adj. formerly, describing a symptom that is not due to organic disease, is produced unconsciously, and from which the individual derives some gain. What were known as hysterical symptoms are characteristic of *conversion disorder.
Habitat: Gravelly heaths. Indigenous to Britain, and cultivated in Belgium, Germany and France.
Features ? The creeping stem throws up short, leafy, flowering branches. The leaves are pinnately divided into short, hairy leaflets. Yellow centred, with a fringe of white petals, the flowers grow singly on leafless flower stalks; the familiar double flowers are produced under cultivation. The taste is very bitter, and, in view of the resemblance which the strong, aromatic smell has to that of the apple, it is interesting to note that the name "Chamomile" is derived from the Greek, meaning"ground apple."Part used ? Flowers and herb, but the flowers are the more commonly used part.Action: Stomachic, anti-spasmodic and tonic.
The famous "chamomile tea" is taken for nervous and bilious headache, as an aid to digestion, and for hysterical tendencies in women. The dose is up to 4 tablespoonfuls of the infusion of 1 ounce to 1 pint of water. Externally, the flower-heads make a first-rate poultice and fomentation for bruises and deep-seated inflammation, and are also used as a lotion for toothache, earache and neuralgia. In the pulverized form they may be made up with Soap-wort into a shampoo, especially for fair hair.... chamomileHabitat: Temperate Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan up to at 3,000-4,000 m.
English: Black Cohosh Root, Black Snake Root.Folk: Cohosh, Jiuenti (Punjab).Action: Sedative, anti-inflammatory, antitussive, diuretic, emmenagogue. Used in homoeopathy for rheumatic diseases of nervous, hysterical women, suffering from uterine affections; also for locomotor ataxia.
Key application: In climacteric (menopausal), neurovegetative ailments, premenstrual discomfort and dysmenorrhoea. (German Commission E, ESCOP.)The rhizome contains triterpene gly- cosides (including actein, cimigoside, cimifugine and racemoside; isofla- ones (including formononetin; isofer- ulic acid; volatile oil, tannin.Pharmacological studies have shown that the menthol extract binds to oestrogen receptors in vitro and in rat uteri; this activity is thought to be due to the presence of formononetin. Racemoside exhibited antiulcer activity in mice. Isoferulic acid lowered body temperature in rats.The rhizome is hypotensive in animals; a central nervous system depressant and antispasmodic in mice; causes peripheral vasodilation in human. Also exhibits anti-inflammatory (The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia) and hy- poglycaemic activity.Actein has been studied for use in treating peripheral arterial disease. (Expanded Commission E Monographs.)Clinically, the rhizome and root constituents of Black Cohosh does not seem to affect hormonal levels, such as estradiol, LH, FSH and pro- lactin. (Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, 2007.)Cimicifuga foetida L. root is used in bronchial and rheumatic diseases. Aqueous EtOH extract is used in cosmetic preparations for protecting skin; also used for preventing oral diseases and bad breath.White Cohosh, used for urinogen- ital disorders, is equated with Actea pachypoda, synonym A. alba, A. rubra. Blue Cohosh has been identified as Caulophyllum thalictroides. It is toxic and abortifacient.... cimicifuga racemosaHabitat: Cultivated in Khasi hills and Cachar. Also in Guntur (Andhra Pradesh). Found in semiwild state in the Naga and Khasi hills.
English: Citrus dulcis, Sour Orange, Sweet Orange.Folk: Khattaa.Siddha/Tamil: Mallikanarangi.Action: Peel—laxative, feeble stomachic, emmenagogue. Leaves— prescribed in the treatment of arthritis and bronchitis. Flowers— aqueous extract is employed in scurvy, fever, inflammation, nervous and hysterical cases. Fruit— a decoction is used to recover from cachexia left by intermittent fever and in cases of enlarged spleen. Dried rind—used in atonic dyspepsia.
Key application: Cut peel—in loss of appetite and dyspeptic ailments. (German Commission E.). As a bitter tonic. (British Pharmacopoeia.)The main constituents of the peel include the alkaloid synephrine and N- methyltyramine. Synephrine, an alpha 1-adrenergic agonist, stimulates a rise in blood pressure through vasoconstriction. N-methyltyramine also raises blood pressure.The root gave xanthyletin. The essential oil exhibits antifun- gal activity, it was found effective in treatment-resistant fungal skin diseases. (Expanded Commission E Monographs.)Commercially available Citrus vul- garis (bitter orange) extracts are often promoted for weight loss due to purported thermogenic effects. In animal models, synephrine causes weight loss, but also increases cardiovascular toxic- ity. (Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, 2007.)... citrus aurantiumTypes of dissociative disorder include hysterical amnesia (see hysteria), fugue, depersonalization, and multiple personality.
