The Everything Guide to Herbal Remedies (20 page)
Read The Everything Guide to Herbal Remedies Online
Authors: Martha Schindler Connors
Anxiety disorders include several different conditions, such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and phobias.
Anxiety disorders share a common feature: an uncontrollable and, in many cases unexplainable, fear or dread. In most cases, people with one type of anxiety disorder have another; anxiety disorders frequently accompany depression, as well.
Some anxiety disorders are treated with antidepressants like fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft). Medications specifically made to treat anxiety include clonazepam (Klonopin), alprazolam (Xanax), and diazepam (Valium). Possible side effects include drowsiness, fatigue, loss of coordination, and mental confusion.
While serious anxiety disorders demand attention from a doctor (and may require the use of prescription drugs), many milder or episodic types of anxiety respond quite well to herbal remedies. For example:
| • Hops (Humulus lupulus) | This is a traditional antianxiety treatment that helps relieve depression, as well. Hops also acts as a mild sedative. |
| • Kava (Piper methysticum) | Kava is the go-to herbal for anxiety, and has centuries of use (and research) behind it. The latest studies confirm its ability to relieve the symptoms of anxiety as well as the most frequently prescribed pharmaceuticals. |
| • Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) | Recent research has shown that passionflower relieves anxiety symptoms as well as drugs, without the side effects. Other research shows it can relieve presurgery anxiety without unnecessary sedation. |
| • Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) | Valerian is a gentle sedative and mood stabilizer. Research shows that combining it with Saint John’s wort (Hypericumperforatum) or kava (Piper methysticum) can relieve agitation and anxiety. |
Depression is the best known of the illnesses classified as mood disorders, a group of conditions that includes major depression, dysthymic disorder (which is a type of chronic, mild depression), seasonal affective disorder (SAD), postpartum depression (PPD), and bipolar disorder.
Everyone feels sad sometimes, but when those feelings linger or are so intense that they interfere with your daily functioning, they could be a sign of depression. Mood disorders generally involve feelings of persistent sadness, hopelessness, and apathy, but major depression, as its name implies, can create serious problems in an individual’s personal and professional life and, in extreme cases, lead to suicide attempts.
Exercise is a proven remedy for many psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, and age-related dementia. Research shows that a half-hour a day of exercise, three to five days a week, can significantly improve depression symptoms. Even shorter bouts of exercise—ten to fifteen minutes of physical activity—have been shown to boost your mood.
Depression often runs in families and typically begins before age thirty. It’s much more common in women than in men. Both genetics and life experiences—nature as well as nurture—seem to play a role.
Depression is generally treated with antidepressants, which include old-school tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) as well as newer drugs called
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs). The SSRIs include fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft). Over the past several years, drug companies have come up with a few more antidepressants, including venlafaxine (Effexor) and bupropion (Wellbutrin).
Side effects from antidepressants vary: Tricyclics and MAOIs have the worst, including constipation, bladder problems, blurred vision, and dizziness. SSRIs and the other new drugs can cause sexual side effects, headache, nausea, and agitation.
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive disorder, affects about 6 million Americans over the age of eighteen, or about 2.6 percent of the adult population. It encompasses two very serious mood problems: mania, which is a euphoric “high” that’s often accompanied by reckless or even dangerous behavior, and depression.
Most often, antimanic (or mood-stabilizing) medications are used to treat bipolar disorder. The best known is lithium (Eskalith), which can cause fatigue, nausea, and tremors. Some patients are given an anticonvulsant, such as divalproex sodium (Depakote), which can cause headaches, double vision, dizziness, and anxiety.
Although SSRIs are extremely popular (doctors wrote more than 31 million prescriptions in 2005), research shows that much of their perceived efficacy is due to the placebo effect and they actually work in less than half of the patients who try them. Some herbs and lifestyle factors (like exercise) have been shown to be just as effective.
