Categories
Herbs & Plants

Bryonia dioica

Botanical Nam:  Bryonia dioicae

Family: Cucurbitaceae
Subfamily: Cucurbitoideae
Tribe: Benincaseae
Subtribe: Benincasinae
Genus: Bryonia
Species: B. dioica
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Cucurbitales
Synonyms: English Mandrake. Wild Vine. Wild Hops. Wild Nep. Tamus. Ladies’ Seal. Tetterbury.
(French) Navet du diable.

Common Names: Red bryony and White bryony

Habitat: Bryonia dioica is indigenous to Central and Southern Europe.It is rarer in the Midland counties, and not often found in the north of England. It grows in Scrub and woodland, especially on well-drained soils, avoiding acid soils.

Description:
Bryonia dioica is a perennial climber growing to 3.5 m (11ft) by 3 m (9ft) at a fast rate.The leaves are stalked, with the stalk curved, shorter than the blade, which is divided into five lobes, of which the middle one is the longest – all five are slightly angular.

The flowers, which bloom in May, are small, greenish, and produced, generally three or four together, in small bunches springing from the axils of the leaves. Stamens and pistils are never found in the same flower, nor are the flowers which have them individually ever met with on the same plant in this species, whence the name dioica, signifying literally ‘two dwellings.’ The male flowers are in loose, stalked bunches, 3 to 8 flowers in a bunch, or cyme, the stamens having one-celled, yellow anthers. The fertile flowers, easily distinguished from the barren by the presence of an ovary beneath the calyx, are generally either stalkless (sessile) or with very short stalks – two to five together. The corollas in each case consist of five petals, cohering only at the base. The outer green calyx is widely bell-shaped and five-toothed.

The berries, which hang about the bushes after the stem and leaves are withered, are almost the size of peas when ripe, a pale scarlet in colour. They are filled with juice of an unpleasant, foetid odour and contain three to six large seeds, greyish-yellow, mottled with black, and are unwholesome to eat....CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

The whole plant is rather succulent, bright green and somewhat shining.

It is in flower from May to June. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and are pollinated by Bees.The plant is not self-fertile.

The plant, Bryonia dioicais is sometimes used in herbalism. The root, which can be 75 cm (30 in) long and 75 mm (3.0 in) thick, can be used fresh at any time of the year. It can also be harvested in the autumn and be dried for later use.

Cultivation:
A rapid grower, it is of easy cultivation succeeding in most soils that are well drained, avoiding acid soils in the wild. Prefers a sunny position. A very deep-rooted climbing plant, attaching itself to other plants by means of tendrils. The plant is not eaten by rabbits. Plants can be easily encouraged by scattering ripe seed along the base of hedgerows. Dioecious, male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.

Propagation:  Seed – best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Sow stored seed in late winter in a cold frame. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in early spring.

Edible Uses: Young shoots – must be cooked . They are eaten in spring. Caution is advised in the use of this plant, see the notes above regarding toxicity.
Medicinal Uses:
Cathartic; Cytotoxic; Diaphoretic; Expectorant; Hydrogogue; Irritant; Pectoral; Purgative; Vermifuge.

A powerful cathartic and purgative, bryony is used with great caution in present-day herbalism. It is primarily prescribed for painful rheumatic conditions. The root is cathartic, cytotoxic, diaphoretic, expectorant, hydrogogue, irritant, pectoral, purgative and vermifuge. It is used in small quantities internally in the treatment of various inflammatory conditions, bronchial complaints, asthma, intestinal ulcers, hypertension and arthritis. Externally, it is applied as a rubefacient to muscular and joint pains and pleurisy. The root, which can be 75cm long and 75mm thick, can be used fresh at any time of the year, it can also be harvested in the autumn and be dried for later use. This plant should be used with great caution and only under the supervision of a qualified practitioner.  The whole herb has an antiviral effec

Known Hazards: All parts of the plant are poisonous. One report says it is very toxic, another says it is of very low toxicity. The fresh root is a severe skin irritant.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryonia_dioica
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/brywhi77.html
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Bryonia+dioica

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Tamus communis

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Botanical Name:  Tamus communis
Family: Dioscoreaceae
Genus: Dioscorea
Species: D. communis
Kingdom:    Plantae
Order: Dioscoreales

Synonyms:
*Dioscorea communis
*Tamus cretica L.
*Tamus racemosa Gouan
*Smilax rubra Willd.
*Tamus cordifolia Stokes
*Tamus edulis Lowe
*Tamus norsa Lowe
*Dioscorea canariensis Webb & Berthel.
*Tamus canariensis Willd. ex Kunth
*Tamus parviflora Kunth
*Tamus baccifera St.-Lag.
*Tamus cirrhosa Hausskn. ex Bornm.

