Remedies - Plants For All Seasons

They’ve been around for centuries - herbal remedies passed down through folklore and word of mouth. We take a look at some of these traditional cures.

Why are health supplements so popular when the scientific evidence for their effectiveness sometimes seems scant? Possibly it’s because their ingredients have earned our respect for centuries. We look at five plants that turn up in remedies for ailments ranging from aching legs to hot flushes. The remembrance of these astounding folk discoveries...should sober our thoughts when we criticise too freely the old pharmacopoeias. It is easy to make fun of medieval recipes: it is more difficult and may be wiser to investigate them. Instead of assuming that the medieval pharmacist was a benighted fool, we might wonder whether there was not sometimes a justification for his strange procedure. – George Sartori, Harvard University professor and author.

PASSIONFLOWER (Passiflora incarnata)
According to one legend, it was religion, not romance, that gave the passionflower its name.
In 1620, a Jesuit priest in South America who had come across the flower for the first time experienced a vision in his sleep which revealed the plant’s symbolism. The five petals and five sepals represented the apostles (two were excluded: Peter, for his denial of Jesus, and Judas for his betrayal). The five stamens matched the five sacred wounds; the three stigma became the nails of the cross; and the purple corona was the crown of thorns. The dark spots under the leaves were the pieces of silver paid to Judas. The flower, decided the priest, would be a valuable aidememoire in teaching the locals about Christ’s Passion. (The Catholic allegory that might have been acceptable in 17th-century South America hasn’t taken hold universally, however. In Japan, for example, the passionflower is called “The Clock-face Flower”, and has been adopted as an identifying symbol by gay youth.) When colonists arrived in North America, they found the original inhabitants were already familiar with the passionflower, using it as a sedative and poultice for cuts and bruises. But it was the apparent nerve-soothing qualities of the plant that endured in people’s affections and passionflower was a popular sleep aid – until 1978 that is, when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned it as a treatment for insomnia because there was no scientific proof it actually worked. (As a dietary supplement though, it still earned the FDA’s approval, which explains why it continued to be included in many teas and sleep-supporting herbal formulas.) The FDA should perhaps have remained as calm as those who enjoyed passionflower’s benefits. Within the last decade, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics of 36 individuals with anxiety, compared the sedative effects of passionflower extract with the prescription medication oxazepam. Oxazepam worked more quickly, but by the end of the four-week trial scientists noted “no significant difference” in the results. Passionflower, evidently, was nothing to get anxious about.

GOTU KOLA (Centella asiatica)
Elephants live a good long life, according to Sri Lankan legend, because they munch on the leaves of gotu kola, a plant that grows prolifically in shady, wet places like ditches and gutters. A more salacious piece of folklore tells of a 10th-century king named Aruna, who swore that without gotu kola he never could have found the energy to satisfy his 50-woman harem. In neighbouring India, gotu kola enjoys a rather more cerebral reputation; it is highly regarded as a “spiritual” herb that works on the crown chakra (the energy centre at the top of the head), and for that reason is popular amongst yogis who meditate in order to calm the mind and gain insights into life’s mysteries. But could gotu kola really be regarded as a brain booster? The first significant trial on the plant was undertaken in 1992 at a medical college in India, when half the rats in a study group were given an extract of gotu kola for 14 days before being put through their paces. When it came to retaining learned behaviour, those that received the gotu kola outshone their fellow rats up to 60 times more often. But it wasn’t just for longevity, sexual potency and memory that gotu kola has traditionally been valued. Diarrhoea, menstrual disorders, venereal disease, leprosy, bladder ulcers, liver cirrhosis and snakebites have all been said to respond favourably. Its best documented use is as a treatment for chronic venous insufficiency, which is closely related to varicose veins. An extract of gotu kola appeared to reduce swelling, pain, and fluid leakage from the vein, probably by strengthening connective tissues. The results encouraged further study of gotu kola as an aid to wound healing. Present-day enthusiasts say not only can it work wonders with legs that ache because of varicose veins; it also helps heal surgical wounds, skin ulcers, burns and perineal lesions that occur as a result of childbirth. Perhaps tigers have known this all along: one nickname for the plant is tiger’s herb, because injured tigers rub against it to heal their wounds.

