Mistletoe Cautions

Cautions:

"This is not European Mistletoe (Viscum sp.), the Mistletoe of herb commerce.
   It does, however, share with the other the ability to relax nervous tension, muscle
irritability, and minor spasms; one-half to one teaspoon in tea. It will increase
blood pressure, usually systolic. It is not wise to use this herb very frequently,
particularly if you are prone to hypertension, and a few individuals may find any
quantity mildy toxic. It is a strong vasoconstrictor, and the same proportions
may aid in lessening bleeding and promote clotting. It can be useful first aid
previous to medical attention, small pieces eaten fresh until help is obtained.
   A certain amount of caution is advisable, since some Mistletoes and some
people don�t mix well, a fact especially true in using the fresh plant. The dried
plant has pronounced ergotlike effects on the uterus, stimulating contractions,
increasing elasticity of muscle coats, and lessening bleeding. It should actually
be compared with the two plants that have been formerly used as feeble
substitutes when the ergot derivatives were deemed inappropriate for certain
women: cotton root bark and shepherd�s purse. Oddly enough , all three of
these plants contain physiologically active amounts of acetylcholine or related
substances. Unfortunately, there is no reliable information on safe oral doses for
use in childbirth, either from traditional Indian use or clinical use. When an herb
or drug has effects on the mechanisms of childbirth it is never safe to rely on
nonpregnnat doses as a standard for their use in the highly potentiated state of
parturition.. Further, the effects of crude and refined drugs on uterine activity
often vary amongst women of different races. Blue Cohosh has had a long
history of reliability when used by Indians of the eastern part of the country,
particularly when Indian women have had to deal, intentionally and (especially)
otherwise, with giving birth to infants with Anglo blood and an often excessive
birth weight. Its use by women who are blond and blue eyed can over stimulate
the sacral nerves and cause static, rigid uterine contractions. This sort of
difference amongst our own species makes me very skeptical of some the
wholesale (disprovings) by parmacologists in the earlier part of the century.
   Most of the plant drugs previously considered to have varying effects on the
uterus were rejected out of hand because they produced little or no effect upon
the excised uterine muscles of guinea pigs."    Ref. C p.107 and 109