GREATER CELANDINE CHELIDONIUM MAJUS
AND THE THEORY OF SIGNATURES
To guide themselves in the use of medicinal plants, humans often look for “magical” correspondences between plants (their shape, their color, the places where they are found), and diseases, their symptoms or human anatomy, relying on the belief that divine power created plants to serve humanity.
From these “magical” beliefs will be born the theory of similarities and “the theory of signatures” although the latter, defended by Paracelsus in the 16th century, is more alchemistic than medical. Let us cite two classic examples of the theory of signatures: willow grows in water and will therefore be used to treat rheumatism that we contract from contact with cold humidity; Celandine sap is yellow like bile and will therefore be used to treat biliary disorders and liver problems.
Let us recall that at the beginning of the 19th century Samuel Hahnemann built homeopathic medicine on the principle of similarity: to treat an illness, we use the substance which, administered to a healthy subject, produces symptoms similar to this illness.
CHELIDONIUM MAJUS, GEATER CELANDINE, PAPAVERACEAE
Celandine is a fairly discreet plant which frequently grows in old stone walls, but which can also develop in the ground.
The pale green leaves are cut like an oak leaf and quite soft, the flowers yellow, the fruit a silique.
When you cut a stem, a fairly typical yellow-orange latex flows out.
Celandine is a perennial plant that has a strong root containing a lot of sap (latex). The latex and the whole plant are the parts used in herbal medicine. Like other papaveraceae, celandine contains many alkaloids (sanguinarine, chelidonine, etc.) and other pharmacologically active substances (berberine, Stylopine, etc.).
GREATER CELANDINE MEDICINAL PLANT IN HOMEOPATHY AND ALLOPATHY
WARNING: greater celandine, Chelidonium majus, is a TOXIC plant which can cause hepatitis.
Traditionally, yellow latex is applied to warts, and with a little patience and several applications, the warts can disappear. It is the herb for warts, its latex is caustic and probably antiviral (reminder: warts are often due to viral infections)
Celandine is used much less than in the past in allopathy, partly because of its toxicity. However, it is still associated with other plants with hepatic benefits in several medications.
We can still find, or make, an homeopathic tincture traditionally used in cases of digestive disorders (dyspepsia) or minor spasms of biliary origin (but without obstruction of the bile ducts): 30 to 40 drops twice a day for a few days, no prolonged treatment.
Celandine, on the other hand, is widely used in homeopathy.
Hahneman, his team and his successors have studied it extensively, the “materia medica” is abundant on the subject but difficult to summarize. At 3D it is prescribed as an allopathy to treat dyspeptic disorders of hepatobiliary origin; other dilutions are much more specific in their prescription.
CELIDONIUM MAJUS AND CURRENT MEDICAL RESEARCH
Celandine and its extracts are the subject of pharmacological and clinical studies, particularly in Asia.
Recently Indian researchers evaluated the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies based on celandine as liver protectants (protection of liver cells against toxic substances inducing liver cancer). They used very high dilutions (30 CH, 200 CH), and obtained surprising results: 40% of mice treated with the homeopathic remedy did not develop cancer.
They conclude that these microdoses of celandine protect against the onset of liver cancer (think of hepatitis and chemical poisoning).
Older research had shown that chelidonium majus extracts protected the liver against chemical attack (carbon tetrachloride) and allowed rapid recovery of liver cells. It is paradoxical when we know that celandine can itself cause hepatitis or it’s logical if we apply the law of similarities!
In Korea, where celandine is a popular medicinal plant, a group of researchers showed that a celandine extract “protected” against the effect of ionizing radiation (such as radiotherapy). Blood cells regenerate much more quickly under the effect of this celandine extract, when it is given before exposure to radiotherapy.
In Austria, other researchers found that an aqueous extract of celandine containing a particular carbohydrate (a poly-glycosaminoglycan) which had antiretroviral power in vitro (on lymphocytes parasitized by the AIDS virus), and in vivo in mice parasitized by a murine retrovirus.
Also in Austria, an anticancer institute tested a new anticancer drug based on celandine alkaloid Ukrain. The results seem promising and this new drug is the subject of clinical evaluations; it would act by strengthening cellular immunity (increase in the number of T lymphocytes) and could reinforce the effects of anticancer chemotherapy.
The alkaloid Chelidonine, extracted from celandine and chemically unmodified, has, in vitro, a cytotoxic action particularly against cancer cells (e.g. melanoma) and an antiviral power but, to my knowledge, this alkaloid is not yet used in cancerology.
Copyright 2024 Dr jean-Michel Hurtel
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