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                      2.12 Wild yam and contraception
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This one is from Henriette, with help from unca Mike and unca Jonno.

A stubborn question, coming up on the newsgroups and mailing lists again
and again: "How do you use wild yam for herbal birth control?"

Wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) does not work as a herbal birth control.
People who try it invariably end up being called "Mom", unless they're
naturally infertile.

So why is this myth still going strong?

Back in the early 40's the only hormones available were very expensive,
injectable slaughterhouse hormones. An American, Dr. Russell Marker, had
this great idea on making oral hormones from saponins (actually they're not
really hormones, just hormone look-alikes - but that's another topic), and
tried to get backing for research on this from the pharmaceutical companies
of the time. None of these thought this worth pursuing ("we -have-
hormones, enough for our needs, why would anybody want cheap oral
hormones?") (which goes to show just how short-sighted people can be). Dr.
Marker then went abroad, and the Mexican ministry of health said yep,
sounds like a good idea. So he went to Mexico and started to look for
plants with lots of saponins. Both Yucca and Agave roots contain enough
saponins, and both were abundant, but neither was acceptable to the Mexican
government as they were needed in the Tequila industry. So Dr. Marker
settled for a plant that was abundant and easy to grow: Dioscorea mexicana,
Mexican yam. It took him a couple of years to get the "Marker Degradation
Process" going, and he proceeded to make progesterone, in a lab, from the
saponin diosgenin found in said Mexican yam. At first the process was not
economically feasible (at something like 37 steps), but when he got it down
to something like 6 steps, industrial production of oral hormone
look-alikes took off. And so did contraceptive pills.

A decade or three later: officials in strategic places in Mexico are
looking at OPEC, thinking, "Hmmm, those guys have a monopoly -and- money,
we can do that too." So they doubled the prices of the output of their oral
hormone precursor factories, and whammy, next thing you see is Japanese
looking around for cheap raw material - aha, soybeans. So the Japanese put
up a couple of factories of their own, undercut the Mexican prices, and
diosgenin the oral hormone raw material was no more. It's all soybeans now,
folks.

Back then you also saw lots and lots of semi-scientific herbalists latch on
to the sentence "Dioscorea is a hormone precursor". These guys and gals
were totally disregarding the fact that a _lab_ is needed between raw root
and hormone precursor. _People_ use cholesterols as steroid hormone
precursors. The only time you're short of cholesterols is when you're
reduced to skin and bones and one big belly - and if so, you've got far
worse problems to worry about than an upset hormone cycle.

Now why did the name "Mexican yam" morph into things like "Mexican wild
yam", "wild Mexican yam", and later on even into "wild yam" (which properly
is another species altogether, Dioscorea villosa)? In the 50's and 60's
Mexico fell out of fashion and, in the minds of norteamericanos, got an
image as a poor country. In a stroke of genius some semi-scientific
herbalists, this time exclusively from North America (at least at first),
thought "we don't want any of that there imported stuff, we've got wild yam
(Dioscorea villosa), let's use that".
Now, if you know your plants, you know that Dioscorea villosa is a North
American plant that's been widely used as an antispasmodic (it's also
called "colic root"). It has -never- been used for diosgenin extraction,
nor has it therefore ever seen the inside of an oral hormone factory. It
probably won't ever be used that way, either, as a) it doesn't contain
enough saponins to make industrial hormone precursor manufacture worthwile,
and b) it's really not all that abundant, nor all that easy to gather in
quantity.

However, thus was born the name and concept of wild yam cream. Both are
_completely_ off the wall, if you ask me. Be honest about it and call it
progesterone cream, and tell folks just how much natural progesterone you
added to that there cream, so they know in advance just how well the cream
will work.

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                         2.12.1 Edible vs. true yam
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From Michael Moore:
Edible yams and sweet potatoes are simply different strains of the same
plant...edible tubers of several varieties of Ipomoea batatas. NO "true
yam" (Dioscorea spp.) is used in North America for food. Most Dioscoreas
are about as edible as pencil shavings, with less taste.

From Thomas Mueller:
I can't recall ever tasting pencil shavings, but true yams, Dioscorea
genus, are cultivated and eaten in tropical countries, and some are
available in some ethnic markets in the USA. In my experience, these yams
are starchy, not sweet, more like potato than sweet potato, but lower water
content than potato.

