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Ask the Herbalist_questions on Herniated Disk
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ASK THE
HERBALIST
We're posting some of the medicinal questions we get along with answers
from our Herbalist David Brill of The Rosemary House. Hopefully this may
help you with some of your own questions.
If you want to ask a new question there is a charge of $25 per question. Click
here for new question The answer will be sent to you directly by David.
Questions and answers may be posted on this site (names removed) to help
other people with the same concerns.
QUESTION: I'm a 42 yr. old male who has had a history of disc problems in the L-4, L-5area.
I have used chiropractic care which has worked after one or two sessions. Recently, my discs herniated. The swelling
was so great my Dr. couldn't adjust me. A friend of mine suggested seeing a retired back surgeon who has been using
Colchicine injections with fantastic results. Even though this medicine has been used for gout, it has reduced swelling
in discs. I went and after the first visit it began to work. I also take a low dosage orally twice a day. My question, to cut
down on the costs can I go to my local health food store and get anything and get the same results?
ANSWER: For thousands of years this plant has been used for gout pain, they did not have injectables then, look for
a OTC preparation of the plant meadow saffron Latin named: Colchicum autumnale or other pain reliever such as
California poppy, Jamaican Dogwood and anti-inflammatory herbs such as Turmeric and Sarsparilla.
From the net
Colchicine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matthew J. Dowd, Graduate Student
Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Medical College of Virginia Campus
Virginia Commonwealth University
"No other pain is more severe than this, not iron screws, nor cords, not the wound of a dagger, nor burning
fire."[1] Imagine feeling this pain, as described by Aretaeus, the Greek physician of the second century. Thomas
Sydenham, a 17th Century physician, described the pain as "a violent stretching and tearingof the ligaments - now it is
a gnawing pain, like that of a dog."[1] The disease gout is the source of these vivid descriptions. Through the
centuries, gout has been a debilitating affliction most associated with a decadentlifestyle, middle-aged men, and
alcohol. The major symptom is an intense, burning pain of the joint of the big toe. Because of its long history, gout has
been the target of a number of effective and some not-so-effective treatments. Some of the less beneficial treatments
include rest and relaxation until the pain subsides, consumption of wine or alcoholic punch, and even
vibration-generated heat from a glass boot. With the age of modern medicine came also more effective treatments for
gout, such as the drugs probenecid,allopurinol, cortisone, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as
ibuprofen and indomethacin. Clearly, the anti-gout agent with the longest history is colchicine.
(-)-Colchicine(1), which was first used over 2000 years ago in the form of preparations of the meadow saffron
Colchicum autumnale (Fig. 1), is still one of the more effective treatments for the intense pain associated with a gout
attack.Padanius Dioscorides, a Greek surgeon in the Roman Army during the rule of Nero(AD 54-68), first described
the meadow saffron in his influential De Materia Medica, a pharmacopeia which systematically described about 600
plants[2].Throughout the years, many historians, physicians, and pharmacopeias have noted the beneficial effects of
Colchicum extracts for the treatment of gout.
It was not until 1820 when (-)-colchicine, the pharmacologically activec onstituent of the plant, was isolated by the
French chemists Pelletier and Caventon.[3] The absolute configuration was determined by Corrodi and Hardeggerin
1955.[4] As can be seen, colchicine is a tricyclic alkaloid, the main features of which include a trimethoxyphenyl ring (A
ring), a seven membered ring (Bring) with an acetamide at the seven position, and a tropolonic ring (C ring).
Thegoal of most colchicine research is a more thorough understanding of the cause of gout, which is often thought of
as a disease of rich living. However, as many victims will testify, the affliction does not limit itself to thislifestyle. Gout,
from the Latin gutta, meaning drop, was used to describe the symptoms because physicians presumed the disease
was caused by the dropping of phlegm into the big toe.[1] Hyperurecosia, or elevated blood levels of uric acid, causes
the common symptoms of gout[5,6]. In humans and other primates,uric acid is the final metabolite in the breakdown of
purines. When thismetabolic pathway becomes overwhelmed, from either an enzymatic deficiency or an increase in
dietary purines, uric acid cannot be efficiently elimated from the body. The poorly soluble uric acid crystalizes, initiating
a response frommacrophages and leukocytes. The phagocytosis of urate crystals by the macrogphages and
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