While a serious or prolonged case of depression or bipolar disorder should be treated by a doctor, many people find that herbs can help relieve some symptoms. For example:
| • Boswellia (Boswellia serrata) | Boswellia produces a fragrant resin that is used as incense. New research has shown that it contains a psychoactive compound that relieves depression and anxiety. |
| • Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) | Lemon balm is used to treat depression and calm the highs of bipolar disorder. |
| • Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) | Rhodiola has been proven effective against the symptoms of depression, both as an adjunct treatment (it was studied along with a tricyclic antidepressant drug) and on its own. |
| • Saint John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) | This is a classic herbal remedy for depression—and one of the most researched herbs being used today. While not every study has shown a significant benefit, most experts agree that Saint John’s wort can alleviate the symptoms of mild to moderate depression. |
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is one of the most common mental disorders in children—and adults—today. The principal characteristics of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. In most cases, ADHD shows up in preschool or early elementary school, but many people are not diagnosed until much later. It is estimated that between 3 and 5 percent of American children (and more than 4 percent of adults) have symptoms of ADHD.
Between 1993 and 2003, the use of pharmaceutical ADHD treatments tripled (and spending on them increased ninefold, to roughly $2.4 billion), according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Doctors in the United States prescribe more than 80 percent of the world’s ADHD medications.
ADHD is typically treated with stimulant medications, such as methylphenidate (Ritalin) and amphetamine mixed salts (Adderall). Other ADHD meds include the drug atomoxitine (Strattera), which is a nonstimulant. Side effects can include decreased appetite, insomnia, anxiety, and headache. Here are some herbal alternatives for attention difficulties:
| • American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) | Like its Asian cousin, Panax ginseng, this herb is a traditional remedy for taming psychological and physical stress and sharpening mental powers. Research shows that it can alleviate the symptoms of ADHD. |
| • Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) | Studies show that ginkgo can sharpen your mind, whether you’re dealing with age-related decline or attention difficulties. |
| • Flax (Linum usitatissimum) | Flax contains alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), one member of a group of essential fatty acids called omega-3s, which have been shown to help with the symptoms of ADHD (and depression). |
| • Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) | An extract from the bark of this French tree can reduce hyperactivity and increase attentiveness and concentration in people with ADHD. |
Addictions to alcohol, drugs, and other substances are an enormous problem in the United States and around the world, and are one of the biggest causes of preventable illness and death today.
Alcohol is a legal drug (for people twenty-one and older) in the United States, and most often it is a harmless part of our social lives. But excessive drinking can create enormous problems, including cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease, sexual dysfunction, and a cognitive disorder known as alcoholic dementia.
Marijuana is the most common illicit drug in the United States, although smoking it has been associated with short-term memory loss and other cognitive problems, elevated blood pressure and heart rate, and loss of motor skills.
Close behind marijuana are stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines, which can cause violent or erratic behavior, heart attack, seizure, or stroke. Opioids like heroin can damage the heart, lungs, and brain, and hallucinogens like ecstasy or LSD (“acid”) cause hallucinations and flashbacks—and possibly death.
Addictive substances also include legal drugs: tranquilizers like alprazolam (Xanax) and diazepam (Valium), painkillers like oxycodone (Oxy-Contin, Percocet), stimulants like methylphenidate (Ritalin), and sedatives like temazepam (Restoril) and triazolam (Halcion), all of which are highly addictive and can cause serious problems when abused.
Rates of prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse are climbing. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, non-medical use of prescription pain relievers was second only to marijuana among the types of illicit drug use in 2004. That same year, roughly 2 million people met the criteria for dependence or abuse involving a prescription drug.
Another legal yet addictive substance is the nicotine found in cigarettes and chewing tobacco. The U.S. Surgeon General has stated that the nicotine in tobacco products has addictive properties similar to heroin. According to government figures, nearly 58 percent of the nation’s 61.6 million smokers—35.5 million people—meet the criteria for nicotine dependence.