The Earthwise Herbal Repertory

by Matthew Wood

  Pericarditis: • Aconite (homeopathic; acute) • Asclepias tuberosa • Selenicereus • Capsicum • Cimicifuga (rheumatic) • Crataegus • Lycopus.

  Irregular Heartbeat: • Angelica • Crataegus (extra systoles) • Lycopus (rapid, irregular, tumultuous pulse) • Prunus serotina • Scoparium (atrial and ventricular fibrillation).

  Tachycardia (extremely rapid pulse): • Convallaria (rapid, weak pulse; arrhythmia) • Crataegus (paroxysmal, comes and goes) • Ganoderma (anxiety, nervousness) • Leonurus (circulatory excitation, nervousness) • Lycopus (rapid, irregular pulse; nervous, anxious) • Prunus serotina (rapid, irregular pulse) • Scoparium (myocardial weakness) • Tilia (autoimmune excitation; high blood pressure) • Viscum.

  Bradycardia (slow pulse): • Selenicereus (slow, chaotic pulse) • CONVALLARIA • Cnicus • Crataegus • Crocus (saffron) • Lycopus • Melissa • Prunus serotina (slow, irregular) • Zanthoxylum.

  Anxiety with Cardiopathy: • Avena • Leonurus • Lycopus • Melissa • Scutellaria.

  Anxiety without Cardiopathy: • Calendula (from swollen lymphatics causing pressure on heart—Wood) • Selenicereus

  Note: Anxiety without cardiopathy frequently occurs due to indigestion, heartburn, GI spasm, or other problems that give a sensation of pain in the region of the heart. Of course, a cardiovascular specialist needs to analyze the case, and even then there may be uncertainty. Early in my career, at the little herb store in the inner city, a man in his mid-thirties came in with great concern about a pain in his heart. He had given up his regular job as a cab driver because he was afraid to drive over bridges.

  “How do you support your family,” I asked? (I knew his wife and children.) “Well I’m a mighty good cardplayer,” he replied. I convinced him to go see a cardiac specialist, and he discovered that he only had a displaced vertebra. Thirty-five years ago, the inner-city minority communities were underserved by doctors of their own color and culture, leading to a lot of mistrust of the medical system.

  Valvular Disease, Regurgitations: • APOCYNUM CANNABINUM (homeopathic; mitral and tricuspid regurgitation; watery infiltration due to valvular disease) • SELENICEREUS (asthenia; hyperthyroidism; mitral regurgitation) • COLLINSONIA (with sense of heaviness).

  Heartache, Broken Heart: See “Mind, Emotions, Will.” Research has established beyond doubt that emotions can cause heart disease.

  Vasculature

  Arteriosclerosis: • Achillea • Allium cepa • Allium sativa (reduces HBP and plaque; needs to be taken long-term) • Althaea officinalis • Ammi (coronary) • Ananas (bromelain, from pineapples; reduces blood clotting; anti-inflammatory) • Angelica sinensis • Arctium (lowers lipids) • Capsicum (with confusion, sluggishness, in the middle-aged and elderly) • Chrysanthemum (flower) • Coleus • Commiphora muki (prevents, reduces; lowers cholesterol, triglycerides) • Commiphora myrrha • Convallaria (coronary) • CRATAEGUS (coronary; cheek tissues are often red) • Curcuma • Fucus • EQUISETUM • Eleutherococcus (lowers lipids) • Gingko • Harpagophytum (lowers lipids) • Juglans nigra • Myrica (dry membranes, skin; increases peripheral circulation) • Opuntia (lowers lipids; juice) • Panax quinquefolius (lowers lipids) • Papaver (with depression) • Polygonum hydropiperoides • Prunus serotina (irregular pulse) • Prunus spinosa (syrup) • Rosmarinus • Taraxacum • TILIA • Tribulus (lowers lipids) • Vaccinium • Vinca minor (cerebral) • Viscum • Vitis (prevents and even removes cholesterol build-up; seed extract) • Zanthoxylum • Zingiberis (lowers cholesterol, lessens blood clots, opens circulation; with confusion, sluggishness).

  High Cholesterol: • Allium sativa (excess in serum; removes deposits—Weiss and others) • Arctium (root) • Centella • Commiphora muki • Crataegus • Cynara • Eleutherococcus • Ganoderma • Gymnema • Juglans nigra (leaf) • Linum (flaxseed oil) • Medicago • Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom) • Taraxacum • Trigonella • Vitis (seed extract; prevents and even removes cholesterol build-up).

  Note: Also see “Arteriosclerosis,” in this section and “High Serum Cholesterol Levels” under “Blood.”