(See also conversion disorder.)... dissociative disorders
Habitat: Waste places, hedges.
Features ? Stem one and a half feet high, erect, finely furrowed, hairy, branches towards top. Leaves alternate, bipinnatifid, serrate edges, very short hairs, about four and a half by two and a half inches; leaf stalk flat above, convex below. Numerous flowers (June and July), yellow disc, white petals, each on stalk. Taste, very unpleasant.Part used ? Herb.Action: Aperient, carminative.
Assists in promotion of the menses and in the expulsion of worms. Also given in hysterical conditions. Infusion of 1 ounce to 1 pint boiling water, wineglassful doses.... feverfewHabitat: United States of America.
Features ? Flower supposed to resemble a lady's shoe in form. Rhizome about quarter- inch diameter, many cupshaped scars on top surface; wavy, thickly-matted roots underneath. Fracture short and white.Part used ? Rhizome.Action: Antispasmodic, tonic, nervine.
Combined with other tonics in the relief of neuralgia, and to allay paingenerally. Of use in hysteria and other nervous disorders. Dose, 1 drachm of the powdered rhizome. Like other medicines of a similar nature, it is of little use unless the cause of the nervous excitement is traced and removed.The remarks of Rafinesque, then Professor of Medical Botany in the University of Transylvania, are interesting in view of the "orthodox" attitude towards remedies of the herbalists ? "I am enabled to introduce, for the first time, this beautiful genus into our materia medica ; all the species are equally remedial. They have long been known to the Indians, who called them moccasin flower, and were used by the empyrics of New England, particularly Samuel Thomson. Their properties, however, have been tested and confirmed by Dr. Hales, of Troy; Dr. Tully, of Albany, etc.. . . They produce beneficial effects in all nervous diseases and hysterical affections by allaying pain, quieting the nerves and promoting sleep. They are preferable to opium in many cases, having no baneful or narcotic effect."Professor Rafinesque, however, goes even further than would Thomson and his successors when he announces that "all the species are equally remedial."... ladies' slipperHabitat: Grows wild in shady places in some of the English counties, but is rarely found in many others; scarcely ever seen wild in Scotland and Ireland. Commonly cultivated in gardens.
Features ? Leaves approximately five inches by two inches, broadly lanceolate, entire at edges, dark green, with parallel veins. Flowers small, sweet-scented, white, bell- shaped, pendulous, on distinct (eight to twelve-stalked) flower stem. Rhizome slender, cylindrical, pale brown, with eight to ten long, branched rootlets at each joint, internodes about two inches long.Part used ? Whole plant.Action: Cardiac tonic, diuretic.
Enhances muscular functioning of heart and arteries, and is consequentlyused in cardiac debility. Has been recommended in dropsy. This herb is one of the substitutes for the digitalis of the allopaths, but it must be taken only in the prescribed doses, as larger quantities may result in purging and emesis. Dose, 1 tablespoonful of the 1/2 ounce to 1 pint boiling water infusion.LIME FLOWERS. Tilia europaea. N.O. Liliaceae.Synonym: Linden Flowers.Habitat: The large tree is seen frequently as a decorative bordering to avenues and drives in town and country.
Features ? Leaves cordate, doubly serrate, hairy underneath. Three to six yellowish- white flowers on each flower stalk ; the two anther cells are separated on short divergent stalks at the tip of the many stamens.Part used ? Flowers.Action: Nervine, stimulant.
A popular remedy for chronic catarrhal conditions following colds, and is also given for nervous headaches and hysterical tendencies. The infusion is 1 drachm in 1 pint of boiling water, and bed-time baths in equivalent strength will sometimes help those suffering from insomnia.... lily-of-the-valleyA variation of the syndrome – Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy, better termed ‘fabricated and induced illness’ – has been identi?ed, in which the persons affected in?ict damage upon others, usually children (or even animals) in their care. Factitious illness refers to simulating symptoms, such as stating that the child has blood in its urine when it is actually the parent’s blood. Induced illness includes such events as injecting dirty water into a baby’s muscles, dropping mild caustic into their eyes, adding salt to a baby’s milk or diluting it 50–50 with water, and so on. Much debate has ensued about the suggestion that some sudden infant deaths are due to smothering rather than natural causes, as a type of induced illness. As a consequence of two successful appeals against conviction for murder in 2004, the UK attorney general ordered a review of all criminal and family court cases in which disputed medical evidence had formed the basis of the decision. Paediatricians are concerned that one result is likely to be an increase in undetected child abuse.... munchausen’s syndrome
Habitat: Native to Mediterranean region; cultivated all over India.
