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- Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
- Dyspepsia
- Febrile Infections
| Date:
10-29-2010 | HC#051045-411
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Re: Traditional Uses of Boneset for Flu and Other Fevers Still Maintained in Practice
Brinker F.
Boneset in dyspepsia and febrile infections. J Am Herbalists Guild. 2010;9(1):13-23.
Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) was a valuable
medicine for Native Americans, one of the first indigenous medical herbs
adopted by European settlers. The article details this use, as well as modern
laboratory and clinical studies.
Boneset has
had many common names reflecting its appearance and uses, e.g., “thoroughwort”
for the growth habit of its leaves or “ague weed” for its use in malarial fevers.
At least 26 northeastern American species are known. In the early 20th
century, when its use was highest, two species from the same plant family
(Asteraceae, then Compositae) were sometimes misrepresented as boneset: white
snakeroot (E. ageratoides) has
diuretic, diaphoretic, and antispasmodic effects, while sweet-scented
life-everlasting (Gnaphalium polycephalum)
was used for colds and influenza.
Native
Americans used boneset leaves or plant infusions to treat fevers by increasing
sweating, as a digestive tonic, and as a vermifuge. It was used as a laxative
and an emetic, and was applied externally in poultices for headaches or
rheumatism. The Ojibwa put chewed boneset on rattlesnake bites; the Meskwaki
made a root poultice for the same purpose. Boneset preparations were used by
various tribes to relieve pain, particularly in lungs or from flu or fever, but
also for menstrual or urinary pain, while Ojibwa used boneset root to correct
irregular menstruation. The Iroquois used the root decoction to treat
alcoholism.
Early
Euro-American medical literature has many references to boneset leaves and
flowering tops taken as infusions and decoctions. For fevers, these became a
staple. It gained its name for its efficacy in “break bone fever,” influenza with
pain so severe that the patient’s bones felt as if they were breaking. Boneset
was so popular for malaria that when quinine (Cinchona officinalis) arrived in malarious Missouri, many residents preferred boneset. It
was also used for “obstinate” skin conditions. Home publications carried
instructions on its preparation and use, including adding molasses to powdered
leaves to offset the bitter taste.
Different
effects are seen for cold and hot infusions. Cold water extract, in small
quantities, is a tonic for dyspepsia and a mild laxative. Warm water extract,
in larger amounts, promotes sweating, while still exerting a laxative effect. In
large quantities, the hot infusion induces vomiting. A decocted water extract of
leaves and flowers, boiled into a paste, was rolled into pills for a “relaxing
tonic” and as a base for other herbs. In The
Physio-Medical Dispensatory of 1869, Dr. William Cook described a fluid
extract made by macerating a pound of boneset in 50% alcohol, collecting a half
pint of percolate, then percolating it with water, followed by evaporating the
aqueous percolate to a half pint, combining the two, and filtering the combined
percolates. This 1:1 extract was an improvement because much smaller doses were
effective.
Eclectics
also used boneset for intestinal problems that did not require purging or vomiting,
such as chronic dyspepsia with anxiety. An association between nervous system
dysfunction, intestinal circulation, and poor digestion was posited. Early
homeopathic doctors described it as generally influencing the whole organism.
The herb was included in all 19th century US Pharmacopeias (USPs),
and in the Eclectic Dispensatory of
1852. In 1890, fluid extract of boneset entered the USP.
In 1918, after
the discovery of two distinct complexes in boneset, Lloyd Brothers introduced
Colloidal Specific Medicine Eupatorium. One complex, soluble in water, alcohol,
glycerin, or syrup, is a diaphoretic and tonic. The other, soluble in alcohol
but not in water, glycerin, or syrup, is nauseating and cathartic. This second complex
is precipitated out when extracts sit for 12 hours, and its exclusion made a
palatable tonic that proved especially valuable in the influenza pandemic of
1918. Used as preventive or remedy, infusion or Specific Medicine, boneset
relieved pain and coughing, decreased severity and duration of illness, and was
safer and more effective than other medications available.
After the
1900 8th revision of the USP,
boneset was transferred to the National
Formulary (NF). Naturopathic
colleges in the 1920s continued to teach its uses and preparations. It remained
in the NF through 1946, largely
replaced by synthetic pharmaceuticals. Ironically, at about the same time it
was set aside in medicine, boneset was shown to exert antimicrobial action,
performing well against Gram-positive strains.
In the 1970s,
interest was renewed when phytochemical analysis revealed boneset’s many
interesting compounds. Flavonoids, sesquiterpene lactones, terpene derivatives,
sterols, and caffeic acid derivatives have all been isolated from boneset and
its fractions and distillates.
In 1981, a German
clinical study compared boneset to aspirin for symptoms of the common cold, finding
them equally effective. Subsequent laboratory tests found enhanced phagocytic
activity caused by more than one boneset compound. This may indicate immune-enhancing
effects. Adding echinacea (Echinacea
angustifolia), wild indigo (Baptisia
tinctoria), and arnica (Arnica montana) to boneset produced
an increase in phagocytosis of 50% over echinacea extract alone. British and
American herbalists and naturopaths use boneset, sometimes with other herbs,
for most of the conditions treated by Native Americans over 300 years ago.
Other than its
potential for excessive vomiting or diarrhea, boneset has few adverse effects.
Some have an allergic dermatitis reaction to boneset compounds. While
uncharacterized alkaloids have been reported, pyrrolizidine alkaloids found in
some Eupatorium species have not been
found in boneset. It should be avoided in pregnancy due to potential
abortifacient effects as they occur in cattle when grazing on this plant.
—Mariann Garner-Wizard
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