Tag: herbal

Feb92019 by adminNo Comments

Herbal history: Five garden plants with a hidden past

Science

Many garden plants we're familiar with today have a hidden history.Grown centuries ago for their reputed healing powers, they became garden staples, valued for their beauty, form or scent.Pulmonaria, with its spotted leaves, was thought to symbolise diseased lungs, and used for chest infections.And the mint now found in a pot by the door was recommended to "stayeth bleeding" by early herbalists and apothecaries.There's more to garden plants than just their aesthetics, says Fiona Davison, head of libraries and exhibitions at the Royal Horticultural Society, RHS. Plants generally don't get into gardens by accident, she says - they have a long relationship with people. ...

Oct12017 by adminNo Comments

Officer's death intensifies scrutiny of herbal supplement

Health

Matt Dana was known around the Adirondack Mountain town where he grew up as a promising young police sergeant who worked hard to root out narcotics dealers. So it came as a shock to friends and co-workers when he died suddenly this summer and an autopsy attributed it to an overdose. It wasn't from drugs, but from kratom, an herbal supplement sold online and in convenience stores, gas stations and smoke shops. "It was the talk of the town. People were upset it was reported as an overdose," said Paul Maroun, mayor of Tupper Lake in the central Adirondacks 110 miles northwest of Albany. "It's not an illegal drug." Made from the leaf of a Southeast Asian plant, kratom (pronounced KRAY-tuhm) is touted as an energizer, potent pain reliever, and tool to wean people with addictions off heroin and...