Hypericum, St. John’s Wort

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Hiofariqun (Unani)
Guan Ye Lian Qiao 贯叶连翘 (TCM)

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Hypericum
Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491

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Hypericum
Dioscorides Materia Medica
, Mathias, 1563

Hypericum Hypericum
Dioscorides Materia Medica, Mathias, 1563 Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578

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Hypericum perforatum
Flora von Deutschland (21), Kohler, 1885

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Botanical name:

Hypericum perforatum (syn. H. officinalis)

Parts used:

Herb in flower

Temperature & Taste:

Cool (traditionally classed as Warm), dry. Sour, Sweet

Classifications:

2A APERIENT MEDICINES.  2B ATTENUATERS.  2D ATTENUATERS OF CONGEALED BLOOD.  2P. HEMOSTATIC.  2T. GLUTINATE
2W. SARCOTIC
3C. ALEXIPHARMIC.  3E. DIURETIC.  3G. EMMENAGOGUE.  3M. ARTHRITICS
4f. SPLENETIC.  4k. ARTHRITIC

Uses:

1. Clears Heat, Settles Wind, Calms the Mind:
-nervous conditions, Insomnia, Trembling, Melancholy, Depression, Anxiety, Fear

Hyperactive and Aggressive children
-‘its fruit purges out Black Bile’. (Avicenna)

2. Moves the Blood, Clears Stasis, Promotes Healing, Eases Pain:
-Trauma; Bruising, Fractures, Burns, Wounds including puncture Wounds; ‘No better Wound herb’ (Pemell, 1652)
-Headaches, Migraine, Spinal Pain, Fibrositis

-“
useful for treating large, cold and hard swellings” (Avicenna)

3. Clears Heat, Stops Bleeding: (West, TCM)
-Hematuria, Vomiting Blood, Profuse Uterine Bleeding
-Bleeding from Trauma
-traditional midwives prescribed it for bleeding during and after childbirth

4. Opens Obstructions, Promotes Urine, Breaks Stones:
suppressed, scanty, difficult or painful urination
-Urinary Tract Infection (West, TCM)

-Gravel and Stones (Bock)

5. Clears Heat, Resists Poison: (Herb, Seed)
-Fevers; Tertian and Quartan Fevers; decoction of the seed cures Tertian and Quartan Fever (Pemell, 1652)
-Bacterial and Viral infection including Herpes and Hepatitis
-promotes expression of Rashes in children

6. Clears Heat, Stops Cough and Wheezing:
-coughing, wheezing, shortness of Breath with thin white phlegm as seen in chronic Bronchitis, chronic Catarrh
-pulmonary Consumption
Hippocrates used it for Lung diseases

7. Benefits the Kidneys, Clears Deficient Heat:
Menopausal symptoms, especially with Hot Flushes, Anxiety, Palpitations, Depression, Incontinence or Neurosis
Incontinence and Bed-wetting in Children
-Sciatica, chronic Back Pain, Arthritis

8. Kills Worms: (Seed, herb)
-Thread-worm, especially in Children

9. Externally:
-Oil or Ointment is applied to swellings and to help close the lips of Wounds, and may be used internally and externally for Ulcers including those of the leg.
-‘
Sprinkling over putrefactive and soft Ulcers as a dusting powder proves very useful’. (Avicenna)
-powder sprinkled or distilled water applied on Wounds, Sores, and rotten Ulcer cures them (Pemell, 1652)
-applied to Bruises, Contusions and Ecchymosis.
-oil or ointment is applied to Burns, hot swellings, inflammations,
Dermatitis, Herpes, Shingles, Sores, Tumors (including those of the Breast)
-“
A plaster of its leaves is useful for healing burns, large wounds and malignant ulcers” (Avicenna)
-Venetians used it topically to stimulate hair growth, believing it renewed the roots of even the baldest of heads.
-special for Burns (Leclerc)

-as a fumigation to promote Delivery

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Dose:

Powder: 2–4 grams (traditionally 1–2 drams)
Decoction: 3–9 grams
Tincture (1:5) 1–4 mls.

Main Combinations:

Balm & St. John’s wort

1. Mental Illness, Madness, Melancholy, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
2. Nervous Exhaustion, Anxiety, St. John’s Wort  … available in PRO version
3. As a Nervine, and for Insomnia, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
4. Insomnia, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
5. Restless or aggressive children, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
6. Depression associated with Menstruation, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
7. Menstrual disorders, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
8. Menopause, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
9. Stomach neurosis and bloody diarrhea, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
10. Enuresis, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
11. Another for Enuresis, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
12. Bed-wetting, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
13. Bruising, Trauma, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
14. Bruising, Aches, Pains, Sprains, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version
15. Hard Tumors of the Breast, St. John’s Wort with  … available in PRO version

Major Formulas

Antidote of Seven Things (Paulus Aegineta)
Decoction for Wounds
Decoction for Jaundice
Syrup of Mugwort (Augustana)
Powder Against Bruising
Powder Against Rabies

Cautions:

1. Generally Safe; safe for use when Breastfeeding.
2. Photosensitising effect.

Drug Interactions:

Drug interactions may occur with the following drugs: Anti-convulants, Cyclosporin, Digoxin, SSRI’s, Warfarin, Oral Contraceptives.

Main Preparations used:

Distilled Water, Simple and Compound Oil (much used), Salt from the Ashes, Tincture of St. John’s wort