Pulmonaria, Lungwort
Male Comfrey, Spotted Lungwort
New Kreuterbuch, Matthiolus, 1563
Medical Botany, Woodville, 1810
Pulmonaria officinalis
(Photo by Onderwijsgek) (Wikimeda)
Botanical name:
Pulmonaria officinalis
Parts used:
Leaf
Temperature & Taste:
Cool, dry. Bitter
Classifications:
Uses:
1. Clears Heat, Nourishes Yin, Stops Cough:
-Hoarseness, chronic and dry Coughs, Bronchitis
-Shortness of Breath and Wheezing
-Tuberculosis and Spitting of Blood
-“beneficial against a dry cough, but especially helps against all diseases of the Lungs and Liver”. (Dorsetn, 1540)
-the dried extract (see below) soaked overnight in wine, it cures difficulty in breathing. (Dorsetn, 1540)
2. Benefits Kidney Yin:
-Kidney disease, Urethritis, Hematuria and Incontinence
3. Externally:
-externally for Wounds (similar to Comfrey, but weaker)
-wash for Ulcers including Ulcers in the Genitals
-the dried extract (see below) mixed with barley flour, is sprinkled on hot ulcers. (Dorsetn, 1540)
Dose:
INFUSION or BRIEF DECOCTION: 1–3 grams (or 1 heaped teaspoonful per cup), sipped with Honey throughout the day (having 2-4 cups daily) in the treatment of Cough, Wheezing etc
Substitute:
1. Coltsfoot (cough, wheezing);
2. Comfrey (consumption, spitting blood)
Preparation:
Dried Extract of Lungwort:
“Lungwort is boiled with wine, mixed with honey, passed through a cloth or gauze, so that it becomes like a pulp, then allowed to dry in the sun, until it is so hard that it can be reduced to powder”. (Dorsetn, 1540)
Main Combinations:
1. Acute Sore Throat:
i. Lungwort, Sage, Licorice
ii. Lungwort, Coltsfoot, Elder, Violet, Plantain, Marshmallow, make an infusion to sip throughout the day.
2. Cough:
i. Heat-type: Lungwort with Fennel seed, Ribwort Plantain, Coltsfoot (Kroeber)
ii. Heat-type: Lungwort, Ivy leaf, Coltsfoot, Marshmallow root, Aniseed
3. Cough and Difficulty Breathing: “Against diseases of the lungs, powders are made in this way, Take dried Pulmonaria, Anise seed, Fox lung dried in the air, Fennel seed, Licorice, Inula, Ginger, and Wormwood by weight each alike, well crushed through gauze, and add sugar the weight of all, and mix together … taken morning and evening, it drives away difficulty in breathing, opens the lungs and liver, and is useful for a harsh Cough”. (Dorsetn, 1540)
4. Whooping Cough, fresh Lungwort leaf (4 handfuls), Comfrey, Raisins (2 oz. each), Licorice (3 oz.), Water (2 lbs.). Boil to 1 ½ pounds, strain, and add White Sugar (24 oz.). Boil for a few minutes. (Nouveau Formulaire Medicale et Pharmaceutique, 1820)
5. Bronchitis:
i. Lungwort with Thyme, Nettle leaf, Elecampane (Fischer)
ii. Lungwort, Colstfoot, Plantain leaf, Licorice
6. Asthma:
i. Lungwort with Elecampane, Licorice, Raisins, Coltsfoot, Maidenhair (as in Anti-Asthmatic Syrup)
ii. Lungwort with Elecampane, Licorice, Sage, Coltsfoot, Hyssop, Thyme, Parsley root, Aniseed, Agaric, Fig (as in Syrup for Asthma)
7. Spitting of Blood,
i. Lungwort with Plantain
ii. Lungwort, Comfrey leaf, Violet leaf, Licorice
8. Consumption:
i. Lungwort, Comfrey root, Plantain, Violet, Licorice
ii. Lungwort, China root, Coltsfoot, Burdock root, Elecampane, Maidenhair, Raisins, Licorice
iii. Lungwort, Fox Lung powder (equal parts)
iv. Lungwort, Snails, Coltsfoot, Elecampane, Figs, Almond, Licorice
9. Gargle for Sore Throat, Lungwort, Sage, Agrimony, Fenugreek
Major Formulas:
Anti-Asthmatic Syrup (D’Aquin)
Syrup for Asthma (Wirtzung)
Cautions:
1. None noted in therapeutic doses
2. Potentially toxic due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids
3. Best avoided during Pregnancy
Main Preparations used:
ANTIBACTERIAL
–The Pros and Cons of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Patient Use of Herbal Supplements Containing Pulmonaria officinalis L. Extract: the Evidence from an In Vitro Study on Staphylococcus aureus CF Clinical Isolates
ANTIOXIDANT
–Antioxidant activity, acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase inhibitory potential of Pulmonaria officinalis and Centarium umbellatum extracts
–Yunnaneic Acid B, a Component of Pulmonaria officinalis Extract, Prevents Peroxynitrite-Induced Oxidative Stress in Vitro.
–Polyphenols and antioxidant capacity of Bulgarian medicinal plants.
ANTI-COAGULANT
–Anti-coagulant activity of plants: mini review.
–[Nature, properties and the mechanism of the effect on blood coagulation of the preparation obtained from Pulmonaria officinalis].
CYSTIC FIBROSIS
–The Pros and Cons of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Patient Use of Herbal Supplements Containing Pulmonaria officinalis L. Extract: the Evidence from an In Vitro Study on Staphylococcus aureus CF Clinical Isolates
–Anti-biofilm activity of the extract from Pulmonaria officinalis L. in the context of lung infection in patients with cystic fibrosis
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
–Antioxidant activity, acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase inhibitory potential of Pulmonaria officinalis and Centarium umbellatum extracts
–Determination of Anti-Alzheimer’s Disease Activity of Selected Plant Ingredients