English: Garden Rue.Unani: Sudaab, Suddaab.Siddha/Tamil: Aruvada.Action: Herb—stimulating, antispasmodic, stomachic; irritant, abortifacient. Used as an emme- nagogue, in hysterical conditions, cough and croupy affections, colic and flatulence. Leaf—used in atonic amenorrhoea, menorrhoea and colic. Externally, used for sciatica, headache, muscular chest pain, bronchitis and arthritic conditions. (Fresh juice of leaves, internally, can lead to painful irritations of the stomach and intestines). Oil— antispasmodic, antiepileptic, em- menagogue, rubefacient. (Toxic in large doses.)
Ruta graveolens has been included among unapproved herbs by German Commission E.The herb contains a volatile oil, with 2-undecanone (30.73) 2-nona- none (18.06), 2-nonyl acetate (11.03), psoralen (1.28) and bergapten and xan- thotoxin (7.24%); rutin (about 2%). The flavonoids include quercetin; cou- marins include bergapten, daphnore- tin, isoimperatorin, naphthoherniarin, psoralen, pangelin, rutamarin, rutarin, scopoletin and umbelliferone. Tissue culture of the plant gave furacridone alkaloids. Tissue culture of the root gave gravacridondiol and its glucoside.The spasmolytic activity of the herb is attributed to the presence of bergapten, xanthotoxin and the essential oil. Anti-inflammatory and antitumour activity is due to rutin. The furo- coumarins are responsible for the herb's phototoxicity.The herb is hepatotoxic, and is con- traindicated in kidney diseases and bleeding disorders. (Sharon M. Herr.) Maximum safe level is 0.001% for Rue and 0.0002% for the oil. (Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, 2007.)... ruta graveolensMultiple sclerosis can cause loss of sensation in any part of the body through damage to nerve pathways in the central nervous system (CNS). In a neuropathy, the peripheral nerves (nerves outside the CNS) are damaged. In a stroke, pressure on, or reduced blood supply to, nerve pathways in the brain often causes loss of feeling on one side of the body.
Severe cold causes numbness by direct action on the nerves. Numbness may also be a feature of psychological disorders, such as anxiety, panic attack, or a hysterical conversion disorder.
Treatment of numbness depends on the underlying cause.... numbness
FAMILY: Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
SYNONYMS: Pulegium, European pennyroyal, pudding grass.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A perennial herb up to 50 cms tall with smooth roundish stalks, small, pale purple flowers and very aromatic, grey-green, oval leaves. Like other members of the mint family, it has a fibrous creeping root.
DISTRIBUTION: Native to Europe and parts of Asia; it is cultivated mainly in southern Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Portugal, Italy, Yugoslavia and Turkey.
OTHER SPECIES: There are several different varieties of pennyroyal according to location: in Britain the ‘erecta’ and ‘decumbens’ types are most common. The North American pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegoides), which is also used to produce an essential oil, belongs to a slightly different species, though it shares similar properties with the European variety.
HERBAL/FOLK TRADITION: A herbal remedy of ancient repute, used for a wide variety of ailments. It was believed to purify the blood and also be able to communicate its purifying qualities to water. ‘Pennyroyal water was distilled from the leaves and given as an antidote to spasmodic, nervous and hysterical affections. It was also used against cold and “affections of the joints”.’.
It is still current in the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, indicated for flatulent dyspepsia, intestinal colic, the common cold, delayed menstruation, cutaneous eruptions and gout.
ACTIONS: Antiseptic, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, carminative, digestive, emmenagogue, insect repellent, refrigerant, stimulant.
EXTRACTION: Essential oil by steam distillation from the fresh or slightly dried herb.
CHARACTERISTICS: A colourless or pale yellow liquid with a very fresh, minty herbaceous odour. It blends well with geranium, rosemary, lavandin, sage and citronella.
PRINCIPAL CONSTITUENTS: Mainly pulegone, with menthone, iso-menthone, octanol, piperitenone and trans-iso-pulegone. Constituents vary according to source – the Moroccan oil contains up to 96 per cent pulegone.
SAFETY DATA: Oral toxin. Abortifacient (due to pulegone content). Ingestion of large doses has resulted in death.
AROMATHERAPY/HOME: USE None. ‘Should not be used in aromatherapy whether internally or externally.’.
OTHER USES: Used as a fragrance material mainly in detergents or low-cost industrial perfumes. Mainly employed as a source of natural pulegone.... pennyroyal
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