White Willow Bark and Salicin:How much should be taken? Are there any side effects?
Article Content:
- .Botanical Data of white willow Bark.
- .History and property of uses about wihte willow.
- .Scientific Support:White Willow Bark and Salicin:How white willow works?
- .Who need White Willow Bark and Salicin and what are symptoms of deficiency?
- .White Willow Bark and Salicin:How much should be taken? Are there any side effects?
- .Preparation of white willow bark.
- .Safety Factory and Toxicity.
- .Uses of White Willow Bark.
- .Suggestions and Administration.
- .How Search engine think about White Willow and Salicin.
- .Research of Salicin,white Willow Bark.
Uses of White Willow Bark.
General use of White Willow Bark:
Chinese physicians have used white willow since 500 B.C. to relieve pain and lower fevers. White willow was also used in ancient Assyrian, Egyptian, and Greek medicine as well. Greek physicians Dioscorides, Hippocrates, and Galen recommended white willow to remedy fevers and pain. Native American tribes, including the Cherokee, Blackfoot, Iroquois, and Eskimo peoples, created a tea from closely related species of the bark to relieve headaches, fever, sore muscles, chills, rheumatism, and general aches and pains. White willow was used in Europe to stop vomiting, remove warts, and suppress sexual desire in addition to treating fevers and pains.
In the mid-1700s, white willow was used in Britain as a remedy for malaria since the bark was similar to cinchona bark, a South American bark used to treat malaria. In 1828, European chemists extracted the constituent salicin from white willow bark and converted it to salacylic acid. At the end of the nineteenth century, acetylsalicylic acid was synthetically produced and aspirin was born. Due to the cheap and easy production of aspirin, white willow eventually lost its popularity as a pain and fever reliever.
In modern times, however, white willow is being recalled as nature's aspirin and gaining popularity around the world as an alternative treatment for fevers and inflammatory and painful conditions such as bursitis, tendinitis, headaches, rheumatoid arthritis , back pain, osteoarthritis, menstrual cramps, and muscle aches. White willow has been approved by the German Commission E for treating fevers, rheumatic ailments, and headaches. In France, white willow is used to remedy headaches, toothache pain, tendinitis, and muscle sprains. The British Herbal Compendium has administered white willow as a treatment for rheumatic and arthritic conditions, colds, and influenza.
White willow bark is used in the same manner as is aspirin. In fact, aspirin was originally created from research into White willow bark. As nature's aspirin, White willow continues to be an important herb to be kept in our awareness if not in the medicine chest (aspirin is just too easy to keep and use). White willow bark reduces fever, relieves pain, prevents migraine headaches, aids in reducing the onset of some cancers, reduces the frequency of heart attack and stroke, relieves inflammation, and tastes simply awful. The active chemical in White willow is called salicin.
History:
Chinese physicians used willow to reduce pain and inflammation from before the time of Christ. It was not until about 1750 that Rev. Edmund Stone md. of Oxfordshire, England experimented with White willow in an attempt to treat malaria with a local source rather than the expensive and difficult to obtain cinchona bark which contains quinine, an effective antimalarial drug. The good Reverend used the bark from White willow because it tasted similar to the bitter cinchona bark. When he gave it to the local patients, their pain and fever were reduced even though it did not control the malaria. Medicinal applications of the herb caught on quickly and word spread of its effectiveness against pain, inflammation, and fever. White willow trees began to be transported throughout Europe and the Americas for medical purposes. Today, the willow goes largely unidentified because of the introduction of aspirin in readily useable form in 1899.
Physiology:
The inner bark of the tree was once harvested for salicin which was converted to salacylic acid, however, acetylsalicylic acid was eventually synthetically produced so the tree lost it popularity to aspirin. The salicylic acid in white willow bark lowers the body's levels of prostaglandins a hormone like compounds that is responsible for aches, pain, and inflammation. Many physicians and herbalist still prefer the use of White willow to that of synthetic aspirin because of the lower incidence of side effects associated with the herb. The bark also remains popular secondary to its content of tannins, flavonoids, phenolic glycosides. The high content of tannins are believed to be responsible for relieving gastrointestinal complications.
The active ingredient in White willow, salacylic acid, has a synergistic effect when combined with Ephedra to promote the thermogenic process. Thermogenesis is the rapid conversion of the food we digest into heat before the calories can be stored as fat.
Current Status:
White willow bark still has a usefulness that should not be ignored. Aspirin upsets some people's stomachs, but white willow bark seems to be free of this problem. Experts point out that white willow bark will work on almost anything you take aspirin for. The dosage is just more difficult to control from bark than from the pharmaceutical company's brewed up standards. It will likely require several cups of white willow bark tea to give the effectiveness of two standard aspirin tablets. If your willow bark reduces pain and fever, the same dose will act to produce the preventive benefits of aspirin which include warding off stroke and heart attack, combating certain types of cancer (digestive tract), preventing migraine headaches, reducing the frequency of internal blood clots, and reducing toothache.
Brewing some healing:
If you grow your own, you may use fresh if you strip and chop into fine particles to get the most fresh surfaces available to the water. You may steam fresh bark to make the chemical available also (do not boil). From the local store, you will likely get powdered bark. This works well and will store well, in addition, you may dry and powder your own bark for future use. To make a tea, soak one teaspoon of powdered bark in a cup of cold water for eight hours. This allows the salicin to dissolve into the water (it is slow to get into solution). Strain out the bark and drink. You may make as much as you want in advance but refrigerate no more than 48 hours after which it will lose its effectiveness. This stuff really tastes nasty (commonly called bitter and astringent) so you may want to add whatever you can think of the make it drinkable.
Health Benefits of White Willow Bark:
The salicylic acid in white willow bark lowers the body's levels of prostaglandins, hormonelike compounds that can cause aches, pain, and inflammation. While white willow bark takes longer to begin acting than aspirin, its effect may last longer. And, unlike aspirin, it doesn't cause stomach bleeding or other known adverse effects.
Specifically, white willow bark may help to:
Relieve acute and chronic pain, including headache, back and neck pain, muscle aches, and menstrual cramps. The effectiveness of white willow bark for easing these and other types of discomforts results from its power to lower prostaglandin levels.
Control arthritis discomforts. Some arthritis sufferers taking white willow bark have experienced reduced swelling and inflammation, and eventually increased mobility, in the back, knees, hips, and other joints.
Today, White willow is prescribe by physicians and herbal specialists for a host of conditions including the following:
Chronic dysentery;Prevention of strokes and blood clots;Arthritis - the herb reduces the swelling and inflammation associated with the arthritis, promoting increase mobility;Fever and chills - the aspirin type properties can help break a fever;headaches,Toothaches,Tendonitis and neuralgia,Treatment of eczem,Menstrual cramps,Muscle aches,Natural diuretic
Cosmetic Application of White Willow Bark:
A vacuum distilled extract of the black willow (Salix nigra) tree containing 10% salicylic acid. It is an all-natural method to achieve cosmetic benefits including:
A botanical alternative to synthetic salicylic acid.
Enhancement of skin cell turnover to improve the health and appearance of photoaged skin.
Antimicrobial activity against P. acnes makes it a good candidate for skin cleansing products.
Reference:
1.Salicin from Willow Bark.Willow Bark Extract.Salicin
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