Black Cohosh

About

Black Cohosh is a herb.It is a tall perennial plant in the buttercup family that grows in eastern and central areas of the United States. Black cohosh was used by Native Americans as a traditional folk remedy for womens' health conditions, such as menstrual cramps and hot flashes, arthritis, muscle pain, sore throat, cough and indigestion. The juice of the plant was used as an insect repellent and was made into a salve and applied to snake bites.Today, black cohosh is used primarily as a nutritional supplement for hot flashes, mood swings, night sweats, vaginal dryness and other symptoms that can occur during menopause, as well as for menstrual cramps and bloating.The parts of the plant used medicinally are the fresh or dried roots and rhizomes (underground stems).cohosh is an Indian word meaning "rough".Black Cohos roots have been a
traditional source of medicinal support for women over 50 years of age.black cohosh is aslo called bugbane, snake root
,bugwort,fairy candles, rattleweed, rattleroot,and squaw root.

Information

Translations: Μαύρο Cohosh, Juodosios Cohosh, كوهوش السوداء, Actée à grappes noires, ブラックコホッシュ, 블랙 Cohosh, Traubensilberkerze, Блацк Цохосх, שחור Cohosh, Black cohosh, Zwarte Cohosh, काले Cohosh, Черный Cohosh, Cohosh negre, Чорний Cohosh, 黑升麻, Svart Cohosh, Musta Cohosh, Cohosh negro, Черно Cohosh

Selecting and Buying

Choosing: The use of black cohosh during pregnancy has not been rigorously studied. Thus, it would be prudent for pregnant women not to take black cohosh unless they do so under the supervision of their health care provider.
Women with breast cancer may want to avoid black cohosh until its effects on breast tissue are understood.
Individuals with liver disorders should avoid black cohosh.
Individuals who develop symptoms of liver trouble such as abdominal pain, dark urine, or jaundice while taking the supplement should discontinue use and contact their doctor.

Buying: Black cohosh is an herb sold as a dietary supplement in the United States.There are no regulated manufacturing standards in place for many herbal compounds and some marketed supplements have been found to be contaminated with toxic metals or other drugs. Herbal/health supplements should be purchased from a reliable source to minimize the risk of contamination.

Procuring: Actaea racemosa grows in dependably moist, fairly heavy soil. It bears tall tapering racemes of white midsummer flowers on wiry black-purple stems, whose mildly unpleasant, medicinal smell at close range gives it the common name "Bugbane". The drying seed heads stay handsome in the garden for many weeks. Its deeply cut leaves, burgundy colored in the variety atropurpurea, add interest to American gardens, wherever summer heat and drought do not make it die back, which make it a popular garden perennial.

Preparation and Use

Preparations of black cohosh are made from its roots and rhizomes (underground stems). One commercial standardized black cohosh preparation is Remifemin, which contains black cohosh extract equivalent to 20 mg of root per tablet. The manufacturer changed the formulation of this preparation from a solution (root extracted with ethanol, 60% by volume) to tablets (root extracted with isopropyl alcohol, 40% by volume), complicating the comparison of research results. Other preparations of black cohosh have been less well studied than Remifemin.

Social/Political

North Carolina has the potential to become a major producer of cultivated black cohosh, especially in the western regions of the state. Commercial interest in this plant has never been greater. Naturally occurring populations will not satisfy the expected increase in demand over the next three-to-five years. Lack of significant production creates an opportunity for North Carolina growers to fill the gap in supply as wild populations continue to decline.

History: Black cohosh was used in North American Indian medicine for malaise, gynecological disorders, kidney disorders, malaria, rheumatism, and sore throat. It was also used for colds, cough, constipation, hives, and backache and to induce lactation. In 19th-century America, black cohosh was a home remedy used for rheumatism and fever, as a diuretic, and to bring on menstruation. It was extremely popular among a group of alternative practitioners who called black cohosh "macrotys" and prescribed it for rheumatism, lung conditions, neurological conditions, and conditions that affected women's reproductive organs (including menstrual problems, inflammation of the uterus or ovaries, infertility, threatened miscarriage, and relief of labor pains).