Medicinal plant research

[Suffolkrafter]

I've been avoiding getting into medicinal use of plants up until now, but curiosity is really starting to get the better of me.

Question is, how do you sort the wheat from the chaff?

So as one example, I've been looking at black horehound, for which there is plenty of reference to historical use against sickness and nervous disorders. I managed to find several scientific reviews, which list all manner of pharmacological active compounds. More importantly, they also discuss In vitro studies in rat tissue which show that some of these compounds bind receptors implicated in depressive and sleep disorders. They also reference in vivo animal studies and a small clinical study in humans with depressive and sleep disorders, with apparently positive results.
All of this would give me some level of confidence in using black horehound. But there are a lot of plants out there and that level of research takes a lot of time. I'm not averse to spending time, but are there any particular books or guides out there which relate historical use to scientific papers or reviews?
How do you guys make practical use of plants, with confidence that they are effective? Are there any particularly good and well researched resources out there that you would recommend?

 

[Toddy]

I think there are probably three issues here.
Firstly there is family/friends knowledge, and I got very lucky there
Secondly there is the written stuff, from the vagaries of the internet to the old Culpepper.
Thirdly there is the stuff that has actually gone through modern scientific and medicinal trials.

There's a fourth thing I'd mention though; everybody's different.

Case in point, I'm allergic to stuff that just does not bother mostly anyone else. How do you take account for that across the population ? There's the rub for how to believe that this (herb) will do whatever is recommended.

Personally if I don't know of it from long provenance then I look it up in my copy of Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals,

Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals

An enormous increase in the knowledge of herbal drug constituents, their effects, and side effects has occurred in recent years. As a result, many herbal products are undergoing a transition from classic herbal teas to standardized extracts. This new edition of Herbal Drugs and...

www.google.co.uk

Or I have a look in the British Herbal Pharmacopeia,

British Herbal Pharmacopoeia 1996. by British Herbal Medicine Association.: New Hardcover | C. Arden (Bookseller) ABA

Hardcover - Pub. BHMA. 1996 - Condition: New - pp.212. A new hardback. For those serious about the study of phytotherapy this is probably already on your reading list. It is especially good for those who prefer the scientific approach. The book consists of a series of monographs on a number of...

www.abebooks.co.uk

or I look at the Review of Natural Products

The Review of Natural Products

The Review of Natural Products is the foremost source of current natural product information for health care professionals. More than 350 in-depth monographs are included, based on scientific research, not just anecdotal information. The Review of Natural Products provides detailed information...

www.google.co.uk

There's also a WHO committee that's supposed to produce papers.....

Expert Committee for the International Herbal Pharmacopoeia

1. The International Herbal Pharmacopoeia (IHP)The objectives of the IHP are to:formulate an international pharmacopoeial standard by adapting and harmonizing selected monographic entries from existing NPHs/NHPs of different member states, as well as construction of de novo entries that will be...

www.who.int

I think I must have two dozen 'herbals', but honestly, I use maybe three dozen herbs medicinally. I prefer what grows here. I prefer something I know that I grew or saw it growing or from someone I trust to have done the same.
But then, I'm a fussy besom

I think it would be easy to find oneself swamped with too much to try to learn all at once. I would suggest that maybe you just pick a couple of plants every season and see how it builds up. Things like comfrey are in bloom here just now, but by the end of Summer there'll be not a sign of those so useful roots. But I mind where it grew Same with the Meadowsweet and by Winter it'll have gone over, but the roots will still be where I saw them and worth digging up. Right now though the comfrey leaves and the meadowsweet flourish are both worth having.

Best of luck with it it'd make a really good thread to hear how you get on with it all

M

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Thank you for the ideas and advice! I'll take a look at those links, that should keep me going.

I prefer what grows here. I prefer something I know that I grew or saw it growing or from someone I trust to have done the same.