Common Names:  Black bryony, Lady’s-seal, and Black bindweed

Habitat: Tamus communis  is a native spontaneous species widespread throughout southern and central Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia, from Ireland to the Canary Islands, east to Iran and Crimea. It  is a typical plant of the forest understory, from the sea to the mountains, usually in dense woods, but it can also be found in meadows and hedges.

Description:
Tamus communis is a climbing perennial  herbaceous plant growing to 2–4 m tall, with twining stems. The leaves are spirally arranged, heart-shaped, up to 10 cm long and 8 cm broad, with a petiole up to 5 cm long. It is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The flowers are individually inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, 3–6 mm diameter, with six petals; the male flowers produced in slender 5–10 cm racemes, the female flowers in shorter clusters. The fruit is a bright red berry, 1 cm diameter. Its fairly large tuber is, like the rest of the plant, poisonous. The large, fleshy root is black on the outside and exceedingly acrid, and, although an old cathartic medicine, is a most dangerous remedy when taken internally. It is like that of the yam, thick and tuberous and abounding in starch, but too acrid to be used as food in any manner……..CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Cultivation:    
Requires a moist well-drained fertile soil. A climbing plant, the weak stems support themselves by twining around other plants and are capable of growing quite high up into shrubs and trees. Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.

Propagation:  
Seed – sow in a cold frame in early spring or as soon as the seed is ripe in the autumn. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots once they are large enough to handle, and plant out in the summer or in late spring of the following year.

Edible Uses: Young shoots  are cooked & eaten. A decidedly bitter flavour. An asparagus substitute, it is best if the water is changed once whilst cooking.

Constituents:  The rhizome contains phenanthrenes (7-hydroxy-2,3,4,8-tetramethoxyphenanthrene, 2,3,4-trimethoxy-7,8-methylenedioxyphenanthrene, 3-hydroxy-2,4,-dimethoxy-7,8-methylenedioxyphenanthrene, 2-hydroxy-3,5,7-trimethoxyphenanthrene and 2-hydroxy-3,5,7-trimethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene).

Medicinal Uses:
Antiecchymotic;  Antirheumatic;  Cathartic;  Diuretic;  Emetic;  Haemolytic;  Poultice;  Rubefacient.

Rubifacient, diuretic. The expressed juice of the fresh root, mixed with a little white wine, has been used as a remedy for gravel, being a powerful diuretic, but it is not given internally now, and is not included in the British Pharmacopoeia. Death in most painful form is the result of an overdose, while the effect of a small quantity, varying not with the age only, but according to the idiosyncrasies of the patient, leaves little room for determining the limit between safety and destruction. The expressed juice of the root, with honey, has also been used as a remedy for asthmatic complaints, but other remedies that are safer should be preferred.

The berries act as an emetic, and children should be cautioned against eating them.

As an external irritant, Black Bryony has, however, been used with advantage, and it was formerly much employed. The scraped pulp was applied as a stimulating plaster, and in gout, rheumatism and paralysis has been found serviceable in many instances.

A tincture made from the root proves a most useful application to unbroken chilblains, and also the fruits, steeped in gin, are used for the same remedy.

Black Bryony is a popular remedy for removing discoloration caused by bruises and black eyes, etc. The fresh root is scraped to a pulp and applied in the form of a poultice.

For sores, old writers recommend it being made into an ointment with ‘hog’s grease or wax, or other convenient ointment.’

