Medical Herbalism & Colitis

Medical herbalism is today a sophisticated system of natural medicine using plant extracts and herbs to help treat physical and mental disorders.

There are several herbs that have been shown to help colitis including Slippery Elm and Psyllium seed (1). The Psyllium (otherwise known as Isapaghula or flea seed) is a soft bulking agent which, like other dietary fibre, absorbs excess fluid. What makes Psyllium particularly beneficial in Crohn's disease and colitis is that it is a soft fibre as opposed to the hard, rough fibre in bran.

Medical Herbalists will take account of other factors and will prescribe for them accordingly. Anti-inflammatory herbs such as meadow sweet and comfrey may be prescribed in cases of colitis and crohn's disease along with nervines and calmatives such as lady's slipper, valerian root, scullcap and chamomile, if stress is a related factor.(2)

Dietary advice may also be given by a medical herbalist. It is interesting to note that Jethro Kloss, the famous American herbalist, recommended in the 1930's that people with all forms of colitis would be advised to go on a liquid diet for a short time to give the intestines a rest - advice which has in more recent years been demonstrated in controlled studies to be effective. (3)

Interestingly, research carried out with liquorice root have shown it to be more effective than most conventional drugs at healing gastric ulcers, provided it is taken on an empty stomach. (4)

(1) Dr RF Weiss Herbal Medicine p.114
(2) Nalda Gosling Successful Herbal Remedies (Thorsons) p.45
(3) Back to Eden J.Kloss p.354
(4) Dr Stephen Fulder - Handbook of Complementary Medicine 1988

http://www.internethealthlibrary.com