Feverfew, a common perennial known to gardeners for its feathery foliage and aromatic blossoms, has been used as a botanical medicine since a.d. 78. The herb earned its name because it was commonly used to lower fever, but today, it’s more likely to be used by herbalists as a headache cure. Some good evidence of feverfew’s headache-healing powers emerged in the mid-1980s during a study at the City of London Migraine Clinic. All of the people included in the study were accustomed to taking crushed feverfew leaves for their headaches, but researchers wanted to find out scientifically whether the cure worked as well as people claimed.
To test its effectiveness, one group was given capsules of pulverized feverfew leaves and another was given capsules that looked exactly the same but contained no feverfew (placebos). Neither group knew what they were taking. The people in the placebo group experienced a return of their headaches, while those taking the real thing did not. The feverfew was apparently doing its job.
After the study was published in 1985, feverfew emerged from the obscurity of the garden and into the limelight of botanical healing.
"I use it 100 percent of the time with my patients for migraines because it usually works," says Jennifer Brett, N.D., a naturopathic doctor in Stratford, Connecticut. "It’s a good alternative for people who have tried everything else."
An Herb for the Head
The modern view of this herb is fairly close to that of sixteenth-century herbalist John Gerard. In 1597, Gerard recommended this member of the chrysanthemum family to "them that are giddie in the head" and suggested placing a poultice of the leaves on an aching noggin.
Ingesting rather than wearing the herb is the recommended course of treatment today, but it’s clear that the early healers were on to something, says Steven Dentali, Ph.D., a natural products chemist with Dentali Associates in Troutdale, Oregon, and a member of the advisory board of the American Botanical Council. "This is really a case where the folk use coincided with the science," he says. "Feverfew appears to be a good alternative to the drugs now being used for migraines."
In previous centuries, feverfew wasn’t just for headaches. Herbalists recommended it to relieve menstrual pain, expel the placenta after birth, treat arthritis, and break fevers. The common name is derived from febrifugia, which is Latin for "fever reducer."
"It does work for reducing fevers, but probably no one really uses it for that anymore," says Dr. Brett.
A Spasm Stopper
Just how feverfew works, scientists aren’t certain. The leaves—the medicinal parts of the plant—are rich in parthenolide, a compound that makes the walls of the blood vessels in the brain less reactive to substances that cause them to contract and dilate. That’s how migraines begin. The opening and closing of blood vessels may set off pain nerves and inflame the smooth muscles that line the blood vessels, says Alison Lee, M.D., a pain-management specialist and medical director of Barefoot Doctors, an alternative medicine practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
SUPPLEMENTSNAPSHOT
| Feverfew Botanical name: Tanacetum parthenium. May help: Migraines, menstrual pain, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Special instructions: For migraine prevention, take regularly; you may not see benefits for several months. Origin: Native to central and southern Europe. Cautions and possible side effects: Do not take if pregnant or breastfeeding. Chewing fresh leaves may cause mouth sores; take capsules containing powdered leaves instead. |
"Feverfew has a pronounced regulatory effect on these vascular muscles," she explains. "It seems to calm them down."
The herb may also inhibit the release of two inflammatory substances that cause the vessels to go into spasm in the first place—serotonin from blood platelets and prostaglandin from white blood cells. Because prostaglandin and other related substances are also culprits in the inflammation that occurs during painful bouts of rheumatoid arthritis, feverfew has been used in its treatment as well, says Dr. Lee. "If I have a patient who isn’t a candidate for other anti-inflammatory treatments, I might recommend feverfew."
Since the herb can lessen or regulate the spasms of smooth muscles, it’s not surprising that it also has a reputation for easing menstrual cramps. It also seems to prevent migraines that coincide with menstruation, adds Dr. Brett.
Give It a Chance
As a migraine preventive, feverfew is effective for 70 to 80 percent of the people who use it, says Dr. Brett. It takes time to work, however, and you may need to take it daily for two to five months before it has any effect.
"You can’t just take a feverfew pill when you feel a migraine coming on. It won’t do any good," she explains. "You have to take it over a long period."
You’ll find capsules of powdered leaves in health food stores and drugstores. Make sure there’s an expiration date on the bottle, and always store the herb in the refrigerator, says Dr. Dentali, since some of the plant’s chemical constituents are sensitive to warm temperatures.
Look for a product with a parthenolide concentration of 0.2 percent or higher, says Dr. Dentali. These are the criteria recommended by the Canadian government, which has recently allowed manufacturers to specifically label feverfew as a treatment for migraines.
