The Everything Guide to Herbal Remedies (8 page)

Pregnancy can be a time of chaos for many women: They’re experiencing any number of new sensations (and discomforts)—and they’re worried about putting anything even potentially dangerous into their bodies.

In many ways, pregnant women are the toughest group of people to treat—both conventionally and herbally—because so little is known about the effects of various compounds on the developing fetus.

Nausea, or morning sickness, is a common complaint during pregnancy, especially in the first few months. Other pregnant women suffer from constipation, heartburn, gas, and bloating. Pregnant women are generally advised to skip the usual OTC remedies for nausea and other gastrointestinal problems. The good news is that herbal medicine has a few alternatives:

Pregnancy can bring on headaches, backaches, and other kinds of aches—yet pregnant women are generally told to avoid NSAIDs and other pain-relieving pharmaceuticals. Happily, there are some herbal alternatives:

The transition between fertility and menopause is technically known as perimenopause (or climacteric), but most people simply call it menopause. Menopause is the end of menses, and it’s official when a woman hasn’t had a period for twelve consecutive months. The average age of menopause is fifty-one, but anything between forty-one and fifty-nine is considered normal.

Menopause produces a few distinct symptoms, all the result of the shortfall in the hormones estrogen and progesterone created when the ovaries stop producing them.

These symptoms, which can go on for as little as a few weeks or as long as a few years, vary greatly among women. The most common include:

Vasomotor Symptoms

Menopausal vasomotor symptoms—those involving constriction or dilation of blood vessels—include hot flashes and night sweats.

Hot flashes are the most common symptom of menopause; almost all menopausal women have them. They are marked by a warm sensation that travels from your chest up into your head, often in waves, accompanied by a flushing in your skin and, in some cases, dizziness, nausea, headache, and rapid heartbeat. Hot flashes that come on at night are called
night sweats
(for obvious reasons).

Emotional and Cognitive Changes

Many women experience changes in mood—including depression and anxiety—during menopause. Other problems, like difficulty with concentration or memory, are also common.

Conventional medicine generally treats menopausal symptoms with hormone-like drugs that mimic the effects of estrogen and progesterone.

Until fairly recently, conventional doctors routinely prescribed the long-term use of drugs known as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to both ease the symptoms of menopause and protect postmenopausal women against estrogen-mediated diseases like osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and cardiovascular disease.

But recent research has shown that HRT actually increases the risk of cardiovascular problems (including stroke and heart attack), breast cancer, gall bladder disease, and dementia. These days, doctors usually prescribe HRT only for the short-term relief of menopausal symptoms.

However, even when it’s used for a limited time, HRT has its side effects, including bloating, weight gain, and emotional problems like irritability and depression. But herbalism has a few alternatives:

Some male issues overlap with female concerns—both genders face chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and many cancers, as well as issues of general wellness like sexual functioning, fitness and exercise, skin and hair care—but men also have issues that are theirs alone. And quite often, diseases strike men in a different way, producing a separate set of symptoms and demanding distinct prevention and treatment strategies.

Because of their physical structure and hormonal chemistry, men face a unique group of health concerns. The good news is that many of them can be treated safely and effectively with herbal remedies.

The most obvious differences between the sexes lie in their reproductive systems. But there are other variables, too. Men are, for the most part, physically bigger than women—they’re taller, with a bigger skeleton (made up of denser, stronger bones), more muscle mass and body fat, thicker skin, and bigger organs. Men also have a higher metabolic rate. They generally sweat more, and they have greater heart and lung capacity.

Even before they’re born, males and females are exposed to the sex hormones that will define them for the rest of their lives. By the age of two, gender-specific physical characteristics start appearing, and as a child approaches puberty, they’ll become more obvious.

In males, these traits are created in large part by the hormone testosterone, which is an androgen, or steroid, hormone produced in the testes and the principal male sex hormone. Among other things, testosterone works to increase the size of the boy’s muscles and bones and, later on, to deepen his voice, change the shape of his skeleton (including the bones of his face), and promote the growth of facial and body hair.

As adults, male and female hormones play a big role in health and the development of disease. For example, in women, estradiol levels have been tied to the perception of pain, the development of allergies and asthma, and the initiation and progression of certain cancers. In men, testosterone is related to cardiac and sexual functioning, immunity and response to injury, and the building and maintenance of bone and muscle. It also seems to play a role in prostate health and obesity.

All of the world’s schools of herbal medicine have treatments and remedies specifically for men. For example, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views sexual dysfunction in men as a loss of
yang,
or primary life force, which is stored in the kidneys. It’s therefore treated with kidney-warming herbs like schisandra
(Schisandra chinensis)
and epimedium
(Epimedium sagittatum).
Meanwhile, Western herbalists treated impotence with circulation-boosting herbs like cinnamon
(Cinnamomum verum, C. aromaticum)
and clove
(Syzygium aromaticum).