SAGE (Salvia officinalis)
In need of a bit of divine intervention? Perhaps you could take a leaf out of the Native American tradition. To the original inhabitants of North America, sage was a sacred plant that could be used to signal to the creator that they were in need of help. “Smudge sticks” – made from bundles of sage, cedar, pine, lavender or sweet grass – would be lit ceremonially, and it was believed that the smoke could banish evil spirits and negative thoughts, leaving a person, an object, or even a place purified. Western herbalists found different ways to use this plant, but still with thoughts of salvation on their mind: the name of the genus, Salvia, is derived from the Latin word meaning “to heal” or “preserve in safety”. Sage tea was popular in the Middle Ages, especially as a treatment for colds and fevers – so popular amongst the Chinese in fact that at one time they were bartering for it with the Dutch and giving three times the quantity of their choicest tea in exchange. In 1652 herbalist Nicholas Culpepper wrote: “It also heals the memory, warming and quickening the senses.” Scientists now believe they know why and in 2001 a UK researcher showed how, within four months of receiving a sage extract, patients with mild or moderate Alzheimer’s did significantly better in memory tests than those who were given a placebo. Currently, in the United States, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is planning a further study on the effects of sage on memory and mental performance in Alzheimer’s patients.

In the meantime, sage will remain a popular ingredient in gargles to soothe inflamed throats and in toothpaste to strengthen gums – and it will be beloved of women of a certain age as a possible remedy for the night sweats of menopause.

MOTHERWORT (Leonurus cardiaca)
Feeling somewhat hysterical? Bothered by “wykked sperytis” and other annoying people? In such cases, motherwort has a reputation for coming to the rescue. A native of central Asia, it now grows happily in Europe and North America, and has been used for centuries to treat heart-related conditions such as palpitations and anxiety. In the Middle Ages, women prone to fainting or swooning were brought round by the administration of a motherwort concoction. The herbalist Culpepper enthused: “Venus owns this herb and it is under Leo. There is no better herb to drive melancholy vapours from the heart, to strengthen it and make the mind cheerful, blithe and merry.” It earned mainstream approval when a German governmental
agency called Commission E authorised motherwort for the treatment of palpitations caused by stress or hyperthyroidism. The praise heaped on the herb in medical folklore in both Asia and Europe profiles motherwort as a girl’s best friend. The Greeks gave it to pregnant women suffering from anxiety and it has also been recommended for the relief of PMS and the regulation of menstrual flow. It is said to encourage uterine contractions during labour, and ease the pain of childbirth, menstrual cramping and menstrual-related headaches. Another of motherwort’s uses is to improve fertility and reduce anxiety associated with childbirth, postnatal depression and menopause. Unfortunately, clinical research on motherwort is currently incomplete, although tests on laboratory animals have demonstrated that it can slow down the heart rate and lower blood pressure. Scientific trials with human subjects are needed to take these studies beyond the exploratory level and to decide whether motherwort has any detrimental effects. In the meantime, advocates will continue to promote the herb for female reproductive health (particularly the emotional aspects of menopause that can cause sleep deprivation and mood changes), and for general support of the nervous system.

BUCHU (Agathosma betulina)
It wasn’t just all those lives that were lost when the Titanic sank on April 10, 1912. Scattered
amongst the debris of the world’s most famous shipping disaster were bundles of buchu, a plant native to South Africa, being shipped as cargo to the United States, where it was already listed as a patent medicine with anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties.

Buchu (agathosma betulina) The first to use the plant medicinally were the Hottentots of South Africa; the word buchu is from the Hottentot word for the plant, bookoo. They also used the plant, which has a rue-like smell, as a body perfume. Wild buchu plants are still plentiful but are being harvested faster than they can reproduce, and the government in South Africa has responded by exercising strict control over the gathering of buchu leaves: no one is allowed to pick or buy buchu without a licence. Faced with the possible destruction of the species and lured by the prospect of a potentially profitable export market, researchers carried out experiments at the National Botanic Gardens in Kirstenborsch (near Cape Town) during World War I to see if the commercial cultivation of buchu could be a success. The results were positive – the plant is particularly adapted to dry conditions, and can be cultivated on sunny hillsides where other crops will fail. The essential oil buchu is used as a component of artificial fruit flavours, particularly blackcurrant, in teas and candy, but is also promoted – along with plants like cranberry and uva ursi – as having soothing and antiseptic properties in infections of the genito-urinary tract. Cystitis, urethritis and prostatitis are said to respond well to buchu. Very little experimental work has been carried out on the therapeutic value of buchu and some scientists state that any antiseptic action is probably very slight, but traditionalists swear you can’t go past the Hottentot example.

For the future
It’s easy to appreciate that traditional herbal remedies are grounded in a longstanding history of use. The stories and memories of many generations have led to modern researchers taking another look at the purported benefits provided by medicinal herbal treatments.
In the future we may even find that medical researchers will discover evidence to show that the herbs that have been around for centuries are the ones that can help us most. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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