Later I saw a scientific article documenting a high incidence of salmonella in turtle populations in Darien.) The diarrhea was violent and terrible, and I became so weak that I was unable to stand up, let alone work. |
| Truth be told, I'd fallen madly in love with Latin America, particularly Panama, the Choco Indians, ethnobotany and herbal medicine. I'd become a "Panamaniac."
But all good things come to an end, and in 1968, the family and I returned to the United States, to Battelle's main office in Columbus, Ohio. What a transition. No rain forest, no extended expeditions into the bush, and no live-in maid at home for Peggy and the kids. But someone had to write up all our botanical data from the Panama project, and it fell to yours truly. |
| I was invited back to Beltsville in 1971 to work on a program that involved herbal medicine, but not the kind I advocate using.
In looking to leave Battelle, I'd drafted a proposal on the feasibility of genetically subverting marijuana to make it unappealing to its users. The euphoria-producing compound in marijuana is tetra-hydrocannabinol (THC). The higher the THC level, the more potent the pot. I proposed to breed marijuana with next to no THC and then spread the seed Johnny Appleseed-style in areas where high-THC pot was being illegally grown. |
John Heinerman
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 Removing Hard Fat Deposits
Several years ago when I was in Tokyo attending an herbal medicine symposium, I had called to my attention an article in the Asahi News (Japan's largest circulated daily newspaper) by a Japanese colleague. This scientist friend of mine translated it into English for my benefit. The story dealt with a remedy employed by kanpd doctors in the eastern hills of Kyoto. These doctors, while practicing alternative folk medicine, were all regular M.D.s and had previously graduated from the prestigious Kyoto University School of Medicine. |
volker schulz and Rudolf Hansel
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 Sect. 1.5.4). The safety of the product has been well documented by toxicologic studies (Marz, 1998) and by observational experience. The incidence of mild side effects reported in a recent study was less than 1 % (Ernst et al., 1997a).
In the past, extracts from the leaves and roots of the butterbur plant (Petasites hybridus) have been used mainly to treat spasms of the gastrointestinal and urogenital tract. But data from case reports have led to the incidental discovery that butterbur has an ameliorating effect on hay fever. |
Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
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| Interested readers are advised to consult Akira Tsumura's book, Kampo: How the Japanese Updated Traditional herbal medicine (ISBN 0-87040-792-9), published by Japan Publications, Inc. and distributed in the US by Kodansha America, Inc., Phone: 212-727-6460. The book is also available through the Kinokuniya Bookstores in New York (212-765-1461), Los Angeles (213-687-4447) and San Francisco (415-567-7625). Mr. Tsumura's Japanese company, Tsumura, Inc. is described as a "leading supplier of herbal medicinals. |
Michael Castleman
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 Healing with Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is an offshoot of herbal medicine. Frequently, aromatherapists' use of aromatic oils parallels herbalists' use of the flowers, stems, leaves and roots of the same plants. Valerian root, for example, is a well-known herbal sedative that's also recommended for stress management. At least one study shows that valerian oil reduces blood pressure and relieves stress. Aromatherapists often recommend it to relieve anxiety. |
| Saratoga Springs, New York, psychiatrist who also practices acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.
Meanwhile, the AMA—and Western medical science in general— continues to scoff at the very idea of meridians. This controversy has led to a classic medical stalemate that has largely stymied research into this fascinating healing art. Acupuncture believers say, "We know acupuncture works. Why should we waste time doing research to prove what we already know is true? |
| The traditional Chinese physician's job is to restore the balance using diet, acupuncture and herbal medicine.
Chi comes in two opposite but complementary forms, yin and yang, often likened to the shady and sunny sides of a hill. Neither is better than the other,- they simply have different qualities. Yin phenomena include the earth, moon, night, fall and winter, cold, wetness, darkness, the feet, the left side, the female sex, tissue growth and a passive, following temperament. |
| Acupuncture Comes to the West
More than 2,000 years ago, acupuncture became a major adjunct to Chinese herbal medicine. It spread to Korea around A.D. 300 and to Japan in the seventeenth century. During the late nineteenth century, a few Western physicians—notably Sir William Osier, M.D., a Canadian physician whose medical textbooks earned him knighthood in England and a distinguished professorship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore—became fascinated by it.
In the 1912 edition of his book, Principles and Practices ojMedicine, Dr. |
| The large majority of the world's population has relied on herbal medicine for the vast majority of recorded history, while antidepressants have been used by only a tiny fraction of humanity for a very brief period of time. If healing arts were judged by worldwide numerical support or duration of use, many "alternative" therapies would be "mainstream," and vice versa.
