Butterbur: Nature’s Allergy Treatment

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  • Monday, December 26, 2011
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  • Spring has sprung; green grass, budding trees and a wide array of beautiful flowers and plants are arriving daily. However, spring also brings something that isn’t so welcome; seasonal allergies. Each year more than 35 million Americans face symptoms such as sneezing, wheezing, runny nose, and itchy, watery, red eyes.
     Many allergy sufferers find relief in traditional medications, such as oral decongestants, antihistamines, topical steroid sprays, and desensitization. However, an increasing number of people are turning to all-natural treatments. Mary Hardy, M.D., director of integrative medicine at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, says, “Using nature-based products can be a very useful way to handle mild allergies and a useful adjunct for more significant allergies, and there are many types of treatments you can safely try.”

    According to Dr. Hardy, among those treatments generating the loudest buzz at present is the European herb butterbur (Petasites hybridus), which “has had some very impressive clinical trial results.”

    In a study published in the British Medical Journal, Swiss researchers showed that one tablet of butterbur four times daily was as effective as a popular antihistamine drug in controlling symptoms of hay fever, without the drowsiness that sometimes occurs with traditional antihistamines. In another study, British researchers approved butterbur for quelling symptoms of grass allergy.

    In yet another study, butterbur was compared to the antihistamine cetrizine in patients with season allergies. One hundred and twenty five patients from four outpatient clinics in Switzerland and Germany participated in this randomized controlled trial; 61 received butterbur and 64 received cetrizine. After two weeks, the groups were comparable on measures such as physical and emotional functioning as well as the physician assessment of the symptom severity and overall improvement.

    Butterbur is a perennial shrub found throughout Europe as well as in parts of Asia and North America. The butterbur plant can grow to heights of three feet and is usually found in wet, marshy ground, in damp forests and adjacent to rivers or streams. The main active substances in butterbur are petasin and isopetasin, which are believed to reduce smooth muscle spasms and have an anti-inflammatory effect. The butterbur plant also contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are associated with liver toxicity. However, butterbur extracts have had the pyrrolizidine akaloids removed.

    Butterbur has been used medicinally for centuries to treat pain, fever, spasms, cough, and asthma. The Greek physician Dioscurides used butterbur leaves to treat skin ulcers. Today, it is mainly used for migraine prevention and for treating headaches and asthma.

    Other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments for seasonal allergies include: freeze-dried nettles, quercetin, a tonic made from goldenseal, a saline (salt water) nasal wash, homeopathy, and acupuncture.



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