Known Hazards:    The whole plant is poisonous due to its saponin content. Although toxic, saponins are very poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass through without causing harm. They are also broken down by thorough cooking. Saponins are found in many plants, including several that are often used for food, such as certain beans. It is advisable not to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish. The toxic effect of this plant is not caused by saponins, but by calcium oxalate crystals which are found mainly in the fruit.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioscorea_communis
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/brybla75.html
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Tamus+communis

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Lavatera arborea

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Botanical Name: Lavatera arborea
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Lavatera
Species: L. arborea
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Malvales

Common Names: Malva arborea, or, more recently as Malva eriocalyx, The tree mallow

Habitat:  Lavatera arborea is native to the coasts of western Europe and the Mediterranean region, from the British Isles south to Algeria and Libya, and east to Greece.It tolerates sea water to varying degrees, at up to 100% sea water in its natural habitat, excreting salt through glands on its leaves. This salt tolerance can be a competitive advantage over inland plant species in coastal areas. Its level of salinity tolerance is thought to be improved by soil with higher phosphate content, making guano enrichment particularly beneficial
Description:
Lavatera arborea is a shrubby annual, biennial or perennial plant growing to 0.5–2 m (rarely 3 m) tall. The leaves are orbicular, 8–18 cm diameter, palmately lobed with five to nine lobes, and a coarsely serrated margin. The flowers are 3–4 cm diameter, dark pink to purple and grow in fasciculate axillary clusters of two to seven. It grows mainly on exposed coastal locations, often on small islands, only rarely any distance inland….CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Although long considered a species of Lavatera, genetic and morphological analysis by Martin Forbes Ray, reported in 1998, suggested it was better placed in the genus Malva, in which it was named Malva dendromorpha M.F.Ray. However the earlier name Malva arborea L. (Webb & Berthol.) was validly published and has priority over Malva dendromorpha.

Cultivation:
An easily grown plant, succeeding in any ordinary garden soil in sun or partial shade. Prefers a light well-drained moderately fertile soil in full sun. A soil that is too rich encourages foliar growth at the expense of flowering. Tolerates maritime exposure. Plants are very fast-growing and often flower in their first year from seed. They flower so freely in their second year that they normally die afterwards, though they sometimes perennate. When well sited, this species usually self-sows freely. There are some named forms developed for their ornamental value.

Propagation:
Seed – sow late summer in situ[200]. The seed should germinate within 4 weeks.

Edible Uses: Young leaves – raw or cooked. A mild flavour, but the leaves are dry and hairy and not that agreeable in quantity on their own[K]. They can be used as part of a chopped mixed salad.
Medicineal Uses:
The leaves of the species are used in herbal medicine to treat sprains, by steeping them in hot water and applying the poultice to the affected area. It is theorised that lighthouse keepers may have spread the plant to some British islands for use as a poultice and to treat burns, an occupational hazard. Thought to have been used as an alternative to toilet paper. The seeds are edible and are known in Jersey as “petit pains”, or “little breads”.
Other Uses:
Tree mallow was considered a nutritive animal food in Britain in the 19th century, and is still sometimes used as animal fodder in Europe.

Lavatera arborea has long been cultivated in British gardens, as described in the 1835 self-published book British Phaenogamous Botany, which used the then-common name Sea Tree-mallow: “This species is frequently met with in gardens, where, if it is allowed to scatter its seeds, it will spring up for many successive years, and often attain a large size. The young plants will, as Sir J. E. Smith observes, now and then survive one or more mild Winters; but having once blossomed it perishes.”

While sometimes detrimental to seabird habitat, management of tree mallow (both planting and thinning) has been successfully employed to shelter nesting sites of the threatened roseate tern, which requires more coverage than common terns to impede predation.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavatera_arborea
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Lavatera+arborea
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mallow07.html

Categories
Therapetic treatment

Chronotherapy

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Definition:   Chronotherapy refers to the use of circadian or other rhythmic cycles in the application of therapy. Examples of this are treatments of psychiatric and somatic diseases that are administered according to a schedule that corresponds to a person’s rhythms in order to maximize effectiveness and minimize side effects of the therapy.

