Feverfew

Feverfew

Scientific Name: Chrysanthemum parthenium

Part Used: Fresh Leaf

Native to: North Africa to Scandinavia

In a Word: Chronic Head Ache Plant

Uses: Migraine and other chronic headaches

Feverfew is a European classic known for centuries for its ability to cure "megraines," as they were called in former days. Migraines are a messy business for those who suffer with them and a mystery for the medical profession. As a result, migraine sufferers tend to be more willing to try herbal medicine than those with other conditions – they are desperate.

In certain parts of the English countryside, a folk remedy for migraines is to eat a feverfew leaf between two slices of bread.

Feverfew, or Chrysanthemum parthenium, is indeed related to the garden mum, though it cannot hold a candle to its more showy relation in the looks department. The name feverfew refers to one of its medical uses. The name is derived from febrifuge, which means "fever breaking" and that is precisely what the plant was used to do. Apart from cooling a feverish person down, chewing the root, which is probably not such a good idea, produces a hot sensation in the mouth. The plant can be found growing from northern Africa to Scandinavia. Like the garden mum, it springs from its roots each year, bloom, and dies back to the ground in the fall. When it comes to curing migraine headaches, the medicinal part is the leaf.

In certain parts of the English countryside, a folk remedy for migraines is to eat a feverfew leaf between two slices of bread. How did anyone ever get the notion that chomping on sandwiches made of these incredibly horrible-tasting leaves would eventually stop migraine headaches? Your guess is as good as mine. The fact of the matter is that it did, and in clinical testing the remedy has been proven effective. Unfortunately, this is not a quick fix to the migraine problem. It doesn’t work in the short term; you have to keep taking one to two leaves per day for a period of time. This doesn’t appeal to our modern "I want it now" society, but then again, migraines do have a tendency to keep coming back, and as most migraine sufferers have headaches on a regular basis, eating a leaf or two a day doesn’t seem like a lot to ask.

Feverfew gained its reputation as a treatment for migraines and many other cerebral conditions a long time ago. The 16^th-century herbalist Gerard reiterates what many of the ancient writers had to say about feverfew, listing several symptoms all too well known to those with migraines: Fever few dried and made into powder, and 2 drahms of it taken with honie or sweet wine, purgeth by siege melancholy and flegme, wherefore it is very good for them that are giddie in the head, or which have the turning called vertigo, that is a swimming in the head. Also it is good for such as be melachollike, sad, pensive, or without speech.

Maude Grieve gives us a more updated view of the plant in her book written in 1930: It is employed in hysterical complaints, nervousness, and lowness of spirits, and is a general tonic. An infusion of the flowers, made with boiling water and allowed to become cold, will ally distressing sensitiveness to pain in a highly nervous subject, and will afford relief to the face-ache and ear ache of a dyspeptic or rheumatic person.

This business of allaying sensitivity to pain is interesting, and, as you will see, Ms. Grieve was right on in this regard.

The herb’s reputation for curing migraines was so great that several noted studies were conducted on the drug and its actions. However, whereas it has been clinically proven to reduce the incidence of migraines, how it works still evades the scientists. Who cares? If it works, it works.

Some scientific insight has been gained from these studies, with an emphasis on the some. The leaves contain a wild cocktail of active ingredients including volatile oil, sesquiterpene lactones, and acetylene derivatives. The ability of feverfew to cure migraines is thought to be due to these sesquiterpene lactones which slow the release of prostaglandins and histamines. These two substances are factors in the inflammatory process and in the subsequent pain a person feels while down with a migraine. When they are released by the body, the blood vessels in the head go into spasms, and you end up in your room with the phone, the lights, and your life turned off. The current notion is that eating the feverfew leaf limits the release of these chemicals so that migraines don’t occur.

Though various parts of the plant have been used to treat "the face-ache," tests indicate that indeed the leaf is best for chronic headaches. Fortunately for us, these leaves can be taken in pill form. Of course, having feverfew plants in the garden will supply you with as many healing leaves as you need if you don’t mind contending with a very nasty taste. They shouldn’t be eaten on their own, as undiluted they have been known to cause mouth ulcers! The traditional manner is the best: take them with a bit of bread.

Feverfew works and it works really well for most patients. However, there are several issues to take into consideration. This remedy does not work immediately. Taking it once you have a migraine is probably not going to do you a lot of good. It takes time to build up in the system and you are looking at using it for at least two weeks before any improvement will be noticed. Most patients notice that as time passes they have fewer and fewer migraines and those they do get are of a reduced intensity. It should be taken every morning just like one takes the birth control pill. Regularity spells success with this herb. The successful results seen in the various clinical trials all involved regular use. Now, as to how long one has to take it? Probably for several years. Migraines go into remission after a month or so of use, but, one needs to keep on keeping on!

Directions: Tincture (2:5, 25% alcohol): 40 drops each morning