  Capillary Fragility: • Ceanothus (internal extravasation of blood) • Crataegus (berries) • Fagopyrum (petechiae due to capillary fragility; frostbite; hypertension) • Opuntia (juice from flowers and fruits) • Quercus • VACCINIUM MYRTILLUS • Viola tricolor • Vitis (seed extract; capillary fragility in the brain).

  Varicose Veins: • ACHILLEA (skin red with blue veins; spider veins; aneurism) • AESCULUS GLABRA (legs, inner thighs; external or internal) • AESCULUS HIP. (tension and relaxation causing venous stasis; legs, inner thighs; external or internal) • Agrimonia (ulcerated; use in ointment) • Bellis • Calendula (external) • Capsicum (senescence) • Centella (strengthens connective tissue) • Chelidonium (in the right shoulder, due to liver congestion) • Cinnamomum spp. (stimulating astringent) • COLLINSONIA (venous stasis; legs, inner things; chronic poor diet, lipid digestion) • Crataegus • EQUISETUM (strengthens connective tissue) • Fagopyrum • FOUQUERIA (pelvic congestion; legs, inner thighs; chronic poor diet, lipid digestion) • HAMAMELIS (venous stasis with enfeebled circulation) • Lamium (astringent; compress) • Myrica (enfeebled circulation) • Phytolacca (ulcerated) • Potentilla • QUERCUS (blue-black and yellow, knobby, swollen, ugly) • RUSCUS • Salvia (blue/grey complexion; ulcerated) • Sanicula (relaxed tissue) • Silybum (hard, ropy) • Symphytum (sitz bath) • Vaccinium myrtillus (astringent).

  Thrombosis, Phlebitis: • Aesculus hip. • Hypericum • Linum (fresh ground seed poultice) • Ruscus • Symphytum (warm root compress, continually applied—Parton).

  Pulsations in Abdomen (Pulsating Aorta): • CINNAMOMUM CASSIA (feeling of upward motion or pulsation in abdomen; palpitations, insomnia; easily startled, flushed feeling, feverish—Huang) • Helianthus (pulsations in abdomen—Burnett).

  Note: This is a syndrome known as “running piglet” in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

  FORMULARY

  Capsicum—with Hydrastis (myocardial tonic). Ellingwood.

  Crataegus—with Allium sativa and Viscum album (5 parts each), and Arnica (½-part): 10 drops, 3/x day; use for long period (arteriosclerosis). Sherman.

  Crataegus—with Selenicereus, Tilia, Viscum, Scutellaria, Melissa (heart tonic).

  Crataegus—with Achillea, Tilia, Melissa (high blood pressure).

  Fagopyrum—with Vitamin C (to reduce capillary permeability). BHP 1983, 90.

  Hamamelis extract—with Calendula (varicose veins). BHP 1983, 45.

  Leonurus—with Avena, Ganoderma, Rhodiola (stress-induced high blood pressure). D. Winston.

  Prunus serotina—with Quercus and Populus tremuloides, or Liriodendrum (circulatory and heart tonic).

  Rosmarinus—with Aesculus hip. (varicose veins; brings the blood up to torso from below).

  Scolopendrium—with Agropyron, Althaea (hypertension).

  Tilia—with Chrysanthemum flower, Leonurus (mild high blood pressure).

  Zingiberis—with Myrica, Tsuga canadensis, Capsicum (small amount), Eugenia (small amount), powder (Samuel Thomson’s famous “Composition Powder” used to bring the circulation to the surface). Les Moore 2002, 51.

  LEMON BALM (MELISSA OFFICINALIS)

  This was used in one of the “cordials” of ancient times. The name “cordial” comes from the Latin cor/cardio- (“heart”), but cordials act more on the metaphorical heart than the physical. Samuel Westcott Tilke (1844) quotes one of the old Roman authors approvingly; according to Serapio, “A strong infusion, often drunk, causeth the mind to be merry, and reviveth the heart when faint. Good for those who have weak digestions.”

  Stomach and Upper Gastrointestinal Tract

  The upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract begins with the lips and teeth, and continues to the end of the stomach. This part of the tract is concerned mainly with digestion—in particular, the breakdown of large chunks of food into a slurry ready for the ferocious digestive enzymes in the small intestine to tear
into the fundamental particles that can be taken into the body through the gut wall. The main components of the upper GI are the mouth, throat/esophagus, and stomach.

  Though composed of separate parts, the GI tract as a whole tends to function as a unit. Conditions in one area usually affect those in another. The mouth usually affects the stomach, and vice-versa. An imbalance may fall heavily on a single organ, but the whole tract is affected. With the GI more than anywhere else, perhaps, we need to keep our eyes on the whole and the parts.

  The mouth and tongue have already been addressed as separate structures, but as part of the upper gastrointestinal tract as a whole, some additional facts can be offered. First, both are important for offering physical, observable evidence of the condition of the whole tract. Second, as the “antechamber” of the GI, they “set up” the digestive process, and if they are off-balance the whole tract will suffer.

