The Complete Herbal Guide: A Natural Approach to Healing the Body - Heal Your Body Naturally and Maintain Optimal Health Using Alternative Medicine, Herbals, Vitamins, Fruits and Vegetables (89 page)

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Self Heal
is an old and reliable treatment for
internal and external bleeding and wounds
, including excessive menstruation and bleeding ulcers. It is said to be a
potent antiviral
agent and has shown great promise in laboratory tests for possible use in herpes, HIV and AIDS treatments.

Plant Description:

It is a diminutive plant but will grow larger in all its parts when growing in more sheltered places. The main stem of the plant is grooved and rough to the touch and bears pointed oval leaves with dense, purple flower clusters (sometimes blue or pink).

S
elf-heal is used on every continent. The fact that this plant is also known as heal-all and cure-all should give you some insight into what people have found to be true of it. They don’t call it sometimes-heal, or might-heal, or every-once-in-a-while-heal, they call it heal-all.

Self-heal is a mint relation, and as with all the other mints, if you plant it once, you never have to plant it again. Incredibly vigorous, the plant spreads by underground stems that shoot out in every direction once the first root is stuck in the ground. If there is anything to the doctrine of signatures, Prunella should make anyone who takes it into his or her body stronger than an ox.

History:
Self Heal is a creeping perennial that is native to Eurasia and grows throughout Europe and North America, where it may be found in damp meadows, pastures, waste places and on roadsides, thriving in moist, well-drained soil in sunny areas or light shade. When imported to North America and Australia, it quickly became naturalized as a common wildflower and abundant in open and exposed situations, tending to oust native flowers.

Self Heal does not appear to have been known to the ancient Romans or Greeks, but it was mentioned in Chinese medical literature during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- A. D. 23) as an important herb in the treatment of complaints associated with a disturbed liver, high blood pressure and conjunctivitis. In Western medicine, it has always been regarded primarily as a wound herb, giving rise to many of its common names, Woundwort, Wound Root, Heal All, etc. Its botanical name,
Prunella
, is derived from Brunellen, a name given to it by the Germans, because it rose to prominence when military physicians used it to treat a contagious fever that raged among the German imperial troops in 1547 and 1566, that was characterized by a sore throat and a brown-coated tongue. The fever was called "the browns" (
brun
is the German word for "brown"). In John Gerard's "
Herball"
of 1597, he claimed there was no "better wound herb[e] in the world than Self Heal" and said it would "heal any green wound[e]." In 1653, the great English herbalist, Nicholas Culpepper, wrote that "Self Heal" would be good taken both "inwardly or outwardly for wounds and bleeding" and would "cleanse the foulness of sores and speedily heal them." Self Heal is an astringent, slightly bitter, saline herb that is harvested when in optimum condition (and the plant is in bloom).

Although the plant is a member of the mint family, no mint fragrance or flavor is present, and all the aerial (above-ground) parts of the plant are used in herbal medicine. Some of the constituents included in Self Heal are volatile oil, a bitter principle, tannin, rutin, beta-carotene, sugar, cellulose, Vitamins B-1, C and K.

Medical Uses:

Self Heal is an astringent that has been effective in controlling both internal and external bleeding. It has been utilized as a styptic that has been used internally in Western medicine to stop hemorrhage, internal bleeding ulcers and excessive menstruation, and its gentle astringency also helps to control chronic and sudden diarrhea (although it is recommended that this application be used under the aegis of a health care provider). For external treatment, those astringent qualities may be applied to relieve hemorrhoids and decrease the bleeding of wounds and cuts.

As an antiviral, Self Heal is said to be useful for treating herpes virus infection in two ways. It is thought to stop the virus from growing within cells and also by preventing it from binding to cells. Moreover, recent and very promising research has shown very interesting results with respect to HIV and AIDS. In Japan, studies showed strong anti-HIV effects in laboratory conditions and Canadian scientists claim that Self Heal blocks cell-to-cell transmission of the HIV virus and also interferes with the virus's ability to bind with T cells, the immune cells that are destroyed by HIV infection. At the University of California at Davis, scientists have identified a complex sugar in Self Heal that accounts for its actions against HIV.

Self Heal is considered an antibiotic and antiseptic (which supports its historical use to help ease sore throats and heal "green" wounds). It is still used externally in gargles to relieve sore throat and ulcerated mouth, in addition to stopping infection from spreading, and speeding up the healing of wounds, cuts, bruises, burns, ulcers and sores. It is also believed to reduce scarring.

Self Heal is reported to reduce lymphatic congestion and has been used to relieve swollen glands, mumps and mastitis.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Self Heal was used as a liver and gallbladder stimulant and was used to treat conjunctivitis, hypertension and headaches, among other disorders.

Precautions:

Those with diarrhea, nausea, stomachache or vomiting should consult a physician before using Self Heal. This herb could potentially interfere with actions of prescription blood thinners (Plavix, Coumadin, etc.).

Dosages:

Take one (1) to two (2) capsules, three (3) times each day with water at mealtimes.

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Senna
is a stimulating and
powerful purgative
that promotes the vigorous evacuation of the bowels and is very helpful in relieving severe constipation or when an easily passed stool is recommended after rectal surgery or prior to a colonoscopy.

Plant Description:

Senna is a smallish shrub with an erect, smooth, pale green stem and long, spreading branches, bearing lanceolate leaflets and small flowers; and depending upon the geographic location, the plant may grow anywhere from two to six feet. 