Experts who chart medical trends no longer call Nature's cures alternative but complementary. These cures don't replace what's taught in medical schools but rather complete it. |
| Lerner believes acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine both have value for people with cancer. "I've heard from dozens of cancer patients that they help relieve the nausea of chemotherapy. If I had cancer, I would explore them," he says.
Conventional Medicine Doesn't Have All the Answers
Critics of the complementary therapies often charge that their practitioners prey on the unsophisticated and trick them into abandoning conventional cancer care for snake oil. |
Mark Stengler, N.D.
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 The German Commission E, the government-backed medical board in Germany that helps regulate herbal medicine, lists bilberry as a treatment for acute diarrhea, and mild inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat. Modern interest in bilberry was sparked during World War II when British Royal Air Force pilots reported that consuming bilberry jam improved their nighttime vision and accuracy on bombing missions. Almost 20 years later, scientists began studies on bilberry and its benefit for the eyes. |
Earl L. Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.
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 Ashwagandha is an Ayurvedic herbal medicine; try 500 milligrams three times a day.
Calcium and Magnesium
Sometimes insomnia or anxiety can be caused by "universal" muscle tension, where it feels as if every muscle in your body is tense. People with this type of tension tend to get muscle cramps at night. When your grandmother gave you a glass of milk before bedtime she was wisely giving you a dose of calcium to relax your muscles and ease you into sleep. Magnesium regulates calcium uptake by cells, so take a magnesium/calcium combination for the greatest effect. |
Mark Stengler, N.D.
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| It was also used by "eclectic medical doctors," as practitioners of herbal medicine were called in the 1800s and early 1900s. Naturopathic doctors also used it later on in the early 1900s for headaches, heart conditions, and as a digestive tonic. Black cohosh is also known as "bugbane," since the strong smell of the flowers works as a natural insect repellant.
Black cohosh was imported to Germany in the early 1900s. Since the 1940s, German research has heavily influenced the various uses and scientific validation of black cohosh. |
volker schulz and Rudolf Hansel
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| Galenic preparations made from digitalis leaves are obsolete in modern pharmacotherapy. Details on the pure glycosides and their actions can be found in textbooks of pharmacology.
3.1.1
Hawthorn
3.1.1.1 Introduction
Hawthorn (Crataegus spp., Fig. 3.1) is a proven, established remedy for heart ailments and circulatory disorders. Apparently, the animal kingdom also benefits from the hawthorn, as illustrated by the following anecdote. In 1966, Klatt (quoted in Weiss, 1991) reported his observations on gypsy moths. |
Elson M. Haas, M.D.
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 In his fascinating book, The Scientific Validation of herbal medicine, Daniel B. Mowrey recommends an herbal skin formula for general cleansing or itching and dry skin of many disorders, such as acne, eczema, and psoriasis. |
| In fact, this area is really the strength, I believe, of herbal medicine. There are hundreds of possible herbs to be used for blood cleansing and cleaning the tissues or strengthening the function of specific organs. The old term for blood cleansers is "alteratives," which is the term used in many standard herbal texts. The following are some of the more important ones. |
| In The Scientific Validation of herbal medicine, Daniel Mowrey recommends a formula for environmental pollution including alfalfa, algin (from seaweed or algae), wheat bran, apple pectin, and kelp. These help to decrease the toxicity of chemical and metal pollutants; in addition, this high-fiber formula helps to reduce cholesterol levels and is often useful in treating colds and flus, where bowel elimination is so important. Extra vitamin E and fish oils containing DHA and EPA as well as an antioxidant formula with additional vitamin C may make this formula work even better. |
| I have turned more to herbal medicine in the last decade and now use both herbs and pharmaceuticals in my practice. Overall, herbal remedies, individual and blended, tend to be more subde in their effects than most drugs and are best used for mild problems or prevention. For chronic problems, herbs can be used to strengthen or detoxify specific organs or the entire body, but often must be employed for weeks or months to have an effect. For more acute or serious problems, when rapid relief is necessary, Western medicines clearly are very useful. |
| The use of evening primrose oil as a nontoxic source of GLA is a good mix of nutrition and herbal medicine. Actually, this night-blooming, bright yellow flowering plant is not a true primrose but is part of the willow family. The name comes from the fact that its flowers resemble those of the primrose plant. This herb has been used medicinally for centuries—externally, as a poultice for skin problems and internally to treat variety of complaints, such as asthma, gastrointestinal problems, gynecological problems, or to enhance wound healing. |
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