Ragwort
Botanical Description & Habitat
Senecio aureus
Family
Compositae
Common Names
| Cocash weed | Coughweed |
| False Valerian | Female regulator |
| Golden groundsel | Golden ragwort |
| Golden senecio | Grundy swallow |
| Life root | Squaw weed |
Description:
A perennial herb with a slender, erect stem that bears bright yellow flowers.
Habitat
It grows in swampy thickets of the central and eastern USA.
Marshes, along stream banks and other wet areas of East Coast of U.S., westward to Wisconsin and Texas.
Medicinal Parts
The dried plant
Historical Properties & Uses
Ragwort is diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue and toxic. Its use should be avoided. Hepatotoxic alkaloids have been found in this plant which, with continued use, could significantly damage the liver. It is also abortive.
The essential oil may be used as a rubefacient.
Method of Action
Ragwort contains a number of alkaloids, among them senecifoline, senecine, and the very toxic senecionine.
The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia still recognizes ragwort as a uterine tonic, diuretic and mild expectorant.
Drug Interactions & Precautions
Known Interactions
Ragwort, insofar as its diuretic action increases the renal excretion of sodium and chloride, may potentiate the hyperglycemic and hyperuremic effects of glucose elevating agents.
The effects of dopamine and diuretic agents are additive. Diuretics may potentiate the action of antihypertensive drugs, ganglionic or peripheral adrenergic blocking drugs, tubocurarine and norepinephrine.
Possible Interactions
In conjunction with ACTH or corticosteroids, this diuretic is more prone to produce hypokalemia. Use of diuretics may require dosage adjustments of antidiabetic drugs. The diuretic action of Ragwort may reduce renal clearance of lithium.
An initial dose of captopril (an antihypertensive) may cause a severe drop in blood pressure within three hours if also using a strong diuretic.
Comments
Prolonged use of this diuretic may affect certain lab test results such as electrolytes (especially potassium and sodium), BUN, uric acid, glucose, and pbi.
Strong diuretics such as this in conjunction with indomethacin may produce natriuretic effects.
Safety Factors & Toxicity
The alkaloids of ragwort may be involved in the human liver disease and cancer. For this reason, use of ragwort should be abandoned, at least until such time as its potential toxicity is fully understood.
Preparation & Administration
Use three times daily
Infusion
Use 1-4g of dried herb
Liquid Extract
Use 1-4ml of 1:1 in 25% alcohol
Note: This Herbal Preparation information is a summary of data from books and articles by various authors. It is not intended to replace the advice or attention of health care professionals.
References
British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, British Herbal Medicine Association, 1983.
Facts and Comparisons. The Lawrence Review of Natural Products. Jul, 1992.
Mowrey, Daniel B., Ph.D. Exper. Psych., Brigham Young University. Director of Nebo Institute of Herbal Sciences. Director of Behavior Change Agent Training Institute. Director of Research, Nova Corp.
Tyler, V. The New Honest Herbal, Stickley, Philadelphia, 1987.
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