Bacteria, Viruses, and Herbs: Sorting Through Truth and Fiction

[Sean Donahue]

As I am sure you have gathered, I am not much for what I would term the allopathic use of herbs -- the across the board use of a particular herb to treat a medical condition through a specific biochemical action.

There are, nevertheless, occasions where the overgrowth of a particular colony of organisms is an obstacle to cure, and finding effective means to stop their reproduction or reduce their population is an important part of creating the conditions necessary for the body to begin correcting imbalances and repairing tissues.

There are a handful of herbs that are demonstrably effective against a variety of viruses and bacteria.  Its important to take the energetics of these herbs into account and balance them with other herbs to create a formula appropriate to the client's constitution and the prevailing tissue state in the respiratory system.

ACUTE VIRAL INFECTIONS

Viral infections in the immune system tend to be marked by acute inflammation and are often accompanied by fever.

The premiere herb here, as I mentioned last week, is Elder.   If you have ever seen a picture of a virus taken under an electron microscope you may recall that the virus looks like a ball with spikes.  Those spikes are used to penetrate cell membranes so the virus can inject its DNA into the cell, taking it over and using its machinery to produce copies of itself.   Elder berries appear to effectively cut off those spikes, preventing viral replication.   Frequent (ideally hourly) large doses of Elder berries in any form will greatly shorten the duration of any viral infection.

Hyssop (Hyssopus officianalis) is a warming, diffusive herb that has a strong affinity for the respiratory system and also appears to limit viral replication.  I have little personal clinical experience with Hyssop, so I refer you to an excellent monograph by Lisl Meredith Huebner at http://herbalisl.blogspot.com/2010/07/hyssop-her-ancient-message-still.html    Contraindicated in pregnancy.   Possibly contraindicated in hyper-tension -- practitioners I respect greatly with considerable experience with the plant differ greatly in their views of the plant's effect on blood pressure.  I would err on the side of caution here given that blood pressure tends to be somewhat elevated already in an acute viral infection.

Osha, Thyme, and Juniper are widely reputed to have antiviral actions, and given that they are high in aromatic essential oils which tend to kill viruses, I'm inclined to give credence to this theory.

Aromatic smudges and essential oils such as those of Frankincense, Lavender, Hyssop, Artemesia spp.,Salvia Spp., Myrrh,  etc. may help to prevent the transmission of viral infections and possibly have some impact on viruses within the respiratory tract.   Baths or steams with these herbs may be beneficial as well.

The Physiomedicalists were great fans of using a modified sweat-lodge to stimulate the vital force and sweat out disease.  Paul Bergner reports that saunas and sweat lodges may actually be effective therapies for preventing viral infections after exposure -- influenza viruses cannot survive temperatures higher than 96 degrees (hence the body's fever response) so heating the mucous membranes to a temperature higher than 96 degrees may disinfect them.

ACUTE BACTERIAL INFECTIONS

Bacterial infections of the respiratory system tend to be marked by yellow or green mucus discharges.   Among the herbs that may be relevant here:

Garlic (Allium sativium) is broadly effective against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria.  The trouble is that you need to consume a lot of it to get the full antibacterial effect --  at least 3 bulbs in the course of a day.  And in amounts this large, garlic can cause nausea.   Stephen Buhner suggests that a comparable effect may be obtainable by taking 40 drops of Garlic tincture 6 times a day.  Garlic is warm, moiust, and stimulating

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) root is also broadly active against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria and is also a wonderful demulcent herb with an affinity for the respiratory system.  Many practitioners express concern about possible elevation of blood pressure -- my own take is that the cases where this has been documented have mostly involved standardized extracts of Licorice constituents, and that short term use is not likely to pose a problem.  Still, if hypertension is severe and uncontrolled it may be wise to err on the side of caution.   A teaspoon of powedered root as tea or 30-60 drops of tincture three times a day.

Usnea is extremely effective against the gram positive bacteria that are most commonly implicated in bacterial bronchitis and pneumonia.   Usnea is only partially water soluble, so use tincture -- 60-90 drops, 6 times a day.

Much has been made in the past year of a study in Ireland showing Elecampane's effectiveness against MRSA, suggesting the possibility of broader action against gram positive bacteria.   My own extensive searches and questions directed to people touting the study have turned up only vague newspaper articles that don't describe the method of administration.   It seems possible to me that what is actually happening is that Elecampane is helping to restore healthy gut flora that in turn leads to the body's ability to more effectively fight infection while also drying up excess mucus that serves as a breeding ground for such bacteria and promoting expectoration.  So I am not going to say based on secondary incomplete accounts of a single study that Elecampane has been shown to directly kill bacteria.  But I would still use it in acute bacterial bronchitis or pneumonia.

Honey is also broadly effective against gram positive and gram negative bacteria and is an excellent addition to any tea given for acute bacterial infections.

GOLDENSEAL IS NOT AN "HERBAL ANTIBIOTIC"

One widespread myth in the herbal community is that Goldenseal (Hydrastis Canadensis)  is an "herbal antibiotic"  that should be used in high doses in acute infections.

There is no evidence that Goldenseal or any of its constituents are directly active against bacteria.

The myth that Goldnseal kills bacteria has its roots in a misreading of clinical studies of the use of a standardized extract of Berberine, one of the plant's constituents, in the treatment of dysentery.   Paul Bergner writes:

Berberine sulfate is used clinically in Asia to treat diarrheal infections. In one double-blind placebo-controlled trial, 400 mg doses of berberine sulfate were given orally to men with E. coli -induced diarrhea. The group receiving the berberine had a 48% reduction is stool volumes, and 42% of the men in the group stopped having watery stools within 24 hours, compared with 20% in the control group, who received only a placebo. The results are typical of treatment of diarrhea with berberine. This trial is frequently cited by herbal companies as "proof" that berberine-containing plants kill bacteria in the intestine, even though the authors of that trial reach the opposite conclusion. They found that pathogenic bacterial counts in the patients were unchanged (Rabbani et al 1987). Berberine in such high doses (the equivalent of about 26 capsules of goldenseal) did not appear to disrupt the pathogenic bacteria, much less the beneficial ones.

What is actually happening here is that Berberine is drying and toning the mucus membranes.   This explains why some people do have positive results when using Goldenseal to treat acute infection.

However, in large does, Goldenseal can be excessively drying to the mucus membranes and can cause tremors and abdominal cramping.

A small dose is all that is needed when using Goldenseal as a mucus membrane tonic.  And historically when Goldenseal was used as a tonic for the mucus membranes of the respiratory system it was generally paired with a warming, moistening herb like Aralia nudicaulis (Wild Sarsparilla.)

Goldenseal is also extremely cooling so it is contraindicated in cold, boggy conditions.  It is also contraindicated in pregnancy.

And it is also highly endangered.  So if you must use Goldenseal, be sure to buy from a reputable source that is using cultivated plants.





--
Sean Donahue,  Traditional Herbalist
http://www.brighidswellherbs.com
http://greenmanramblings.blogspot.com/

"Sometimes there's nothing left to do but make love to the fear." -- Astrid Mannrique, ASFAADES (Association of the Families of the Disappeared), Popayan, Colombia

"If we eat the wild, it begins to work inside us, altering us, changing us. Soon, if we eat too much, we will no longer fit the suit that has been made for us. Our hair will begin to grow long and ragged. Our gait and how we hold our body will change. A wild light begins to gleam in our eyes. Our words start to sound strange, nonlinear, emotional. Unpractical. Poetic. Once we have tasted this wildness, we begin to hunger for a food long denied us, and the more we eat the more we will awaken." -- Stephen Harrod Buhner The Secret Teachings of Plants