I've started a similar approach, letting edible weeds grow in my garden, collecting seeds and so on. They're nolonger weeds I suppose. It's funny how you get to know your local area and see it in a completely different light as you get to know the plants and their cycles, how each occupies certain micro niches and compete against others.

it'd make a really good thread to hear how you get on with it all

I'm often wittering on about plants here, so yes I will certainly provide updates

 

[Toddy]

Your posts are interesting, not wittering

It's a surprisingly tasty salad is weeds and knowing it's going to be eaten takes the drudgery out of the chore too.
Add in a few edible flower heads and it's a colourful one, and full of micronutrients and vitamins. Wild fruits and seeds add another element as well.

There is another way to look at the herbal stuff though; think on what you might need and look for something to fix it.
Bites, scrapes, toothache, headache, sore throat, upset tummy, that kind of thing.

Legally an untrained person isn't allowed to 'prescribe' a herbal cure, but we can discuss among ourselves what we found worked, iimmc ?

 

[Broch]

This is something I have been working on for a few years now. As I'm sure some are bored of me saying, I am building a database of British native wild plants (plants that are believed to have made it over before the Dogger flooded) and their uses (food, medicinal and utility). I'm trying to get good modern chemical analysis where I can, but also using historic/traditional information. I am using a huge variety of resources and cross-referencing and comparing - it's all a lot of work but very rewarding.

I make specific note of plants I have on my 'patch' and search for 'accepted' treatments for common conditions.

As Toddy says, I cannot and don't 'prescribe' but I can discuss options and experience.

Modern analysis is showing why many of these treatments work rather than disproving them. However, it is also showing up toxins that have long term effects and need to be taken into account.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

I am building a database of British native wild plants (plants that are believed to have made it over before the Dogger flooded) and their uses (food, medicinal and utility).

Sounds like you have a book in the making
It seems that lists of chemical constuents
of many plants are fairly easy to come by on the internet. But what's harder to find is their abundance in a plant, and relating that to a potential and practical dose. But also, where in the plant (root, arial parts), and at what time in the year is the chemical found? Also, a paper may identify, e.g. antifungal or antimicrobial properties of a constituent but have only tested essential oils. Some compounds may have been tested following ethanol extraction rather than water.... And so on. It's a minefield, and as Toddy says you could end up swamped.
Perhaps there's an argument to say that if a plant was used historically for a given indication and subsequently it turns out that there are compounds in the plant that would be effective in treating that indication, then that is pretty good supporting evidence in itself. But anyway, you have to start somewhere and build up. It is fascinating stuff.

 

[Toddy]

I like the Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceutical book for that. It's based on German herbalism, and continental herbalism is very much more 'grounded' than the shattered bits and pieces we have here as the first industrialised nation, first nation with the total reversal of urban/rural population and the concommitant divorce from natural resources. The text is very clear on what is expected from a known quantity, and clearly states which part(s) of the plant are utilised.
I like too that it's by the vast majority plants that are native to Western Europe.

M

 

[Broch]

I like the Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceutical book for that. It's based on German herbalism, and continental herbalism is very much more 'grounded' than the shattered bits and pieces we have here as the first industrialised nation, first nation with the total reversal of urban/rural population and the concommitant divorce from natural resources. The text is very clear on what is expected from a known quantity, and clearly states which part(s) of the plant are utilised.
I like too that it's by the vast majority plants that are native to Western Europe.

M

I agree (I bought it after your recommendation some time ago) - though there's no getting away from it being a very 'dry' book

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Yes I may have to take the plunge on that one, I think it is what I'm looking for. It's not cheap though! In the mean time, the Review of Natural Products is on my birthday list

 

[Toddy]

Look at places other than Amazon for a used copy perhaps ?
It's very straightforward, very much more text book rather than a happy-hippy herbal kind of thing

That maybe didn't come out exactly what I meant to say, but, well, yeah. It's not about teabags and facial washes, put it that way

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Well, I'm now in possession of Review of Natural Products, and also Geoff Dann's excellent Edible Plants book, which Broch, you recommend on another thread I beleive. It's one of the most thorough and well presented books on the subject that I have come across. Thank you all for the recommendations.