Ozarks Medicinal Root Could Lift Farmers (Black
Cohosh)
SCOTT CHARTON
Associated Press
Wed, Sep. 17, 2003
COLUMBIA, Mo. - American Indians and folk medicine practitioners
swear by the root of black cohosh as a natural source of relief from
the symptoms of menopause, ranging from fatigue to hot flashes.
With recent research linking estrogen-progestin hormone supplements
with breast cancer and heart disease, the market demand for natural
alternatives such as black cohosh is rising - and that could mean
opportunity for farmers.
Andy Thomas, a horticulturist by training and a scientific detective
in practice, tends thousands of black cohosh samples in "shade
houses" at the University of Missouri's agricultural research
station near Mount Vernon.
"There's still a lot we don't know about black cohosh, and we are
searching for the answers," Thomas said. "We just think our farmers
ought to be able to grow it better, with the right guidance."
Commercial cultivation of black cohosh is rare, and small-scale at
that. It's a member of the buttercup family, and the flowers grow
wild in a swath extending from Missouri across the southeastern
United States, usually no more than about 10 flowers to a patch,
Thomas said.
The root has been used for centuries for medicinal purposes. Within
the last year, federally funded studies have concluded Native
Americans and hill-country herbalists were on to something.
Researchers at Columbia University and The George Washington
University examined the results of 29 independent studies on
alternative treatments for hot flashes and found that only black
cohosh appeared to work.
That review, published last November in the Annals of Internal
Medicine, noted that "neither the identity of active compounds nor
the mechanism of action of black cohosh is known." It also said
black cohosh usually hasn't been used on a long-term basis, and that
no clinical trials have lasted longer than six months.
Dr. Wulf Utian, executive director of the North American Menopause
Society and a gynecologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said the
Missouri research - growing black cohosh and analyzing it - could
benefit patients yearning for more information.
"There may be within the black cohosh an active ingredient that may
be isolated, extracted and identified, and undergo appropriate
testing according to FDA guidelines. The far bigger and most
important issue is how is it tested in humans for safety and
efficacy," Utian said.
Dee Adams says she hears from menopausal women who would gladly join
a clinical trial.
"For some women, menopause is just hellish - such an onslaught of so
many changes, which is why it's called `The Change,' because it's
awful," said Adams, 55, an Oxford, Mich., woman who teaches laughter
as the best menopause medicine, using her online cartoon character,
Minnie Pauz.
Black cohosh is among the most frequently mentioned alternatives for
women visiting her Web site, Adams said.
"It's something that has been out there for years and years, so that
is the buzz I hear - it's been used for so long, give it a try," she
said.
It is sold in various commercial permutations. At Clover's Natural
Market in Columbia, Bruce Topping said his shelves have a variety of
black cohosh capsules - a pinch of the flower root blended with
other components - and "it is a popular seller." Clover's gets $8.50
for a container with 100 capsules, each about 500 milligrams.
But black cohosh isn't easy to find in the wild. Most of the flowers
are found in the shade of dense woods, in rocky soil with good
drainage. Thomas said there is an active market in "poaching" the
flowers from national and state forests, which can lead to fewer
natural specimens.
At the research center, the "shade houses" are long structures with
roofs covered by special fabric of varying densities, all to
simulate stages of shade and sunlight. Thomas is keeping tabs on how
the black cohosh flowers develop under assorted conditions, and
those flowers and findings will be sent to the University of
Missouri-Columbia for further lab research. The black cohosh project
is just a part of alternative medicine research under way at the
university, much of it financed by federal funds.
"If we find a particular chemical in the root is of interest
medicinally, maybe I want to grow my crop to harvest more of that.
It may be that some plants under stress - meaning exposed to more
sun - will produce more of a certain chemical," Thomas said.
Rieva Lesonsky, editorial director of Entrepreneur magazine, said
the Missouri research is targeting a slice of the baby-boom market
on the upswing. The magazine estimates more than 4,000 boomers start
menopause each day.
"The more people harvest it, the more frequently you'll see it
outside of health food stores and the more demand grows," Lesonsky
said. "It's a hot market."
More News
Medifast Women's Health products with Black Cohosh
Read about Medifast Women's Health products with Black Cohosh
|
