Female Reproductive Materia Medica, Herban Legends and Clinical Pearls

2 hours 

An Herban Legend is a persistent, widely and firmly held belief about a plant and its medicinal effects which is not true. A clinical Pearl on the other hand is a useful and reliable property or indication for the herb, unrelated to the Legend. The origin of an Herban Legend or its rationale is obscure or forgotten and is usually based on misinterpretation of science or tradition. It is repeated, believed, and repeated again from textbook to textbook, across a generation until it becomes “common knowledge”. A large number of such Legends are present in North American Herbalism for the category of female reproductive system herbs, usually relating to supposed hormonal effects. Each of the herbs we discuss will also have one or more Clinical Pearls. We will discuss Actaea species, Angelica sinensis, Withania, Dioscorea, Humulus, Paeonia, Trifolium, Vitex, and the Viburnums.

Materials

• The audio lecture

• Lecture slides

• Science: The Weakest Link in the Mosaic of Evidence

• Hypericum and estradiol

This lecture is offered as Continuing Education by the NAIMH but has not been pre-approved for CE credits by any professional board.

Related Continuing Education Lectures

• Female System Herbs from Four Directions

• Women's Herbs in Thomsonian Herbalism

• Differentiating the Cohoshes

• Lifestyle Patterns in Reproductive Disorders