DANDELION TIME

Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale, one of our best known weeds, is also one of our oldest medicinal herbs. During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870/71, whole brigades of the First Bavarian Army Corps went down with jaundice. One brigade, however, was unaffected. The army physician, Dr Seggel, could discover only one difference between the healthy and the sick brigades: the former had been eating fresh dandelion leaves as salad along with the standard army rations. Dr Seggel prescribed fresh dandelion salad for all the soldiers and the epidemic was soon over.

A close relation of the dandelion, Taraxacum mongolicum, is used today in China in the treatment of jaundice and our dandelion was once used regularly for the treatment of liver and gall bladder disorders. Arabian physicians of the tenth and eleventh centuries called the plant Taraxacon, a name most probably derived from the Greek taraxos (disorder) and akos (remedy). The European herbals of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries considered it to be a highly valuable medicine. It is, however, very often unclear how the physicians of the Middle Ages selected their herbal remedies. Some herbs certainly acquired their reputation because of genuine observations not unlike that made by Dr Seggel in the nineteenth century, but many supposed effects were based on superstition. Foremost among these was the Signatura plantarum, the belief that Nature has designed her medicinal plants so that it is possible for us to recognize their virtues from their appearance. Yellow coloration was a sign that a herb could be used to treat the gall-bladder (which contains yellow bile); bitterness was the signature of herbs useful in liver disorders (the liver produces the bitter bile). The dandelion with its yellow flowers and bitter leaves and sap was thus predestined for use in disorders like dyspepsia and jaundice.

Modern studies have demonstrated that dandelion, taken in a salad or a herb tea, is cholagogic, increasing bile secretion. This is a property common to all appetizing bitter herbs. The medicinal use of dandelion is still to be recommended, therefore in dyspeptic complaints where the indefinite pain in the upper abdomen, often worse after eating fatty foods, cannot be accounted for by any organic findings and the doctor's diagnosis is a functional bile duct disorder. Patients with gall stones should not take teas which stimulate the liver and gall bladder, because that could increase the risk of the stone moving into the bile duct and causing a blockage. For prophylactic use, however, dandelion tea is certainly to be recommended; stimulating bile secretion between meals by drinking herb teas seems to discourage the production of gall stones. The most powerful effect of dandelion is its diuretic action, probably caused by its very high potassium levels. The production of a larger volume of more dilute urine is beneficial as prophylaxis against stones in the urinary tract, in urinary infections and in cases of irritable bladder.

Dandelion has also been used to treat skin diseases and for cosmetic purposes because of the emollient properties of the juice. However, fresh dandelion juice contains a very potent contact allergen which can cause eczema in persons who frequently gather dandelions for rabbit food or who apply the juice to the skin, whether for cosmetic or medicinal purposes. Contact with the dried plant, however, does not cause eczema because the contact allergen breaks down during drying.

It is generally agreed that dandelion is not poisonous and can be taken in very large doses. This means that it is a suitable base for herb teas, especially those containing other diuretic or cholagogic herbs, but it is also effective when taken on its own. The dried whole plant Radix Taraxaci cum Herba is the most advantageous form of the drug although the root and herb can be used separately; the recommended dose is one or two teaspoonsful boiled briefly in a cup of water and taken mornings and evenings for several weeks.

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© Ann E. Wild