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Chronotherapy is used in different fields, examples of this are the treatment of asthma, cancer, hypertension, and multiple types of depression, among others seasonal affective disorder and bipolar disorder. Apart from the clinical applications, chronotherapy is becoming increasingly popular in non-clinical settings, for example on the work floor, where it is used to increase productivity and performance.

*Methods of pharmaceutical chronotherapy:
*Imitative/Mimetic: Imitating the natural changes in a certain substance in the body.
*Preventive/Precautionary: Taking medicines at the moment that they are most necessary, for example taking hypertension medicine at the time of day that the blood pressure is rising.
*Wake therapy

Chronotherapy is a successful treatment of diseases may depend on the time of day or month that a medicine is taken or surgery performed. Asthma and arthritis pain are examples of conditions now being treated by the clock or calendar.

How our bodies marshal defenses against disease depends on many factors, such as age, gender and genetics. Recently, the role of our bodies’ biological rhythms in fighting disease has come under study by some in the medical community.

Our bodies’ rhythms, also known as our biological clocks, take their cue from the environment and the rhythms of the solar system that change night to day and lead one season into another. Our internal clocks are also dictated by our genetic makeup. These clocks influence how our bodies change throughout the day, affecting blood pressure, blood coagulation, blood flow, and other functions.

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Some of the rhythms that affect our bodies include:

*Ultradian, which are cycles shorter than a day (for example, the milliseconds it takes for a neuron to fire, or a 90-minute sleep cycle)
*Circadian, which last about 24 hours (such as sleeping and waking patterns)
*Infradian, referring to cycles longer than 24 hours (for example monthly menstruation)
*Seasonal, such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which causes depression in susceptible people during the short days of winter.

Chronotherapy (sleep phase)
In chronotherapy, an attempt is made to move bedtime and rising time later and later each day, around the clock, until the person is sleeping on a normal schedule. This treatment can be used by people with delayed sleep phase disorder who generally cannot reset their circadian rhythm by moving their bedtime and rising time earlier.

Here’s an example of how chronotherapy could work over a week’s course of treatment, with the patient going to sleep 3 hours later every day until the desired sleep and waketime is reached. (Shifting the sleep phase by 3 hours per day may not always be possible; shorter increments of 1–2 hours are needed in such cases.)[citation needed]

Day 1: sleep 04:00 to 12:00
Day 2: sleep 07:00 to 15:00
Day 3: sleep 10:00 to 18:00
Day 4: sleep 13:00 to 21:00
Day 5: sleep 16:00 to 00:00
Day 6: sleep 19:00 to 03:00
Day 7 to 13: sleep 22:00 to 06:00
Day 14 and thereafter: sleep 23:00 to 07:00
While this technique can provide temporary respite from sleep deprivation, patients may find the desired sleep and waketimes slip. The desired pattern can only be maintained by following a strictly disciplined timetable for sleeping and rising.
Other forms of sleep phase chronotherapy:
A modified chronotherapy is called controlled sleep deprivation with phase advance, SDPA. One stays awake one whole night and day, then goes to bed 90 minutes earlier than usual and maintains the new bedtime for a week. This process is repeated weekly until the desired bedtime is reached.

Sometimes, although extremely infrequently, “reverse” chronotherapy – i.e., gradual movements of bedtime and rising time earlier each day – has been used in treatment of patients with abnormally short circadian rhythms, in an attempt to move their bedtimes to later times of the day. Because circadian rhythms substantially shorter than 24 hours are extremely rare, this type of chronotherapy has remained largely experimental.

Chronotherapy is not well recognized in the medical community, but awareness is increasing. The implications are broad in every area of medicine.”

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Side effects:
The safety of chronotherapy is not fully known. While chronotherapy has been successful for some, it is necessary to rigidly maintain the desired sleep/wake cycle thenceforth. Any deviation in schedule tends to allow the body clock to shift later again.

Chronotherapy has been known to cause non-24-hour sleep–wake disorder in at least three recorded cases, as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1992. Animal studies have suggested that such lengthening could “slow the intrinsic rhythm of the body clock to such an extent that the normal 24-hour day no longer lies within its range of entrainment.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronotherapy_(treatment_scheduling)
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=551
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=551&page=5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronotherapy_(sleep_phase)

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