Sedatives herbal medicines

Benefits A bitter aromatic herb traditionally used for its gentle sedative, calming properties. It is also used to calm the digestive system. It is a mild herb that has been used for children s complaints. Folklore German chamomile is used in toiletry and cosmetic preparations as a hair conditioner and lightener (Bown, 2003 British Herbal Medicine Association, 1983 Graenwald et al, 2002 Hutchens, 1973 Shealy, 1998 Tierra, 1998). 

Pulsatilla possesses sedative, analgesic, antispasmodic, and bactericidal properties. Traditionally, it is used for dysmenorrhea, orchitis, ovaralgia, epididymitis, tension headache, hyperactive states, insomnia, boils, skin eruptions associated with bacterial infection, asthma and pulmonary disease, earache, and specifically for painful conditions of the male and female reproductive systems. Pulsatilla is widely used in homoeopathic preparations as well as in herbal medicine. 

Skullcap is known to have anticonvulsant and sedative properties. Traditionally, it has been used for epilepsy, chorea, hysteria, nervous tension states, and specifically for grand mal. In Chinese herbal medicine, the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi have been used traditionally as a remedy for inflammation, suppurative dermatitis, allergic diseases, hyperlipidemia, and atherosclerosis. 

Canada Authorization has been granted for hypericum preparations as traditional herbal medicines intended to be used as a sedative for relief of restlessness (or nervousness) due to overwork, tiredness, and fatigue. Crude dried herbs of hypericum intended for sale as food, without medicinal representations, may be sold if they conform with die pertinent requirements of die Food Regulations. 

Herbal drugs may contain additives not listed on the label, and these additives are sometimes the source of the herbal medicine s effect. Investigations by Consumer Reports and others have shown herbal products to contain aspirin, caffeine, steroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, sedatives, and even narcotics. 

In the spring of 1998, the FDA issued a warning regarding an herbal medicine called Sleeping Buddha. Apparently, the product contained an unlabeled sedative, the benzodiazepine estazolam. Fortunately, no misadventures with this product were reported. At about the same time, the FDA issued another warning regarding an herb called plantain. This plant contains... 

The dried thorn hooks of Uncaria sinensis, U rhynchophylla, and U. kawakamii (Rubiaceae) are known as Cho-Toh-Koh in the Chinese herbal medicine system in Japan, and have been used as a sedative for a long time. An ethanol extract of this crude drug provides a temporary hypotensive response in the rabbit (150mg/kg), with an increase in breathing rate and a decrease in arterial blood flow [1]. 

Valerian root (from Valeriana officinalis L.) has traditional use in symptomatic treatment of neurotonic conditions of adults and children, particularly in cases of minor sleep disturbances Commission E has approved valerian for restlessness and nervous disturbances of sleep Valerian is included in the General Sale List of the Medicines Control Agency and permitted in traditional herbal remedies as a sedative and to promote natural sleep... 

Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the only sleeping medicines available were various unpredictable and unreliable potions, herbal concoctions, alcoholic beverages, and laudanum (an opium derivative). But since the beginning of the twentieth century, many more reliable and effective sleeping medications and sedatives have been developed. 

Garlic (Allium sativum) is an herbai drug with references to medicinal properties that date back thousands of years. Of all the herbal remedies available to consumers, garlic is probably the most extensively researched. Publicaiiom about the effects and benefits of garlic occur with great frequency. Garlic is a bulb. It may be u.sed os such, hut it is typically dried, powdered, and compressed into a tablet. Usually, the tablets are enteric coaled. 

Hypotensive widely used in sleep aid and sedative health foods, herbal teas and medicinal products Sedative, emollient, anti-inflammatory, healing and refreshing linden tea or tilleul is drunk as a general relaxant... 

Hypotensive widely used in sleep aid and sedative health foods, herbal teas and medicinal products... 

Humanity s first mood-altering substances were herbal sedatives and alcohol. Plants, which are now known to contain opium and belladonna alkaloids, were discovered millennia ago but entered mainstream medicine during the Renaissance and were widespread... 

Everything from herbal tea to natural muscle relaxants is touted as the new and better alternatives to more conventional medication. Everyone seems to have fallen into this new craze, even if most people don t quite understand what they re getting themselves into. However, nature can provide humanity with much more than natural muscle relaxants and stimulants, as anyone who has had experience with plant and animal toxins can likely attest to. Spiders, scorpions, and a variety of other animals all carry their own natural toxins, often with effects that rival the death rate and potency of even the most powerful manmade neurotoxins. The plant world also has an abundance of toxins, some of which are well known, some have played roles in history, and others have been adapted to serve medicinal roles in modem herbal lore, usually as sedatives and muscle relaxants. 

Iridoids have been isolated from several folk medicinal plants which are used as bitter tonics, sedatives, antipyretic, cough medicine, remedies for arthritis, lumbago and muscular pains, wounds and skin disorders, etc. A good number of research papers on the bioactive iridoids isolated from several folk medicinal plants have been published in the last few decades. We have summarized here only some of the fundamental pharmacological activities of iridoids to create an interest oti the importance of this class of natural products and for their wide applications in the formulations of several prospective herbal drugs. 

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