MEDICINAL USES:
The
roots of both herbs affect cardiac function in a manner similar to digitalis,
slowing the heart and helping to disperse accumulations of fluid.
Hemp Dogbane is considered dangerous and is seldom used today.
Even the “safer” Spreading Dogbane is a powerful herb and requires
great care and skill in its administration.
It was, however once considered
safer than digitalis, which is very similar to Dogbane in its effect on the
heart, because it passes through the system more quickly and is less likely to
be cumulative in its effects.
Hemp
Dogbane (A cannibinum), however, was the species used most extensively by
the medical profession. The rate at
which Dogbane’s medicinal properties are absorbed is rather variable, making
it unreliable, or at least difficult to use medicinally. In the past, directions
for its use included a caution that the patient must be closely monitored at all
times to make sure that the correct dosage has been applied.
Some sources credit this unreliability to fluidextracts or preparations
of the dry plant, instead recommending the fresh roots or a tincture made from
fresh roots.
Dogbane
acts as a vasoconstrictor, slowing and strengthening the heartbeat while raising
blood pressure. It is a powerful
diuretic, so that it also will help to disperse accumulated fluids associated
with such disorders as congestive heart failure and hepatic cirrhosis. The herb is a powerful irritant.
Dosages should be small and not exceed a total of ˝ teaspoon of powdered
root per day.
As
a counter-irritant, it works well applied locally to promote perspiration.
It has a history of First Nations use to reduce fever.
Many
First Nations in North America considered dogbane, drunk once a week, to be an
effective contraceptive
CAUTION:
Dogbane is a powerful irritant; restricted by law in Canada.
It may not be applied to foods here and is considered potentially toxic. Though implicated in cattle poisonings, there are no records
I could find of any human deaths caused by Dogbane. Nonetheless, it has the potential to produce cardiac arrest
and some experts consider it very dangerous.
Dogbane is not particularly appealing to grazing animals so poisoning is
rare, but 15 – 30 grams of green leaves is apparently enough to kill a horse
or cow
OTHER USES:
First Nations Peoples wove the stem fibres of both species into rope and
twine, though they considered the longer fibres of Hemp Dogbane to be far
superior.