Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

Coltsfoot contains chemicals (pyrrolizidines) that in large amounts can cause serious liver damage in the form of hepatic veno-occlusive disease (HYOD). This is a condition in which the liver’s blood vessels narrow, impairing its function. In addition, experimental animals fed diets containing large amounts of coltsfoot developed liver cancer, according to a report published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The discovery of hazardous substances in coltsfoot spurred several authorities to condemn the herb as dangerous, even “carcinogenic.” But in Germany, where herbal medicine is considerably more mainstream than it is in the United States, it continues to be widely prescribed, and physicians consider short-term use safe.

A recent laboratory investigation shows that coltsfoot does not cause damage to human chromosomes, which suggests it is not carcinogenic. Carcinogens almost always cause chromosome damage.

On the other hand, pyrrolizidines can cause liver damage.
Anyone with a history of alcoholism or liver disease should not use coltsfoot.

Use with Caution

The Food and Drug Administration lists coltsfoot as an herb of “undefined safety.” For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults who have no history of alcoholism or liver disease and are not taking other drugs with potential liver toxicity, coltsfoot is considered relatively safe in amounts typically recommended.

Coltsfoot should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If coltsfoot causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects, if a cough does not improve significantly in two weeks, if fever develops, or if you cough up brown or bloody phlegm.

Unusual Leaves

Unique among healing herbs, coltsfoot’s flowers precede its leaves. The golden blossoms are among the first wildflowers to appear in spring. But the plant’s broad, hoof-shaped leaves do not appear until after the flowers have withered.

Coltsfoot is a low-growing perennial with flowers resembling marigolds. It’s so easy to grow, it may overrun a garden. But it works well in containers.

Coltsfoot is best propagated from root cuttings planted in spring or fall. It likes a moist, clay soil under full sun or partial shade. Flowers should be gathered in full bloom and dried. Leaves should be harvested when mature.

Scientists are sharply divided on coltsfoot. The German medical text Herbal Medicine calls it “the remedy of choice” for cough, adding, “coltsfoot tea has proved particularly effective in emphysema.” But herb conservative Varro Tyler, Ph.D., calls it carcinogenic and “no longer appropriate therapy”.

Cough and Asthma - Coltsfoot may help treat respiratory problems in several ways. It contains a substance (mucilage) that may soothe the respiratory tract.

A German study using experimental animals showed the herb increases the activity of the microscopic hairs in the breathing tubes that move mucus out of the respiratory tract.

Another experiment shows that the herb suppresses a substance (platelet activating factor or PAF) in the body that is involved in triggering asthma attacks.

Rx for Coltsfoot

If you want to put coltsfoot’s traditional cough-suppressing powers to the test, you should consult with your physician. Use of this particular herb continues to be somewhat controversial in the United States. Coltsfoot (and comfrey) have been banned in Canada and herb critics in the United States are pressing for a similar ban.

In European countries where coltsfoot is routinely used, the herb is taken as an infusion or tincture. As the taste is somewhat bitter, it is often taken with a little honey.

Coltsfoot should not be given to children under the age of 2.

Herb conservatives in this country recommend slippery elm as a safe herb to calm coughs.

World’s Oldest Cough Remedy

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

Genus and Species: Tussilago Farfara

Also known as: Cough plant Coughwort, Horse Hoof, Horse Foot

Parts used: Leaves, flowers

Coltsfoot has been a cough-suppressing mainstay of Asian and European herbal medicine for 2,000 years. And it’s still widely used today In addition to using the herb to treat cough, Chinese physicians have long prescribed it for asthma, colds, flu, bronchial congestion, and even lung cancer.

India’s traditional Ayurvedic doctors prescribed powdered coltsfoot in the form of snuff to treat cough, headache, and nasal congestion.

For cough and asthma, the ancient Greek physician Dioscorides and the Romans Pliny and Galen recommended a coltsfoot treatment that today sounds ridiculous-smoking the herb. But this approach continued for more than 1.500 years.

With characteristic exaggeration, 17th-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper touted coltsfoot not only for “wheezings, shortness of breath, and coughing,” but also for fevers, inflammations, and burning in the “privy parts” (genitals).

Apothecary Signs

In Paris around the time of the French Revolution, coltsfoot was so popular that signs bearing its golden flowers were the standard symbol hung outside apothecary shops.

Colonists introduced coltsfoot into North America, and the Indians adopted it as a cough remedy. For whooping cough, the colonists soaked blankets in buckets of hot coltsfoot infusion and wrapped them around the ill person. The 19th-century American Eclectic physicians prescribed coltsfoot for all respiratory problems and digestive upsets.

Contemporary herbalists recommend the herb for respiratory problems. Some say poultices of the fresh, bruised leaf may be applied to burns, swellings, and inflammations.