One of our herbalists, Tracey Humphries, has been asked to demonstrate her herbal remedy skills at this year's Manchester Science Festival.


She, and other members of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, will be running plant-based remedy making demonstrations on the Healthy People- Health Planet stand at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry in Castlefield.


The festival runs over half-term, from the 23rd-31st October and Tracey will be on the stall on the Friday the 29th. Be sure to pop along and see her and give her your support!



 
Swine Flu 12/14/2009
 
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The Swine flu epidemic is upon us with between 20,000 and 45,000 new cases a week and latest figures showing that around 1 in 14 of us will catch swine flu. Fortunately, the virus is mild in most people, but it still poses a risk to certain groups and we should all try and protect others and ourselves against this flu. Following the "Catch it, Bin it, Kill it" advice is useful, especially to stop it spreading - but is there anything else we can do or take to stop getting the virus or reduce the symptoms if we do get it? There are many rumours and tales doing the rounds about what herbs should and shouldn’t be taken for swine flu – Here’s Vitality’s take on the main contenders:

Echinacea

Supporting the immune system and keeping yourself as healthy as possible seems a sensible way to prevent catching the flu and as herbalist we would recommend regular doses of Echinacea to both support the immune system and as an anti-viral. Although there has been some debate as to whether Echinacea can raise the risk of a ‘cytokine storm’ in someone who has a swine flu, there is no evidence for this and most herbalists are happy to use Echinacea as a prophylactic. However, it would be wise to use different herbs once someone has contracted the virus and in particular during a fever.

Star Anise

The belief is that because Star Anise is used in Tamiflu, taking it will therefore ‘cure the flu’ – this has lead to shortages and price increases of this oriental spice. Firstly, no herb or drug can cure the flu – all they can ever do is reduce the symptoms or reduce the risk of you contracting it in the first place. Secondly, the so-called ‘magic ingredient’ in Star Anise, Shikimic acid, actually has no anti-viral properties of its own, but is only used as a precursor in the manufacture of Tamiflu. That said, Star Anise does contain linalool, which is anti-viral so it may be worth taking, but there are more effective herbs in this area. If you do decide to take Star Anise, make sure you use the Chinese Anise (Illicium verum) rather than the similar looking Japanese Anise (Illicium anisatum) which is highly toxic. 

Elderberry

Elderberries have traditionally been used to help patients with colds and flu and recent studies seem to back up Elderberry’s ability to reduce the duration and severity of virus infections. One study in particular in 2009, by Roschek et al showed elderberries ability to bind directly to the H1N1 virus particles, stopping them entering the body’s cells to reproduce. In fact, elderberry juice seems to ‘mop-up’ the virus in the body and helps reduce the spread of the disease, significantly improving recovery times. Elderberry, either as a juice, tincture or syrup, would be seem to be the preferred treatment for reducing Swine flu severity and can also be used prophylatically in combination with Echinacea.

Boneset 

Bonset, or Eupatorium perfoliatum, though not being widely touted as treatment for Swine flu by the chattering classes on the Internet, is valued by herbalist for it’s ability to reduce flu symptoms and was used to great effect in America of the great flu outbreak of 1918. A native to North America and first used in western herbalism by the Eclectics, this bitter herb seems to reduce fevers, sooth aches and reduce the chances of secondary infections such as pneumonia. However, as with all Eupatoria species professional care is advised and this herb should only be taken under the supervision of a qualified medical herbalist.