History:

It is a native of Africa, the Middle East and India, and it was first brought into medicinal use by the ninth-century Arabian physicians, Serapion and Sesue, who gave it its Arabic name and employed it as a purgative. The
Cassia acutifolia plant
(also called
Senna alexandrina
or
Cassia Senna) was
exported from Egypt, via Cairo and the Red Sea, and
Cassia angustifolia from
India, via Madras; and by 1640, Senna was cultivated and being utilized in England for its cathartic properties. The herb was officially listed in both the
British Pharmacopoeia
and the
United States Pharmacopoeia,
and the herb is one of the few herbal medicines approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for over-the-counter use and may be one of the most widely used herbal medicines in the United States.  In the United States, Senna leaf, fruit and extract are used in over-the-counter laxatives (e.g., Correctol®, ExLax®, Senokot®, Smooth Move®). 

In Germany, Senna leaf, Alexandrian Senna pod and Tinnevelly Senna pod are licensed as standard medicinal teas available only in a pharmacy, official in the
German Pharmacopoeia and
approved in the Commission E monographs. They are used alone and in more than 110 prepared drugs, mostly laxatives and biliary remedies.  The plant is well distributed throughout the world as an annual or perennial, depending upon its geographic location, and the herb encompasses many species within the genus
Cassia
.  All are virtually used interchangeably in herbal medicine.  Some of the constituents in Senna leaves include anthraquinone compounds, including dianthrone glycosides, sennosides (aloe-emodin derivatives), flavonoids, naphthalene glycosides, mucilage, tannin, resin and beta-sitosterol.

Medical Uses:

Senna is an effective and potent purgative with its action being chiefly on the lower bowel. The anthraquinone stimulate the bowel and increase the peristaltic movements of the colon by its local action upon the intestinal wall, leading to evacuation in approximately ten hours. The herb has been recommended for people who require a soft, easily passed stool, especially when following rectal surgery or preparing for a colonoscopy). This active purgative principle (a glycoside) was discovered in 1866.

As a vermifuge, Senna has been used to destroy and expel worms and parasites from the intestinal tract, possibly due to the herb's powerful laxative action.

By cleansing the colon, Senna may have positive results in improving skin afflictions (pimples, etc.) and helping in cases of obesity.

Treatments:

Senna is an ingredient that is primarily used to help with constipation.
Senna is not known to treat constipation, but can be associated with alleviating this problem for a short period of time. A natural herb that comes from a plant that is grown and cultivated in places like India, Sudan, Egypt and Pakistan, Senna is also used in many over the counter laxatives and may be found in pharmaceutical products.

Precautions:

Great care should be taken with the use of Senna.  Pregnant, nursing or menstruating women should not use Senna, and it is not appropriate for children under six years of age.  People with intestinal blockage, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal ulcers, and undiagnosed stomach pain or appendicitis symptoms must avoid Senna.  Senna can cause cramping, nausea and diarrhea, and the urine may take on a reddish hue (which is harmless). Long-term use is not recommended, since it may cause dependence and a weakened colon, aggravate constipation and result in a loss of potassium and other vital minerals, which is particularly dangerous to people with heart rhythm irregularities. Chronic constipation is usually indicative of another condition and should always be discussed with a physician.

Dosages:

Take two (2) capsules, two (2) times each day approximately thirty (30) minutes before mealtimes.

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Too much anxiety and stress in your life? Try
Skull Cap
as a natural way to ease frayed nerves, relax, and get a restful sleep. It is an old remedy that helps to relieve "women's complaints," such as premenstrual syndrome and monthly cramps. Skull Cap is also considered very useful for alleviating the difficulties of barbiturate and drug withdrawal.

Plant Description:

Skull Cap (also spelled Scullcap) is a small, herbaceous perennial, indigenous to North America, with an erect and branching square stem and flowers that may grow to a height of three feet.

It is abundant throughout the land and thrives in damp places, meadows, ditches and waste places from Canada to Florida. Different varieties of this herb grow throughout the world in temperate regions (most notably in China and Russia) with some similar medicinal applications as the "American Scullcap," but they are not generally used interchangeably.

History:

The name, Skull Cap, is derived from the helmet-shaped flower that resembles a helmet with the visor raised, and a "Skullcap" was the word for a type of military helmet that was familiar to early colonists.

Native Americans wisely used this herb as a sedative and to promote menstruation. Skull Cap was believed to treat rabies in the 1700s, a use that was later discredited, but several of the herb's common names (Mad Dog Weed and Madweed) remained to describe it.
 

In the nineteenth century, Skull Cap was a popular medicinal treatment for nervous disorders and was used to subdue undue sexual desires without damage. The above-ground (aerial) part of the plant is used in herbal preparations. Some of the constituents included in Skull Cap include essential oil, albumen, tannins, a bitter principle (scutellaine), flavonoids (scutellarein, isoscutellarein, wogonin, and baicalin), acids, beta carotene, lignin, tannins, chloride of soda, salts of iron, silica, calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, zinc, beta-carotene, B-vitamins and Vitamin C.

Medical Uses:

The time-honored use of Skull Cap has been as a nervine and tonic to renew and revive the central nervous system and treat nervous disorders of all kinds. The herb calms the nerves, quiets and strengthens the system, and is a valuable remedy for controlling nervous irritation, excitability, restlessness, hysteria, anxiety, hyperactivity, fatigue, night terrors and nervous headaches. The flavonoid, scutellarein, is thought to be the active ingredient that acts as a natural sedative and also stimulates the brain to produce more endorphins, promoting a feeling of calm.  Use of the herb has helped to aid sleep and treat insomnia.

As an antispasmodic, Skull Cap has been useful in relieving menstrual cramps, premenstrual syndrome, muscle spasms, and cramps due to stress. The herb is used to help treat St. Vitus dance, convulsions and shaking palsy, and some modern herbalists use it to prevent epileptic seizures.