  The condition of the teeth has already been addressed.

  On the tongue and throughout the mouth, we can read the general state of the mucosa of the upper GI. If we combine this knowledge with a few questions and observations, we can fairly easily understand what is going on in the stomach. Heat/excitation shows in high-red, pink-red, or carmine tongue and oral mucosa (Rumex crispus, Amygdalus, Prunus serotina, Rheum). Usually there is excess activity in the tract—too much salivation, hunger, HCl (hydrochloric acid), and/or diarrhea. Aggravation of this condition from eating spicy food indicates a state of heat/excitation, while improvement after eating spices indicates a cold/depressed tissue state. This is an extremely reliable differentiating symptom. A pale or dark tongue, with lack of salivation, and improvement from eating spices, indicates cold/depression, lack of digestive juices and the need for warming stimulants for the stomach (Angelica, Acorus, Citrus aurantium, Capsicum). These are often combined with bitters to provoke salivation and digestive juices in the stomach.

  When gas and bloating is present, we have either dryness or tension. The differential symptom is whether the bloating comes on suddenly (in which case it is wind, tension) or comes slowly and goes slowly (dryness). Tension, again, is like wind (which it is called in TCM)—it comes suddenly and goes suddenly. This is the way a cramp happens, in contrast to how a lack of stomach acid and digestive juice manifests. The latter condition comes on slowly because the secretions are too slow to digest the meal. Low stomach acidity proceeds and ends slowly, as the prolonged digestion finally finishes.

  For wind/tension we need relaxants (Mentha piperita, Foeniculum, Fumaria, Nepeta). Since the tongue is the only strong muscle in the mouth, that is where neuromuscular tension shows—in a shaking tongue. For lack of secretion, we need bitters (Carum, Gentiana, Mahonia). Sometimes there is a need for nerve tonics (Lycopodium, Betonica, Hydrastis).

  Some remedies combine properties nicely (Angelica and Acorus are bitter, pungent, and relaxing; Pimpinella is sweet and relaxing; Citrus aurantium is both sweet and bitter). Combining the cooling and stimulating with the bitter and astringent is indicated by a dark-blue tongue center with hot, red, damp edges—revealing stagnant blood in the stomach, as TCM would say, with drying-out of fluids due to poor circulation, but fluid loss appearing as dampness in the periphery (Achillea).

  The two excess-dampness states (relaxation and stagnation) appear in two different ways. A damp, watery tongue indicates excess saliva, drinking too much liquid with eating, a relaxed tissue state, and the need for astringents. In China, warming remedies would be used, while in the West we tend to use astringents; the two properties combine very well. As the dampness of relaxation gets colder, it congeals to a white or mild-yellow, thrush-like tongue coating, which is easily washed off (Nymphaea, Rumex crispus, Rheum, Comptonia, Myrica). Damp stagnation, by contrast, is indicated by a heavy, yellow, adhesive, difficult-to-remove, oily coating. This is what Samuel Thomson called “canker.” Oil, the heavier liquid, is backing up in the system. This condition is related to weak metabolism (liver, cells, thyroid) and poor elimination (gall bladder, colon). The alteratives are needed in this case; these act more on the liver/gall bladder than on the stomach. We can use Mahonia, Taraxacum, and Arctium here.

  Another polarity is between the areas above and below the swallowing mechanism. The throat marks the descent from the conscious realm to the unconscious. The former is ruled by the central nervous system (CNS), the latter by the autonomic (ANS). So the stomach is controlled by the ANS, and therefore associated with unconscious processes, emotions, and instincts, rather than conscious ones. If the stomach doesn’t like something, it can throw it up, so discomfort (physical and psychological) shows up as nausea and vomiting. The emotion of the stomach is animal instinct.

  As a strong muscle, the stomach is much more influenced by the tissue state of tension (Fumaria, Nepeta, Dioscorea). It is also the place where the ANS (autonomic) “comes to the surface,” to communicate with us through “gut-level” or “animal” instincts (or “thumps on the belly”). Therefore, it is subject to both physical and psychological tension. Weak instincts need Lycopodium, Betonica, Hydrastis, Hypericum, and Gentiana, while excessive churning emotions in the stomach and excessive appetite need Rumex crispus and Rheum. Self-doubt and indecisiveness call for Gentiana, Betonica, and Hypericum, as they are associated with both the gall bladder (gall, the ego, decision-making) and the stomach.

  Conditions in the esophagus usually originate in the stomach, through esophageal reflux (GERD), though poor esophagus tone requiring astringents may also occur. If stomach secretions are highly deficient, there will be fermentation and inflammation there, with esophageal reflux (requiring stimulants and bitters). Esophageal reflux from fermentation needs to be differentiated from the more common type caused by excess stomach acid. When reflux is caused by fermentation, the tongue is red at the tip and in the center, elongated, and flame-shaped, and there will probably be excess saliva (Rumex crispus, Rheum).

