Posted on February 16, 2010.
Wormwood - medicinal uses, interactions, side effects, Dosagewormwood - medicinal uses, interactions, side effects, dosage Wormwood
Wormwood is a common name for plants of the genus Artemisia specific, which includes over 350 species worldwide. Two species are commonly used in herbal medicine are A. absinthium (mugwort) and A. annua (sweet wormwood Chinese, or "qing hao").
Uses and Benefits:
The preparation of absinthe have been used as medicines for thousands of years. wormwood (A. absinthium) has traditionally been used to eliminate parasitic worms and aromatic as a "bitter" to promote the intestinal secretory activity for the treatment of anorexia, dyspepsia, and "biliary dyskinesia". Absinthe, an alcoholic drink made from A. absinthium extract, was extremely popular at the turn of the century France. Its mild hallucinogenic properties led to the belief that it fostered "creative" and intellectual forces. Many artists, including Van Gogh, celebrated these effects, but its use was eventually banned because of alleged CNS toxicity.
Chinese wormwood (A. annua) has been used for thousands of years by Chinese practitioners for the treatment of fever and related conditions, including malaria. In the 1970s, Chinese scientists isolated the active component of the herb, artemisinin (Qinghaosu), and found he had a fungicidal activity against both chloroquine-sensitive and chloroquine-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Artemisinin and several synthetic derivatives are now used semi in South Asia and Africa, particularly for P. falciparum and severe malaria resistant to several.
Pharmacology:
Mugwort contains a number of biochemical compounds that have physiological effects. Absinthine artabsin and is believed responsible for the bitter properties of grass. Several studies of extracts of wormwood bitter verbal ones, monstrated increased gastric secretion and bile in both humans and animls. The essential oil contains terpenoids Thum, which in toxic doses can cause irritability and self onvulsions. Thujone is considered as the ingredient of absinthe is responsible for CNS toxicity. The structure of thujone is releated camphor and tetrahydrocannabinol, the active component of marijuana, which may explain some of the hallucinatory effects attributed to its use. Santonine, a sesquiterpene lactone isoladted A. absinthium, can paralyze to helminths, which was then unable to maintain their position in the other constituents of absinthe bowellumenJ, including flavonoids, phenolic compounds and coumarins, have in vitro antimicrobial, anti-tumor ilepatoprotective, anti -inflammatory, and insecticidal activity.
Excerpts from the Chinese wormwood also contains a number of volatile oils, including camphor, thujone, cineole, caryophyllene ketone and sagebrush. The sesquiterpene lactone artemisinin (Qinghaosu) has antimalarial activity in animals and in vitro. Artemisinin and its active metabolite, dihydroartemisinin, act fast and parasite clearance times are significantly shorter than other antimalarial drugs.
Clinical Trials:
Common Wormwood-Despite the long history of use as a pest, there are no controlled trials of the grass crude for use in humans. Santonine, isolated from A. absinthium, was reelected
