| Common Names | Brigham Tea, Jointfir, Joint-Pine, Mormon-Tea |
|---|---|
| Description | |
| Locations | Arta Preveza Lefkada |
| Clinical Summary | |
| Contraindications | Insomnia, nervousness, irritability, headache, nausea, vomiting and tachycardia may be observed. Herb's consumption must be avoided during pregnancy, as well by patient who suffer from anxiety, agitation, hypertension, glaucoma, reduced brain perfusion, prostate, possible pheochromocytoma and thyrotoxicosis. Overdose may cause hypertension and cardiac arrhythmia, which may be exacerbated when the plant is coadministered with other medicines (cardiotonic glycosides). The anabolic use of ephedrine, in combination with caffeine and aspirin, may cause serious side effects and addiction after a prolonged use. |
| Active Substance | Ephedrine pseudoephedrine (alkaloids) |
| Active Substance Plant Part | Aboveground plant parts |
| Adverse Reaction | |
| Educational Research | |
| Interaction | |
| Features Description | Ephedra foeminea is a perennial climber or decumbent shrub growing up to 4m, with opposite, needle, green leaves and oval, red fruits. The flowers are yellow and small in inflorescence. The flowering lasts from March to November and the harvesting takes place from August to December |
| Method Administration | Nowadays, the pharmaceutical use of the plant is limited. Although, it is administered against respiratory problems in the form of herbal tea (two spoons of dried herb in a cup of boiled water, three times a day) and in the form of tincture (1-3mL three times a day)Warning: The use of herb preparations is not recommended without seeking advice from your physician or pharmacist. The substances they contain may interact with the subscribed drugs that the patient already takes, thus eliminating their therapeutic efficacy or inducing toxicity. They may also burden further weakened vital functions of the body thus exposing the patient to increased morbidity and life threatened conditions. |
| Pharmacological Info | The whole plant has bronchodilator properties and it is used for the treatment of various respiratory problems, mainly against bronchial asthma. This action is attributed to ephedrine, which stimulates the sympathetic nervous system (sympathomimetic amine) and dilates coronary vessels. Also, it is recommended against allergies, cough, gonorrhea and syphilis. It is used by athletes to increase their performance due to its anabolic action. Finally, the plant is usually one of the ingredients in slimming products, even if there are a lot of devastating side effects. |
| Pharmacological Use | |
| Mechanism Action | |
| References | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691507000075 Barbara M. Schmidt, Nebojsa Ilic, Alexander Poulev, Ilya Raskin, Toxicological evaluation of a chicory root extract, Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 45, Issue 7, July 2007, Pages 1131-1139, ISSN 0278-6915, 10.1016/j.fct.2006.12.019. http://users.sch.gr/gpantakis/?p=4845 http://www.reherb.eu/el/content/ephedra-foeminea http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/201710/0 http://xlorida.blogspot.gr/2013/01/ephedra-ephedraceae.html |
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