* Please Note: This information is based partly on Traditional Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
Description
Comfrey Symphytum officinale L. (= S. consolida Gueldenst. ex Ledeb.).
Family: Boraginaceae.
Other Names: Grande consoude (French); Gemeiner Beinwell (German); consolida maggiore (Italian).
Description: A leafy perennial herb with erect flowering stems (up to I m) arising each year from a fleshy rhizome. Large hairy leaves are borne along the stems and tubular blue or yellowish white flowers in one-sided clusters at the tips.
Origin: Europe and western Asia; naturalised in North America and widely grown as a garden subject. Commercial products are obtained from cultivated plants.
Parts Used: Mainly the dried rhizome and roots (Symphyti radix, Consolidae radix), sometimes also the aboveground parts (Symphyti herba).
Therapeutic Category: Wound-healing.
Uses and Properties: Mainly used externally for the treatment of inflammation, bruises, sprains, dislocations, pulled ligaments and muscles, arthritis, glandular swellings, slow healing wounds and boils. Traditionally, roots or leaves were taken internally against lung disorders, gastritis, stomach ulcers, and bleeding.
Preparation and Dosage: Poultices and pastes are prepared from the fresh root for external use. A decoction of 1 part dry roots to 10 parts of water is a suitable alternative. A daily dose of 5 - 10 g of dry roots was traditionally taken in the form of tea but internal use is now obsolete because of liver damage.
Active Ingredients: The roots contain about 0.8% allantoin and large amounts of mucilage (fructans). Also present are pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and their N-oxides (up to 0.4%, including intermedine, symphytine and echimidine), as well as 4-6% tannins, triterpenes, and organic acids (including rosmarinic acid).
Pharmacological Effects: The wound-healing activity is attributed especially to allantoin (the compound is known to promote granulation and tissue regeneration) and to the mucilage (demulcent effects). Rosmarinic acid has proven anti-inflammatory activity. PAs are haemostyptic but also hepatotoxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic.
Status: Traditional medicine; Pharm.; Comm. E+ (external use only).
The value of comfrey, a small, hardy perennial with bell-shaped flowers, can be gleaned from other common names of the plant: bruisewort and knitbone. Known to the Greeks and the Romans, comfrey has a long-and recently controversial-place in the herbal pharmacy.
Potential Health Benefits
Commission E endorses the most-established use of comfrey leaf and comfrey root: the external use of comfrey ointments and creams to speed the healing of bruises, sprains, and pulled muscles and ligaments.
Scientific Evidence
Comfrey's efficacy at healing - it was favored in ancient times for treating battlefield wounds - is due to the chemical allantoin, which promotes cell reproduction and formation of new tissue. However, comfrey also contains toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), which have caused cancer in laboratory animals. The chemicals are most highly concentrated in the root; cancer risk comes from internal use of the root. Commission E endorses herb and leaf for external use only. Scientific articles published in the American Journal ofMedicine, Gastroenterology, and the British Medical Journal in the 1980s and 1990s have documented the poisonous effects of PAs in comfrey root, even when the root is taken in tablets and teas. The root contains concentrations of PAs ten times higher than the leaves.
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Directions
Hot tea brewing method: Bring freshly drawn cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 tea bag for each cup into the teapot. Pour the boiling water into the pot, cover and let steep for 2-4 minutes. Pour into your cup; add milk and sugar to taste.
Iced tea brewing method: (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 5 tea bags into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea itself. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into the serving pitcher straining the tea bags. Add ice and top-up with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste.
Cautions
The internal use of comfrey should be discouraged, as the PAs alkylate DNA and can therefore become carcinogenic. Albeit limited, absorption of externally applied alkaloids does takes place; the level of PAs should not exceed 10 micrograms per day. Application on broken skin should be avoided. Do not eat comfrey (such as S. uplandicum) as a vegetable.
Comfrey is controversial. That much we know.
Some health authorities feel that this herb contains potent cancer-causing and liver-damaging agents and strongly recommend that it should not be taken for internal use. Others feel that the warnings are unsubstantiated and nothing more than scare-mongering.
The reason for its bad reputation is based on the assertion that specific pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) within the herb have been shown to be hepatoxic and carcinogenic to rats when fed extremely high doses of the chemical over a period of 480 to 600 days. However, specific quantities and hard scientific data where human consumption is concerned is lacking. The defenders of the herb insist that a ridiculous quantity of comfrey would have to be ingested over an extended period of time to reach the harmful levels of PAs in the body.
For external use, the German Commission E instructs pregnant women to consult a physician before using comfrey. It finds no known side effects or drug interactions. Comfrey use should be no longer than four to six weeks per year. The Commission recommends that only extremely small dosages within preparations (1 microgram/day internally; 100 micrograms/day externally) of comfrey be taken.
It should be noted that, while the debate concerning the safety of comfrey root continues, there have been only 4 toxic reactions in human beings; these individuals took excessively large doses (either juiced or capsule form) of the leaf. It is, however, the roots that have a higher concentration of PAs (about 10 times) as compared to the leaf.
Additional Information
TerraVita is an exclusive line of premium-quality, natural source products that use only the finest, purest and most potent ingredients found around the world. TerraVita is hallmarked by the highest possible standards of purity, potency, stability and freshness. All of our products are prepared with the highest elements of quality control, from raw materials through the entire manufacturing process, up to and including the moment that the bottles or bags are sealed for freshness and shipped out to you. Our highest possible standards are certified by independent laboratories and backed by our personal guarantee.
TerraVita exists to meet and ensure your family's health and wellness without the harmful effects or chemicals and prescription medications. We strive to make all of our products affordable and reliable and are constantly searching the market to maintain our affordability and to look for new ways to serve you and the ones you love. TerraVita has become a trusted household name for many families and can bring you and yours the very best herbal supplements, blends, teas and spices that are on the market today.
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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor. The essence of the current American rule on Traditional Uses is, as stated by FTC, "Claims based on historical or traditional use should be substantiated by confirming scientific evidence, or should be presented in such a way that consumers understand that the sole basis for the claim is a history of use of the product for a particular purpose."