From bogus.purr.demon.co.uk (Jack Campin):
And they are widely available in the UK, anywhere there's a sizable Asian
or Afro-Caribbean population, i.e. pretty much any city. The smaller
variety are usually called "eddoes", the large variety just "yams". Nobody
calls sweet potatoes yams here any more (they probably did after WW2; that
was what my father learned to call them when in the army in India and North
Africa, but he unlearned it fast enough in New Zealand).

From Henriette:
Edible yams roots are enormous. Peel, cut into chunks, boil with a bit of
oil and salt. They take longer than your usual starchy vegetable to boil.
They don't get all that soft. The cooking water transforms into an
unappetizing whitish jelly overnight. Not really all that tasty.
Sweet potatoes, batatas, are smaller (in fact, somebody told me, long ago,
the smaller the better). Peel, cut into bits, boil. Add a dash of butter -
yum, tasty! The ones I've tried have all been more or less yellowish
internally, with a whitish sap (sticky when dry) that turns gray on
exposure to air. They're done about as fast as potatoes, and go about as
soft as potatoes, too.
I expect Michael means that the North American species of Dioscorea do not
sport edible roots.

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               2.12.2 Wild yam cream and natural progesterone
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Wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) as such does not contain progesterone nor
anything else that would act like progesterone. It's a good antispasmodic,
and that's it. So, unless your menopausal symptoms include lots of cramps
wild yam won't do squat for them.

The "wild yam" creams that work for menopausal symptoms (like hot
flashes) contain synthetic natural progesterone. Natural progesterone is a
pharmaceutical term. It doesn't mean that the progesterone is
plant-derived, nor that the plants it possibly is derived from are
organically grown - it means that the progesterone is identical to the
human hormone progesterone. Natural progesterone is all synthetical, i.e.
you need a lab to manufacture it from your raw materials. Unless, of
course, it's extracted from animal glands, in which case it's not identical
to our own progesterone (vide the allergic reactions from animal-derived
conjugated hormones), and should be called something else.

How come these creams can contain synthetic progesterone without that being
stated on the label? Natural progesterone is considered a cosmetic in the
USA, because the FDA doesn't recognize that topical progesterone works
("just look at those women, they'll believe -anything- ..."). Labeling of
cosmetics is rather loose, and if you squint hard enough the legislation
gets blurred, too. So you end up with creams labeled "wild yam extract" or
something equally unlikely. This might be bordering on the illegal,
particularly considering that you won't find any progesterone derived from
wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) on the market.

Like I said, be honest about it and call it progesterone cream, -and- add
amounts to your labels.

For further reading you can try John Lee's book "Natural progesterone, the
many roles of a wonderful hormone". He's also written "What your doctor may
not tell you about menopause". I don't have either so can't say how good
they are.

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                      2.13 Red raspberry and pregnancy
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You use an infusion of the leaf of Rubus idaeus to ease pregnancy and/or
childbirth. The controversy is when to use it - throughout the pregnancy or
just the last trimester. One piece of advice on the paracelsus list:

From: herbal.got.net (Roy Upton)
Almost all popular texts state that red raspberry is good to use throughout
pregnancy. On several occasions I have seen first trimester women
experience spotting each time they drank moderate amounts of the tea. When
they discontinued the tea, spotting stopped. Four tried the tea again and
spotting began again. I asked a few midwives about their experience and
found that they too had experienced the same thing, so did not generally
recommend it in the first trimester. I do not feel that red raspberry is
inherently problematic, but also feel that is not necessarily inherently
benign.

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                        2.14 Green tea and caffeine
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The usual question is: does green tea contain caffeine? The answer is yes,
if it hasn't been decaffeinated. So does black tea, and oolong. A good post
on teas in general and green tea in particular:

From alczap.thorne.com (Al Czap):
It is thought that the traditional use of tea (Camellia sinensis) began in
China about 4700 years ago. Europeans were introduced to the beverage in
the 1500's, and by the second half of the 17th century it was being widely
consumed throughout Europe. Today, tea is the second most consumed beverage
in the world (water is #1) with 2.5 million tons of tea leaves produced
annually.

