Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

In large amounts, boneset may cause nausea, vomiting, and violent diarrhea.

Boneset contains chemicals (pyrrolizidines), which in large amounts cause liver damage and liver tumors in laboratory animals. Boneset’s effect on human cancer, if any, is unclear because the plant also contains anti-cancer substances.

However, the pyrrolizidines in some healing herbs, such as comfrey (see page 194), have caused a few cases of liver damage in people who have taken more than recommended amounts for long periods of time. It’s not a good idea to take boneset frequently as a tonic. And don’t take more than recommended amounts. Anyone with a history of alcoholism, liver disease, or cancer should not use this herb without consulting his physician

Toxic When Fresh

Do not eat fresh boneset. It contains a toxic chemical (trernerol). which causes nausea, vomiting, weakness, muscle tremors, increased respiration, and at high doses, possibly even coma and death. Drying the herb eliminates the tremerol and the possibility of poisoning.

The Food and Drug Administration lists boneset as an herb of “undefined safety.” For otherwise healthy nonpregnant, nonnursing adults who have no history of alcoholism, cancer, or liver disease, boneset is considered safe in amounts typically recommended.

Boneset should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If boneset causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or a laxative effect, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

Do not take boneset for more than two weeks at a time, and do not exceed recommended amounts.

Native Cultivation - A Snap to Grow

Boneset is easy to identify because its long, narrow, pointed leaf pairs are not distinct, but rather connected and pierced by the stem.

The herb has round, erect, hairy, hollow stems which grow to 5 feet, then split into three branches, which produce tiny, densely clustered white to bluish florets from midsummer through fall.

A hardy perennial, boneset grows easily from seeds planted in spring or root divisions planted in spring or fall. It prefers rich, moist, well-drained soil under full sun but tolerates poorer soil and partial shade.

Harvest it as it flowers by cutting the entire plant a few inches above the ground.

Modern herbal critics tend to ridicule boneset as passionately as physicians a century ago praised it. One says, “It simply doesn’t work.” Another claims, “Boneset lacks therapeutic merit.” A third writes, “In view of [boneset’s I singular lack of effectiveness, it seems incredible that the plant held official status from 1820 to 1950.”

Boneset’s critics have a point. The herb has never been shown to suppress fever as well as aspirin. However, several recent studies seem to suggest that the herb has some therapeutic value, after all.

Colds and Flu - European studies show this herb helps treat minor viral and bacterial infections by stimulating white blood cells to destroy disease-causing microorganisms more effectively. In Germany, where herbal medicine is more mainstream than it is in the United States, physicians currently use boneset to treat viral infections, such as colds and flu
Arthritis. One study shows boneset is mildly anti-inflammatory, lending some support to its traditional use in treating arthritis.

Intriguing Possibility - Recent studies conducted worldwide suggest the possible immune stimulants in boneset have anti-cancer effects, but more research is needed before boneset can be used to treat tumors.

Myth - Traditional use notwithstanding, boneset has never been shown to be effective against dengue fever or malaria.

Rx for Boneset

To treat colds, flu, and arthritis, and for minor inflammation, use an infusion or tincture. For an infusion, use I to 2 teaspoons of dried leavesper cup of boiling water. Steep 10 to 20 minutes. Drink up to 3 cups a day.

You’ll find the taste very bitter and astringent. Add sugar or honey and lemon, or mix it with an herbal beverage tea.

In a tincture, use 112 to I teaspoon up to three times a day. Boneset should not be given to children under age 2. For older children and people over 65, start with low-strength preparations and increase strength if necessary.

For Colds and Flu

Family: Compositae; (includes Daisy, Dandelion, Marigold)

Genus and Species: Eupatorium Perfolia Tum

Also known as: Feverwort, Sweat Plant

Parts used: Leaves and Flower Tops

Let’s clear up one matter right away: Boneset has nothing to do with mending broken bones. This herb helps treat minor viral and bacterial illnesses by possibly revving up the immune system’s response to infection.

Breakbone Fever

Boneset’s name comes from its traditional use as a treatment for “breakbone fever.” an old term for dengue (pronounced DENG-ee) fever. Dengue is a mosquito-borne, viral disease that causes muscle pains so intense that people imagine their bones are breaking, hence its traditional name Today, dengue is rare in the United States except among overseas travelers, who sometimes return from the tropics with it. Ironically, boneset has never been shown to provide significant relief from dengue fever.

The Indians introduced boneset to early colonists as a sweat- inducer, an old treatment for fevers. The Indians used boneset for all fever-producing illnesses: influenza, cholera, dengue, malaria, and typhoid, hence boneset’s other names, feverwort and sweat plant.

The Indians also used boneset to relieve arthritis and to treat colds, indigestion, constipation, and loss of appetite.

In Every Attic and Woodshed

White settlers adopted boneset so enthusiastically, it was one of early America’s most popular healing herbs. During the Civil War, soldiers used it not only to treat fever but also as a tonic to keep them healthy (Modern science shows this is not a good idea.)

In his classic book American Medicinal Plants, Dr C. F. Millspaugh wrote: “There is probably no plant more extensively or frequently used than this The attic or woodshed of almost every farm house has bunches hanging from the rafters, ready for immediate use should some family member or neighbor be taken with a cold.”
Millspaugh also considered boneset excellent against malaria, a major problem in 19th•century America. He wrote he’d seen the herb cure malaria when it didn’t respond to Peruvian cinchona bark, the source of the anti- malarial drug, quinine.

Herbal Aspirin

Boneset was listed as a treatment for fever in the U.S. Pnarmacopoeia from 1820 through 1916, and in the National Formulary, the pharmacists’ manual, from 1926 through 1950. But over time it fell from favor. replaced by another herbal fever-fighter, aspirin.

Contemporary herbalists continue to recommend boneset enthusiastically for fever In his Holistic Herva/, David Hoffmann calls it “perhaps the best remedy for influenza.”