  Stomach ulceration is usually due to cold/depression—lack of circulation to the stomach. This calls for strong stimulants—Capsicum, Hydrastis, Asarum—as well as mucilages to coat against the excess acidity and bitters to increase secretion. In European medicine, at least until a generation ago, stomach ulceration was seen as a forerunner of gastric cancer, so it is important to effectively treat this condition.

  A very slight, white coating on the tongue indicates exfoliation of dead cells from the tongue that were not washed off due to lack of secretions. This is a dryness symptom, requiring bitters. A wide tongue, apathetic-looking and lacking in character, slightly dry and sometimes ulcerated, indicates a need for the great stomach-specific nervine stimulant Hydrastis. A red, flame-shaped tongue with a heavy coating of white or light yellow indicates heat with damp—use Rumex crispus or Rheum. Bad breath—when not due to poor hygiene—indicates putrefaction (Baptisia, Isatis, Helianthemum, Propolis). Cavities indicate Panax quinquefolius (for lack of saliva) and Quercus (for cavitation), adding Plantago and other remedies if root abscesses are also present. Treat germs like Helicobacter heilmannii (Gastrospirillum hominis) with antiputrefactives and tissue tonics such as Hydrastis.

  Heartburn, Esophageal Reflux, GERD (hyperchlorhydria): • Aloe vera (fresh gel) • Althaea • Apium • Chamomilla • CHONDRUS • Cnicus (bitter) • Crocus sativa • Dioscorea • FILIPENDULA (atonic dyspepsia with hyperacidity) • Fumaria • Gentiana • Glycyrrhiza • HYPERICUM (with anxiety, solar plexus issues) • IRIS (acidity, gastric reflux) • Mahonia • Medicago sativa (acidity) • Nepeta • Pimpinella • Rheum (excess saliva, appetite, and acid) • RUMEX CRISPUS (excess saliva, appetite, and acid) • Urtica (hypersecretion, nausea) • Viburnum prunifolium • Zanthoxylum.

  Low acid (achlorhydria): • Acorus (warming, pungent, bitter) • Agrimonia (with gallbladder problems • ANGELICA (warming, pungent, bitter) • Arctium (“lack of secretion”—Sherman) • Armoracia (stimulant adjuvant) • Artemisia absinthium (bitter) • Berberis (bitter) • CARUM (bitter) • Centaurium (after serious illness) • Cinnamomum
spp. (warming astringent) • CITRUS AURANTIUM (orange peel is the best-tasting bitter, and combines well with others) • Cnicus (decoction—Weiss) • Collinsonia • Gentiana (bitter; if debilitated and discouraged) • Inula (bitter, pungent) • Mentha piperita • Menyanthes • Taraxacum (sweet and bitter) • Zingiberis (warming and relaxing).

  Appetite, Lack of (Simple Anorexia): • Achillea (tea) • Acorus (cold tea) • ALETRIS • Anemopsis • Armoracia (stimulant adjuvant) • ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM (bitter) • Artemisia vulgaris • Asclepias tuberosa (“with depressed autonomic and mesenteric stimulation”—M. Moore) • Cannabis • Capsicum (achlorhydria) • Carum (bitter) • CENTAURIUM (children) • Chamomilla • Chelone (convalescence; ileocecal cramps) • Cichorium (tea) • Cimicifuga • Cinchona (bitter astringent) • Cinnamomum • CODONOPSIS (weak, thin, dried-out, lacking saliva, anorexic, bloated) • Cola (atonic digestion, exhaustion) • Coriandrum (slowness, sluggish digestion, eructations, flatus) • Cnicus (bitter) • Crataegus (internal) • Eriodictyon • Euonymus • Filipendula (nervous, uncomfortable) • Foeniculum • Frasera (after GI infections) • GENTIANA (anxious to put on weight) • Geum • Humulus • Hydrasis (bitter) • Juniperus • LEVISTICUM • Lobelia (nausea) • Melissa • Menyanthes • Myrica • Panax quinquefolius • Podophyllum (heavy head, dizziness, full feeling in stomach) • Populus (nervous) • Prunus serotina (gastric irritability) • Raphanus (gas, bloating, indigestion, lack of appetite, constipation; use sparingly when ulceration is present) • Rosmarinus (Weiss) • Salvia (tea) • Sanguisorba • Taraxacum (Weiss) • Teucrium • Thymus (bath) • Turnera (loss of pleasure in food) • TRIGONELLA • Zanthoxylum (achlorhydria) • Zingiberis (gas, spasm, contraction).