The Chinese produce over 300 varieties of tea, which can be separated into
three basic categories; black tea, oolong tea, and green tea.
These three types of tea can actually be derived from the exact same plant.
The difference between them is how the leaves are handled after harvesting.
Black tea is allowed to ferment, and is then dried. Oolong tea is partially
fermented. Green tea is dried without fermenting. Allowing the tea to
ferment oxidizes naturally-occurring catechins, transforming them into
theaflavins and thearubigin, chemicals responsible for the color and flavor
of black tea. An increase in theaflavins increases the commercial value of
black tea, but decreases the catechin content.

Green tea infusion contains intact catechin polyphenols, which give rise to
its bitterness and astringency. Six catechin polyphenols have been isolated
from green tea; (-)-epigallocatechin, (-)-epicatechin,
(-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG), gallocatechin-3-O-gallate (GCG),
methyl-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate, and (-)-epicatechin-3-O-gallate (ECG).
These substances were tested for their antioxidant activity, and the gallic
acid esters EGCG and EGC were found to be the strongest antioxidants, with
EGCG being over 200 times more active than Vitamin E in an in vitro model.
In another test, EGCG was more active against fat rancidity (lipid
peroxidation) than Vitamin C or Vitamin E, and also exhibited synergistic
action with those vitamins.

Many nutritive and protective qualities have been associated with green
tea, both in infusion and extract form. A Japanese epidemiological study of
9500 non-drinkers/non-smokers age 40 and above showed a decreased incidence
of stroke (CVA) in those consuming green tea, with a direct correlation
between increased consumption and decreased incidence, so that at 3-4 cups
a day the overall incidence of CVA was 17 percent that of people drinking
no tea. Other epidemiological studies show a decreased risk of esophageal,
gastric, and colon neoplasms with tea consumption.

Numerous studies have shown that standardized green tea extracts or
components of the extract exhibit antioxidant activity, stimulation of
glutathione peroxidase and catalase, induction of phase II enzymes, and
inhibition of cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase, and angiotensin converting
enzyme. Green tea extract also has anti-platelet-aggregation activity, and
inhibits delta-amylase and sucrase, in addition to the known effects of
catechin: collagen stabilization, histidine decarboxylase inhibition, and
hepatic support.

Green tea extracts can contain a substantial amount of caffeine, and may be
standardized to low levels of polyphenols. HPLC isolation and
identification reveals that the main constituent of our extract is EGCG
(epigallocatechin gallate), the most active compound in the extract.

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                        2.15 Comfrey hepatotoxicity
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From: Rene Burrough 

Comfrey is the victim of a bad press, inaccurate reports, and four true
cases of toxicity which in themselves are not straightforward, but suggest
overdosing on comfrey. Governments in the UK & Australia have restricted
the uses of comfrey root or banned the plant respectively.

The problem is two-fold: firstly there are two "comfreys" and reference to
them is often casual. Regular, common, medicinal comfrey is Symphytum
officinale. Russian comfrey, the great compost heap maker, is Symphytum x
uplandicum. Medical herbalists in the UK, from whose written reports I am
extrapolating, point out that Russian comfrey was probably the herb used in
the toxicity trials yet regular comfrey is also restricted or banned.

Secondly, when the toxicity tests were done in the late 70s, a chemical
constituent called pyrrolizidine alkaloid was isolated, extracted from
 leaves & injected into baby rats at what many medical herbalists
consider an "unrealistic level". In other words far more comfrey than a
human would eat to get such a toxic level of . Also baby rats are
smaller than humans; they do not have the same metabolism as humans; and an
isolated chemical injected outside the rat's stomach wall is not the same
as a human eating leaves with many chemical constituents and digesting them
normally. A chemical in isolation will cause different reactions from a
group of chemical constituents containing that one as well.

To digress, but to explain, I hope. Aspirin is a synthesized chemical,
acetylsalicylic acid, based on a real life plant constituent found in
meadowsweet & willow. Aspirin can cause ulcerations of the stomach lining;
meadowsweet has a soothing, gummy constituent called mucilage which lines
the stomach, preventing erosion of the stomach wall but allowing the anti
inflammatory properties of the salicylates of the herb to be utilized. OK?

So -- the bad guys in , the  were isolated & did bad things.
But that too must be qualified.

The early research, late 70s, concluded that these  do indeed cause
liver damage in humans. Medical herbalists would point out that
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids can cause obstructions of the veins in the human
liver, known as hepatic veno-occlusion, but  and that the level of alkaloids in comfrey was too low
to  in any case.

