Bearsfoot, american Health Dictionary

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Bearsfoot, American: From 1 Different Sources

 Polymnia uvedalia L. Root

Action: Stimulant alterative, spleen tonic. Lymphatic. Anti-malarial. Analgesic (mild). Laxative.

Uses: Swollen glands. Liver congestion. Splenetic enlargement. Mastitis, to reduce benign swelling. Preparations. Thrice daily.

Decoction: 1 teaspoon shredded root to large cup water simmered gently 5 minutes. Dose: One-third of a cup.

Liquid Extract: 30-60 drops.

Externally as a hair tonic. 

Health Source: Bartrams Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine
Author: Health Encyclopedia

Mandrake, American

Podophyllum peltatum. N.O. Berberidaceae.

Synonym: May Apple, Racoonberry, Wild Lemon.

Habitat: A common plant in the United States and Canada, the root is imported into this country in large quantities for medicinal purposes.

Features ? The rhizome (as the part used should more strictly be termed) is reddish- brown in colour, fairly smooth, and has knotty joints at distances of about two inches. The fracture shows whitish and mealy.

American Mandrake is an entirely different plant from White Bryony or English Mandrake, dealt with elsewhere. Preparations of the rhizome of the American Mandrake are found in practice to be much more effective than those of the resin. This is one of the many confirmations of one of the basic postulates of herbal medicine—the nearer we can get to natural conditions the better the results. Therapeutic principles are never the same when taken from their proper environment.

Podophyllum is a very valuable hepatic, and a thorough but slow-acting purgative. Correctly compounded with other herbs it is wonderfully effective in congested conditions of the liver, and has a salutary influence on other parts of the system, the glands in particular being helped to normal functioning. Although apparently unrecognised in Coffin's day, the modern natural healer highly appreciates the virtues of this medicine and has many uses for it.

As American Mandrake is so powerful in certain of its actions, and needs such skillful combination with other herbs, it should not be used by the public without the advice of one experienced in prescribing it to

individual needs.... mandrake, american

Agave Americana

Linn.

Family: Agavaceae.

Habitat: Native to America; grown in gardens for ornamentation.

English: Century Plant, American Aloe.

Ayurvedic: Kaantala (related sp.).

Siddha/Tamil: Alagai.

Folk: Ban-Kevaraa.

Action: Leaf juice—used for warts, cancerous ulcers and putrid tumours. Leaves are also used as a resolvant in syphilis and scrofula.

The leaves contain ten steroidal sa- ponins (six of these are spirostanolic and four furostanolic), also hecogenin (0.20%) and piscidic acid. The seeds contain steroid sapogenins including hecogenin. The plant exhibits significant antibacterial activity.... agave americana

Necator Americanus

A hookworm, closely resembling but smaller than the Ancylostoma duodenale. (See ANCYLOSTOMIASIS.)... necator americanus

Persea Americana

Mill.

Synonym: P. gratissima Gaertn. f.

Family: Lauraceae.

Habitat: Native to Central America; introduced into India and grown for its fruit in Bangalore, Nandi Hills, Courtallam, Nagarcoil, Shevaroys, lower Palnis and the foothills of the Nilgiris; also in Pune.

English: Avocado, Alligator Pear, Butter Fruit.

Action: Fruit—hypocholestero- laemic. Leaf—bacteriostatic; potentially toxic to goats and sheep.

The fruit is highly nutritious. The fruit from Nilgiris contains 22.8% fat, 1.7% protein; also manganese, phosphorus, iron, potassium, vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene, thiamine, ri- boflavin, nicotinic acid and foliate. It is relatively low in sodium and simple sugars.

American Avocado is rich in oil (1530 g/100 g fresh fruit) that is mainly monounsaturated and a good source of linoleic acid. Its high fiber content might be responsible for its cholesterol lowering effects.

Preliminary evidence suggests that unsaponifiable fractions of Avocado and soybean oils (combination) can inhibit cartilage degradation and promote cartilage repair in osteoarthritic chondrocytes. (Properties of Avocado cited in Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, 2007.) Avocado oil is used in cosmetic preparations, soaps and pharmaceuticals. The peel of immature fruit contains antifungal compounds. The fruit pulp is used topically to promote hair growth.... persea americana

Ginseng - American

Five-fingers. Panax quinquefolium L. Dried root. Keynote: stress with stomach symptoms.

Action: adaptogen, digestive relaxant, hypoglycaemic, aphrodisiac, old-age re-vitaliser.