Many medicinal and edible plants contain compounds called
phytoestrogens,
which are chemically similar to the sex hormone estradiol, the primary estrogen in humans. Although it’s generally regarded as a “woman’s hormone,” estradiol also occurs naturally in a man’s body (it’s produced in the testes). In addition, as in a woman’s body, a man’s body produces precursor hormones (including testosterone), which are converted to estradiol. In a man’s body, estradiol is involved in sexual functioning, the synthesis of bone, cognitive functioning, and the modulation of several diseases (including cancer and heart disease).

Most phytoestrogens are a type of plant chemical known as isoflavones; the best-known source is soy
(Glycine max).
Another kind of phytoestrogens, lignans, are in flax
(Linum usitatissimum).
A third type, coumestans, can be found red clover
(Trifolium pratense)
and alfalfa
(Medicago sativa).

In men, dietary phytoestrogens have been associated with lower rates of prostate cancer. However, men should avoid consuming excessive amounts, as some studies have shown that soy intake can reduce a man’s sperm count (other studies have had different results, meaning the jury is still out on the question).

To be safe, men should avoid medicinal herbs that are high in phytoestrogens and stick to sensible amounts of soy and other phytoestrogen-containing foods.

Here are some tips for men on using herbs and preparations:

• Keep Your Doctor Informed.
Talk with your doctor about any herbs you’re considering, especially if you’re being treated for a serious and/or chronic condition.

• Do Your Homework.
“Natural” doesn’t necessarily mean “good” (or even “safe”). Herbs are considered supplements—not drugs—and so are handled more like foods than pharmaceuticals. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t require supplement manufacturers to prove an herb’s safety, quality, or efficacy. So be sure to buy from reputable sources, and always follow the manufacturer’s guidelines.

• Pay Attention.
Everyone responds differently to medicines, whether they’re from a plant or a pharmacy, so everyone requires a different dose. This is especially true with herbs, which can vary significantly in potency from one product to another. Most herbs have very low risk of interactions or side effects, but you should monitor yourself when starting any new therapy.

• Give It Time.
Most herbal remedies take a bit longer to produce effects than pharmaceuticals do. Experts advise allowing several weeks before deciding if a remedy is working for you.

Male sexual difficulties involve getting or keeping an erection, ejaculating too rapidly, having difficulty reaching orgasm, or failing to impregnate a woman after regular unprotected sex (see “Fertility and Infertility,” below). Most men experience these problems at some time or another, but if a problem is chronic, a man (and his partner) will want some answers.

In the United States, roughly half of all men over fifty—as many as 30 million individuals—have some degree of
erectile dysfunction,
or ED (also called impotence). ED is the repeated inability to get or keep an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse, and chronic ED affects about one in five American men.

Conventional treatments for ED most often include the prescription drugs sildenafil citrate (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra), and tadalafil (Cialis). Another option is the drug alprostadil (Caverject), which you inject directly into your penis or insert, in pellet form, into your urethra. Doctors also prescribe mechanical vacuum devices and, in some cases, will surgically implant a prosthetic. Needless to say, each of these options has its own set of drawbacks and potential side effects. For example, sildenafil has been associated with serious cardiovascular and nervous system problems and priapism (prolonged, painful erections), as well as more minor side effects such as headache and excessive sweating.

Two other common sexual difficulties in men include premature ejaculation and low libido. Premature ejaculation happens when a man reaches orgasm during intercourse sooner than he or his partner wishes. Low libido is a case of lower-than-normal (or lower-than-desired) sex drive. Both are caused most often by psychological stress or anxiety.

Herbal remedies for ED, ejaculation problems, and low libido include:

For many men, fathering a child is an important, almost essential, part of life, so problems related to fertility can be extremely distressing. Infertility is defined as the condition in which a sexually active couple has had difficulty getting pregnant for several months or longer.

A difficulty in fertility is referred to as “male factor” infertility if it is traced to a problem with the man’s sperm—either there aren’t enough, they are damaged in some way, or they’re having a problem with motility (the ability to move freely and spontaneously).

Depending on the diagnosis, conventional medical treatments for male factor infertility can involve drugs (antibiotics to treat an infection, for example), hormones (to treat low testosterone levels), or surgery (to treat a pituitary tumor or an enlargement of the veins in the scrotum, called
varicocele).

If your doctor can’t trace your problem to any of these conditions, you might want to try an herbal remedy that’s known to boost male fertility.