And finally, is comfrey carcinogenic? The carcinogenic alkaloid has been
identified as symphytine which apparently is about 5% of the total
alkaloids in comfrey.

The original, often cited report was written by Culver et al in 1980. There
have been many criticisms since of the research itself; how the scientific
testing was conducted, which comfrey was really used, etc. What I found
most interesting was the tumors in all but three of the rats were benign --
out of three groups of 19-28 rats and 3 groups of 15-24 rats. . There were clear cut cases
of liver damage. That's in rats.

There are four cases involving humans which do implicate comfrey. One
involved a woman who was finally diagnosed as having veno-occlusive disease
& did consume a quart of herbal tea/per day that contained comfrey. A
second case involved a boy with Crohns disease who was treated with
conventional medicine for some time before going over to comfrey root &
acupuncture. The long running malnutrition may have weaken the liver
predisposing it to the venal obstruction problem. Comfrey root was blamed.
The drugs were not considered as possibilities. The third case involves a
woman who overdosed: 10 cups of comfrey tea a day & handsful of comfrey
pills. After 9 years, she had serious liver problems. The fourth case
became a fatality. A vegetarian, given to specific food binges for weeks,
took an unknown amount of comfrey for flu like symptoms possibly over a
period of four months. The particulars of his case are blurred. All cases
involve comfrey; in at least three, there are suggestions of overdose or
abuse of the plant. WHICH plant, I don't know.

There are also disagreements about the efficacy & safety of leaves vs.
root. Some studies show the leaf to be almost alkaloid free -- thus safe.
The UK finally restricted the internal use of comfrey root... saying that
there are still too many unanswered questions. Most medical herbalists I
know will politely to vigorously disagree, but the law restricts the root.
At least externally the root's OK here & the leaves can still be used as
tea or poultice.

I'm sorry this is so long, but bear with me one more paragraph, please. I
must credit Penelope Ody, MNIMH, former Editor, writing in Herbs, the
British Herb Society magazine & Margaret Whitelegg, MNIMH, whose paper for
the National Institute of Medical herbalists to the UK government in
 was later published in the European Journal of Herbal
Medicine. Both were published in 1993. I cannot do justice to their
articles so briefly, but I do hope I have fairly summarized their writings.
Any misstatements, confusion of explanations here are mine.

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                        2.15.1 Hepatotoxicity update
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Comment from Henriette:
Yes, the pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in comfrey do hurt your liver. Yes,
you have to take lots of the herb in order to get veno-occlusive liver
disease. No, you can't blame that disease on pharmaceuticals taken at the
same time - they'd hurt the liver in _other_ ways. So don't take lots of
comfrey every day for weeks at a time; if you do believe that you need it
(and not, say, Calendula, which works much the same in wounds, or Plantago,
which works much the same way both in wounds and in coughs; neither of
these are problematic), take it in small amounts.

Know that if your liver is healthy it'll get hit worse than if it's already
compromised. That is because the hepatotoxic PAs are catalysts, much like
freons in the ozone layer - each cell tries its best to detoxify this
molecule, can't do it, dies, and the next one tries, until the PA is passed
out unchanged.

And know, too, that PAs are absorbed through the skin. That means that it's
a really bad idea to use comfrey long-term for wounds.

Some comfreys are more toxic than others. Russian comfrey (Symphytum x
uplandicum) is one of the worst. And there's more hepatotoxic PAs in
comfreys that are grown without a real winter, eg. in California.

Other plants contain the same kinds of hepatotoxic PAs. Among these are,
for instance, borage (not in the seeds, not much in the flower), some of
the senecios, germander (Teucrium chamaedrys), and lungwort (Pulmonaria
sp.). The most toxic ones of the lot are the Lithospermums.

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                              2.16 Pennyroyal
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by Rene Burrough 

In answer to your question...how deadly & which one. The very brief answer
is both IF you're talking about ingesting the isolated, essential oil. So,
here's a longer answer.

Pennyroyal, European Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium). Labiatae.
American Pennyroyal, Mock Pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides). Labiatae.
Other synonyms for American Pennyroyal: Pudding grass, Lurk-in-the-ditch,
Squaw mint, Mosquito plant.

