Mucous membrane remedies

Golden Seal has proved itself to be a very valuable remedy in digestive disorders and in debilitated conditions of mucous membranes. Its use is indicated in various gastric complaints, and it may be taken with advantage by most dyspeptics in doses of 10 grains of the powdered root. 

Lobelia inflata has for many years been one of the most widely discussed and hotly debated articles used in medicine. While many herbalists contend that it is the most valuable of all botanic remedies, official medicine in England classifies it as a poison. Herbalists who use Lobelia insist that it is most certainly not a poison, and that it can be administered by them in large doses with perfect safety. They use it chiefly as an emetic, and, as its administration brings about the prompt removal of accumulations of mucus, the action in bronchial complaints is speedy and beneficial. Coffin s comments in this connection are enthusiastic "Lobelia is decidedly the most certain and efficient emetic known, and is at the same time safe in its operations. Unlike most emetics from the mineral kingdom, it produces its specific effect without corroding the stomach or producing morbid irritation and inflammation of the mucous membrane of this organ, which are so common in the use of antimony, zinc, and the sulphate of copper. Lobelia may emphatically be said to operate in unison with the laws of life. "... 

Aryl mercurials that have been used medicinally include phenylmercuric acetate, phenylmercuric nitrate, nitromersol, thiomersal, merbromin (mercurochrome), and mercurobutol. These compounds are variously used as preservatives in drugs, including vaccines, for skin disinfestation, the treatment of infections of the skin and mucosa, and in contraceptive jellies and hemorrhoidal remedies they have also been used in some cosmetics. The aryl mercurials are better absorbed across the mucous membranes than most inorganic mercury salts. 

When home remedies don t work, patients often use over-the-counter dmgs or prescription dmgs. The most commonly used are antihistamines (blocks histamines produced by the body), decongestants (reduces swollen nasal mucous membranes), antitussives (suppress the coughing reflex), and expectorants (loosens mucus). 

In the body, hormones called biogenic amines carry messages between the central nervous system and nerve cells. Epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) are released by the adrenal medulla in fight-or-flight situations to raise the blood glucose level and move the blood to the muscles. Used in remedies for colds, hay fever, and asthma, Benzedrine, Neo-Synephrine (phenylephrine), and norepinephrine contract the capillaries in the mucous membranes of the respiratory passages. Sometimes Benzedrine is taken internally... 

A material which soothes mucous membranes. Certain mucilaginous gums such as psyllium and tragacanth have long been used as herbal remedies to soothe the digestive tract. Some of these gums also have a laxative effect because they absorb water. 

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