“The word drug itself comes from the Dutch word “drug” (via
the French word Drogue),
which means dried plant” -(Absolute
Astronomy, Herbalism).
There are many herbs which make
what our medical field what it is today, as “Many of the pharmaceutical
currently available to physicians have a long history of use as herbal
remedies, including opium, aspirin, digitalis and quinine” (Wikipedia, Herbalism). Though in this
blog I will be covering White Willow, which from my research, is what I know to
be the natural origins of aspirin. Aspirin either comes from spirea, being an ancient “name for the
natural pain reliever meadowsweet” (Keville, 44), or it could
be from “taking the “a” from the “acetyl” and “spirin” from “Spirea””, being named after the primary
compound in white willow, acetylsalicylic acid (Sumner,
135). With
American’s alone consuming over 80 million aspirin tablets a year, its amazing
to find how few people know of its true origins.
me with what I believe is a Salix spp. specifically a weeping willow, in Virginia |
Salix
alba, or white willow, around 2,000 years ago the Greek physician
Dioscorides recommended Salix spp. “willow
leaves mashed with a littler pepper and drunk with wine” to treat lower back
pain. Overall was used by the Greeks to treat pain and gout, and by native
Americans for headaches (Sumner, 133-134). The bark is very bitter and astringent, also traditionally
being used for: diarrhea, fever, pains, arthritis, rheumatism; the poultice was
used for: corns, cuts, cancers, ulcers, poison ivy and rashes (Foster & 321-322). In Europe , during the middle ages, infusions of willow were
used as a folk remedy to treat fever and aches. In 1763, a sir Reverend Edmund
Stone wrote to the president of the Royal Society, that there is a “bark of an
English tree, which I have found by experience to be a powerful astringent, and
very efficacious in curing aguish and intermitting disorders”. Stone creatively
extirpated from the traditional Doctrines of Signatures; since feverish
illnesses were common in the cod, moist English countryside, that plants grow
in areas to provide cures. He contended that “many natural maladies carry their
cures along with them, or their remedies lie not far from their causes”, stinging
nettle’s juice, usually near yellowdock, burdock (Sumner,
133-134).
Native Americans used many types of
willow, Salix alba, being the
commonly known one. The Cherokee used it as a hair wash, to stimulate hair
growth, and the bark as a poultice. The root was chewed for lost voice and
hoarseness, and as an overall tonic. Coastal Plain willow, or Salix caroliniana, was used for thin
blood; an infusion was an emetic for ‘rainbow sickness’, as well as: fever,
stiff neck, backachache, dizziness, diarrhea, headaches; for menstrual
problems, and for body soreness (as a bath) and stomache. Also used for: cleaning the insides, after a death of a patient,
‘ceremonial emetic’; bark infusion for hot feet, Lion sickness: tongue
hanging out, panting
(Moerman, 430-435).
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/ a/a1/Thom%C3%A9_Salix_alba_clean.jpg |
Willow active compound salacin,
which converts in the stomach to salicylic acid (Keville,
44), was
synthesized into what is know today as aspirin, being present in this herb and
meadowsweet (Keville, 5). Bark extract
of Salix alba was tested between
“1821 and 1829 during which time salicin was identified”, in 1838 the compound
of “salicylic acid was produced through the oxidation and hydrolysis of
salicin” (Mowrey, 224). White willow
though, was synthesized into what is now known as aspirin in 1875, being
researched primarily by Felix Hoffman, an employee at the, “Bayer division of
I.G. Farben, a Germany
company” (Sumner, 134). Felix originally started doing so in hopes of treating his
father’s bad rheumatoid arthritis, and after giving his father the “salicylate
compound” which caused his dad too much “acute stomach pain” (Sumner, 134), so by 1893,
and, “produced acetylsalicylic acid from salicylic acid” (Mowrey, 224)
The analgesic effects of willow
are slower, yet longer lasting than aspirin, and do not cause internal bleeding,
especially of the stomach lining (Balch, 142). It has been noted in several of my herbal books, that with
aspirin being such a “a powerful, concentrated synthetic extract of, “its
herbal counterparts…that medical researchers say that if it were introduced
today, instead of in the more lenient nineteenth century, the Food and Drug
Administration…would demand that it be sold by prescription only” (Keville, 45).
Has many of the same uses currently, as
historically: fevers, colds, infections, acute and chronic rheumatic disorders,
headaches, inflammation related pain
A study found that if you combined
100 mg of white willow it reduced pain and improved functioning in people with
osteoarthritis (Balch, 142). Ten studies have
found that patients with radiation treatment found that Salix SST, a
saliva-stimulating lozenges containing the active principles of willow bark,
relieved symptoms of dry mouth and improved sleep and speech (Balch, 142). clinical
testing on willow bark in England shows, from centre for complementary heath
studies at the University of Exeter, 82 participants with chronic arthritis
pain herbal drug containing willow bark, or placebo…after 2 months, those on
the willow bark medication found to be superior (Balch, 142).
Personally,
I love taking white willow, Salix alba, tincture
for headaches, cramps, general aches and fevers, and for me it works wonders!
Balch, Phyllis A.
Prescription for Herbal Heaing: an
easy-to-use!-to-Z reference to hundreds of common disorders and their herbal
remedies. Avery: a member of Penguin Putnam Inc, New York . 2002. Print.
Foster, Steven. Herbal Renaissance: growing, using &
understanding herbs in the modern world. Gibbs Smith Publisher, Salt Lake City , Utah.1993.
87. Print.
Keville, Kathi,
and Peter Korn. Herbs for Health and Healing. Emmaus , Penn. :
Rodale, 1996. Print.
Moerman, Daniel
E. Native American Medicinal Plant: an Ethnobotanical Dictionary-the
medicinal uses of more than 3000 plants by 218 Native American tribes. Timber Press Inc, Portland ,
Oregon & London . 2009. Print.
Mowrey, Daniel. The Scientific Validation of Herbal
Medicine. McGraw Hill Publishing, 1st Edition. 1986. Print.
Sumner, Judith. The Natural History of Medicinal Plants. Timber
Press Inc. publishing, Portland ,
Oregon . 2000. Print.