Uses: Irritable or nervous stomach caused by pressure of work and other stresses. Lack of appetite. Low blood pressure. Sustains nerves and immune system in physical exhaustion and infection.

Preparations: Average dose: half-4 grams dried root. Thrice daily. Powder: made palatable in honey. ... ginseng - american

American Medical Association

(AMA) a professional organization for US physicians. Its purposes include dissemination of scientific information through journals, a weekly newspaper, and a website; representation of the profession to Congress and state legislatures; keeping members informed of pending health and medical legislation; evaluating prescription and non-prescription drugs; and cooperating with other organizations in setting standards for hospitals and medical schools. The AMA maintains a comprehensive directory of licensed physicians in the US.... american medical association

Ximenia Americana

Linn.

Synonym: X. spinosa Salisb.

Family: Olacaceae.

Habitat: Both the Peninsulas and the Andaman Islands.

English: Tallow-Wood, False Sandal-Wood.

Siddha/Tamil: Chiru-illantai, Kadaranji, Siruyilandai.

Action: Fruits—known as Wild Plum or Wild Olive, are used as a substitute for lemon. Fruits and seeds—laxative. Root and leaves— decoction given in jaundice, diarrhoea and during fevers. Root—used for venereal diseases. Bark—astringent, applied to sores. Wood—used as a substitute for sandalwood.

The root contains fat, rich in acety- lenic acids, including ximenynic acid. The bark contains 17% tannin. An extract of leaves gave positive test for presence of free triterpenoids.

Alcoholic extract of the plant showed antiviral and hypotensive activity in primary tests on animals.

A cyanogenic and antimicrobial constituent, sambunigrin, is present in the plant. Natural lignified products from the plant significantly stimulate iodination of human peripheral blood polymorphonuclear cells.

The fruit contains 60.3 mg/100 g ascorbic acid.... ximenia americana

Zanthoxylum Americanum

Mill.

Family: Rutaceae.

Habitat: Canada and North America.

English: Toothache tree, Prickly Ash.

Action: Bark, berries—used internally and externaly to treat rheumatism and toothache; also for circulatory insufficiency and fevers.

The bark contains alkaloids gamma- fagarine, beta-fagarine, magnoflorine, laurifoline, nitidine, chelerythrine, tembetarine, candicine; coumarins include xanthyletine, xanthoxyletin and alloxanthyletin.

Related species, found in India, give more or less similar pattern of chemical constituents and therapeutic activities. The bark of Z. armatum is used for cleaning teeth. The seeds of Z. acanthopodium are extensively used in the preparation of tooth-powders. The fruits of Z. budrunga and the root of Z. nitidum are prescribed for toothache.... zanthoxylum americanum

Cranesbill, American

 Storksbill. Wild Geranium. Geranium maculatum L. Herb. Dried Root. Constituents: Tannic and gallic acid.

Action: Haemostatic, astringent, anti-inflammatory, vulnerary, styptic tonic, antiseptic. A vaso- compressor to increase the vital potency of living matter of the ganglionic neurones. Anti-diarrhoea. For over-relaxed conditions.

Uses: Urinary system: frequency, incontinence in the young and aged, bed-wetting, blood in the urine. An ingredient of Captain Frank Roberts’ prescription for ulceration of stomach, duodenum and intestines. Ulceration of mouth and throat (tea used as a mouth wash and gargle). Irritable bowel. Summer diarrhoea of children.

Combines with Beth root (equal parts) as a vaginal douche for leucorrhoea or flooding of the menopause; with tincture Myrrh for cholera and infective enteritis.

Dr Wm Winder reported in the 1840s how the Indians of Great Manitoulin Island held it in high favour as a healing styptic antiseptic, “the powdered root being placed on the mouth of the bleeding vessel . . . Internally, they considered it efficacious for bleeding from the lungs”. (Virgil J. Vogel, University of Oklahoma Press, USA)

Preparations: Thrice daily.

Tea. Half-2 teaspoons dried herb to each cup boiling water; infuse 15 minutes. Half-1 cup.

Decoction. Half-1 teaspoon dried root to each cup water simmered gently 20 minutes. Half a cup.

Tablets BHP 270mg. (Gerard House)

Liquid extract: 15-30 drops.

Tincture BHP (1983). 1 part root to 5 parts 45 per cent alcohol. Dose: 2-4ml (30-60 drops).

Powdered root, as a snuff for excessive catarrh and to arrest bleeding from the nose.

Vaginal douche. 1oz root to 2 pints water simmered 20 minutes. Strain and inject. ... cranesbill, american


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