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| headaches by inhibiting the release of blood vessel-dilating substances from platelets, inhibiting the production of inflammatory substances and re-establishing proper blood vessel tone. |
| The effectiveness of feverfew is dependent upon adequate levels of parthenolide, the active ingredient The preparations used in the clinical trials had a parthenolide content of 0.2 percent. The dosage of feverfew used in the London Migraine Clinic study was one capsule containing 25 mg of the freeze-dried pulverized leaves twice daily. In the Nottingham study, it was one capsule containing 82 mg of dried powdered leaves once daily. While these low dosages may be effective in preventing an attack, a higher dose (1 to 2 grams) is necessary during an acute attack. Feverfew is extremely well-tolerated and no serious side effects have been reported. However, chewing the leaves can result in small ulcerations in the mouth and swelling of the lips and tongue. This condition occurs in about 10 percent of users. |
| The venerable English herbalists Gerard and Culpepper would not have been surprised at all at these findings. It is a pity that the patients given the placebo had to go through the renewed migraine attacks to demonstrate something already well-known to herbalists and the patients themselves. |
| Pharmacologists are putting great attention on the humble "weed," feverfew, in the search for a new class of effective and profitable antimigraine and analgesic drugs. Since the simple dried or fresh leaf of feverfew is such an excellent formulation for preventing migraine why don't doctors prescribe it? The reasons are social, political and economic as well as medical. Since the plant is grown by nature free of charge and is not patentable, there is no profit in it for the pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, most of the information passed on to doctors is generated by that industry. |
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