I knew very little about pennyroyal, except that it seems to keep the ant
population down in a large stone planter I have. Six feet long by 2 feet
wide & 3 feet deep to ground level, it has been a hotbed of ant breeding
for 15 years or so. Anything that grew there was by courtesy of millions of
ants. I put two creeping pennyroyals in...and for the last two years there
have been considerably fewer massive colonies of ants. Some have moved
underground and over to the veggie patch, but that's beside the point. Ants
don't like pennyroyal, so that's my starting point.

Certainly the essential oil used topically or the fresh leaves crushed and
rubbed onto the skin will ward off mosquitoes and fleas (see section IX).
Philbrick & Gregg, in their ancient & treasured _Companion Plants_ agree.
They also state that the American pennyroyal yields a commercial oil which
can repel gnats & mosquitoes. Soak a dog collar in an infusion of
pennyroyal or add a strong decoction into the floor washing water are well
regarded folklore remedies by Adele Dawson. Richard Mabey claims pennyroyal
is also good with bites of all kinds, repelling ticks as well as the above.
Tierra suggests using citronella oil with pennyroyal oil for external
application against mosquitoes.

Topically, it is a refrigerant, antiseptic, insect repellent, and thus good
for skin eruptions, itching, formication [the sensation of small insects
crawling all over the skin] & gout [presumably for its cooling property
applied to the affected,  joint in an acute attack].
Parenthetically, it is only the _British Herbal Pharmacopoeia_ that
includes gout in the pennyroyal portfolio.

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                           I HISTORY OF THE NAME
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from Malcolm Stuart's _Encyclopedia of Herbs & Herbalism_
Pennyroyal was held in very high repute for many centuries throughout
Europe & was the most popular member of the mint family. Pliny is regarded
as the originator of its name "pulegium" ...derived from "pulex" meaning
flea...since both the fresh herb & the smoke from the burning leaves
(smudging) were used to eradicate the insects. Linnaeus retained the
association with fleas when he gave the plant its botanical name. Prior to
that scientific classification, the unusual aroma led some to consider it a
thyme.

"Puliol" was an old French name for thyme, & this plant was designated the
royal thyme or "puliol royale" which was corrupted into pennyroyal. In
modern French, the herb is called "la menthe Pouliot".

Herb books written in the US tend to list American Pennyroyal (Hedeoma
pulegioides) first , and medical herbals written in the UK & Europe prefer
Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium). All agree the  pennyroyal has the same
or similar properties. Where the real differences lie are in the appearance
& life cycle of the two herbs.

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                        II DESCRIPTION OF PENNYROYAL
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Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) is an aromatic Perennial and is common wild or
garden plant in the UK, France & Germany; found in wet grounds around the
Med & in Western Asia. Mrs. Grieve says the more common, at least in the
UK, is the creeping or  pennyroyal. With weak, prostrate stems,
though quadrangular -- as all mints have square stems -- it roots easily
where ever the leaf nodes touch the ground. H 10-15cm or 4-6in. S
indefinite.  the upright or sub-erect has stouter stems, &
obviously there's no rooting at leaf nodes. It is less common in the UK but
better for cultivation according to Mrs. G.. H 20-30cm or 8-12in. S
indefinite. A planting will last 4-5 years, though Mrs. G says frost may
kill it, & a new planting should be made each year. Deni Brown lists
pennyroyal as fully hardy [minimum -5C or 5F). Ethne Clarke's _Herb Garden
Design_ shows pennyroyal appropriate for Zones 5-9.

The leaves of Pennyroyal are generally small, ovate, slightly serrate,
slightly hairy, and opposite. For the record, the leaf of the non-creeping
pennyroyal can be up to 3cm or 1.5in long and may be entire rather than
slightly toothed. The color depends on the variety and whether wild or
cultivar. Greyish-green to light green. The IMPRESSION of the appearance of
the leaves is similar to that of wild oregano (Origanum vulgaris),
marjorams (O. majorana, O. onites) & thymes...that is... tiny & crowded
together on thin stems but with more rounded leaves. Not surprisingly Mrs.
G described pennyroyal as .

The small flowers are produced in distinctive, dense whorls (similar to
corn or fieldmint & gingermint in bloom. ) The tight, axillary clusters
appear in July-August with colors ranging from reddish -purple to lilac.
There are few flowering stems on the prostate form; they lie on top of what
appears to be "a dense green turf". Seed is light brown, very small & oval.

To harvest: for drying, the stems should be gathered just before flowering
in July. Pungently aromatic, it can be added to potpourris & insect
sachets. The dried herb can also be made into infusions, liquid extract,
tinctures for medicinal uses. (see section X)

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                   III DESCRIPTION OF AMERICAN PENNYROYAL
             ----------------------------------------------

According to Deni Brown, there are 39 species of annuals & perennials in
the NAmerican genus, Hedeoma. They have no great merit as garden plants,
but are often seen in herb gardens. Its neat habit & aromatic foliage makes
it especially suitable for containers & planting near seats & entrances, or
between paving stones.

American pennyroyal is an Annual, found in dry fields & open woods from the
East coast to Minnesota/Nebraska. It is bushy plant with erect, square
stems. H 10-40cm (4-16in) S 7-24 cm (3-10in) it bears small, opposite, thin
ovate leaves sparingly toothed. Axillary clusters of small, tubular
lavender or purplish flowers appear from June-October. The whole plant has
a pleasant, aromatic, mint-like smell. The name _Hedeoma_ comes from the
Greek  for sweet and  for scent. It has also been described as
having an acrid taste and aroma; none-the-less it is used as the basic
flavoring herb of North Carolina black pudding... hence the local name of
Pudding Grass.

A culinary aside: In the north of England, Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) is
also used in black pudding, and in Spain it is added to sausages.

To harvest: plants should be cut when in flower for drying. The fresh herb
can be gathered and used almost as a "strewing herb" for deterring fleas.

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                     IV THERAPEUTICS OF MENTHA PULEGIUM
             ----------------------------------------------

For the basic framework, I am using the information from the _British
Herbal Pharmacopoeia, 1983_ supplemented by Potter's, Culpepper's Colour,
David Hoffmann, Deni Brown, & Simon Mills.

Actions: Carminative, Spasmolytic = arresting or checking spasm especially
of smooth muscle. [Antispasmodic means preventing or relieving.]
Diaphoretic. Uterine stimulant/ Emmenagogue... principally used for delayed
menses. (see section VIII)

Topically: Refrigerant. Antiseptic. Insect repellent.

Indications: Flatulent dyspepsia. Intestinal colic. The common cold.
Delayed menstruation. Topically: Cutaneous [skin] eruptions. Formication.
Gout.

Specific indications: Delayed menstruation owing to chill or nervous shock.
Contraindication: Inadvisable in pregnancy. (see section VIII)

In small doses & as an infusion, pennyroyal is used for colds (as it
promotes sweating), With its richly aromatic volatile oil, pennyroyal will
ease indigestion, wind, nausea, colic, dyspepsia, and painful menstruation.
It is considered a warming & stimulant herb by Culpepper, while Adele
Dawson also suggests its use in cases of stomach spasm & hysteria. Hoffmann
explains that the volatile oil will relax spasmodic pain & ease anxiety.
NB: This should NOT be construed as ingesting the isolated, essential oil
which could be fatal. (see section IX) The volatile oil is a constituent of
the plant & will be released in the preparation of the infusion.

Pennyroyal is given to children with stomach & bowel upsets & also to ease
feverish symptoms in measles & whooping cough. Taken by infusion according
to Culpepper.

BHP suggested dose: for an infusion: 1- 4gm of dried herb in 1C ** boiling
water; steeped for 10-15 minutes. 3 times a day.
Or 1-4ml of liquid extract (1:1 in 45% alcohol). 3 times a day.
Other herbals consulted tend to suggest smaller doses: up to 2 or 3gm dried
herb; up to 2ml tincture...though Potter's range is from 0.5ml - 5ml of the
liquid extract.
**NB: the general proportions for infusions are: 30gm dried herb or 75gm
fresh herb to 500ml boiling water. So "one cup" is the proverbial length of
a piece of string.

Pennyroyal is available on the General Sales List in the UK. [In itself,
that is an indication of its considered safety.]

The BHP suggests the following combinations: for acute amenorrhea - may be
combined with Chamaelirium (False Unicorn Root), Achillea millefolium
(Yarrow), & Picrasma (Quassia, Quassia Wood, Jamaica Quassia); for
flatulent dyspepsia - may be combined with Filipendula (Meadowsweet),
Althaea Root (Marshmallow root) & Melissa (Lemon Balm); in the common cold
- may be combined with Sambucus (Elderflower) & Achillea millefolium
(Yarrow)

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                   V THERAPEUTICS OF HEDEOMA PULEGIOIDES
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