Willow

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Overview

Medicinal Part: The bark and also the flower (catkin) whole or fragmented dried bark of the young, 2 to 3 year old branches, harvested in the early spring of Salix alba, Salix purpurea, Salix fragilis, Salix daphnoides Vill, and other comparable Salix species.

Edible Part: inner bark

Various species from the genus Salix, or willow, were already in common use for pain relief in antiquity , being first mentioned in the Ebers papyrus (about 1550 BC) [R], and afterwards by all the great masters of medicine in antiquity, middle ages, and modern times [R].

The inner bark of the willows can be scraped off and eaten raw, cooked in strips like spaghetti or dried and ground into flour. Young willow leaves are often too bitter, but can be eaten in an emergency — it is a survival food

Qualities Cooling, slightly drying, astringent, a bit bitter, calming, stabilizing movement

Properties Analgesic, anesthetic, anti-inflammatory

Tropism:urogenital organs, liver, stomach

Ground: all

Constituents

Glycosides and esters yielding salicylic acid (1.5-12%); salicin (0.1-2%), salicortin (0.01-11%) and silicin derivatives acylated to the glucose residue (up to 6%, including fragilin, populin)

Tannins (8-20%)

Flavonoids

Enzymes, phenolic glycosides (up to 11%), resin, triandrin, vimalin, organic acids, aromatic aldehydes

Salicin-7-sulfate: A new salicinoid from willow and implications for herbal medicine

The major biologically active constituents are the phenolic glycosides including salicin (approximately 1%), salicortin (up to 4.0%), 2´-Oacetylsalicortin (up to 10%), 2´-O-acetylsalicin (= fragilin, up to 4%), tremulacin (0.12–2%), 3´- and 4´-acetylsalicortin, populin and salireposide, which have collectively been designated as “salicylates” . Triandrin, vimalin, picein and grandidentatin are non-saligenin structure-based phenolic compounds. Other significant constituents are flavonoids and tannins . Total salicin content (after hydrolysis) varies according to species. Species rich in total salicin include S. daphnoides (2–10%), S. purpurea (4–8.5%), S. fragilis (2–10%) and S. alba (0.5–1%).

Effects

The efficacy is due mainly to the proportion of salicin present. After splitting of the acyl residue, the salicin glycosides convert to salicin, the precursor of salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is antipyretic, antiphlogistic and analgesic. White Willow bark is the phytotherapeutic precursor to acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin).

Salicin is a pro-drug that is gradually transported to the lower part of the intestine, hydrolyzed to saligenin by intestinal bacteria, and converted to salicylic acid after absorption. It thus produces an antipyretic action without causing gastric injury.

Although traditionally salicin was considered as the active principle, there are opinions that this substance cannot explain the whole range of effects of WBE, and that other phytochemicals might be involved, such as polyphenols and flavonoids, which showed inhibitory activity on COX-2 and decreased synthesis of pro-inflammatory mediators in vitro, in human monocytes and differentiated macrophages [R,R,R, R, R].

TCM & Western Herbal Uses

Approved by Commission E;

Rheumatism
Pain

Salicin is useful in diseases accompanied by fever, rheumatic ailments, headaches, and pain caused by inflammation. Folk medicine uses include toothache, gout, gastrointestinal disorders, diarrhea and wound healing.

Uses supported by clinical data

Used orally for the symptomatic treatment of fever and pain, and symptomatic treatment of mild rheumatic conditions.

Uses described in pharmacopoeias and well established documents

Used orally for the treatment of the common cold

Uses described in traditional medicine

Used orally for the treatment of constipation and urinary incontinence. Used externally for the treatment of warts .

1. CLEARS HEAT AND REDUCES INFLAMMATION; CREATES ASTRICTION, RESTRAINS INFECTION, ARRESTS BLEEDING AND RELIEVES PAIN

bladder damp heat with burning dark urine, painful urination

URINARY IRRITATION for any cause

JOINT, THROAT, MOUTH & EYE INFLAMMATIONS

INFECTIONS of the mucous membrane; with wounds, ulcerations, eczema, burns, gangrene

HEADACHES, pain in general

PASSIVE HEMORRAGING from mouth, nose, wounds

2. FOSTERS THE YIN, CLEARS HEAT AND RESOLVES FEVER; APPEASES SEXUAL EXCITEMENT AND INDUCES REST

heart & kidney Yin deficiency; with unrest, insomnia, heat, sexual erethism, spermatorrhea, leukorrhea

SEXUAL ERETHISM and GENITAL DISCHARGES in all conditions, esp. with damp heat or empty heat

LOW TIDAL FEVERS in the Shao Yin stage

3. RESTORES THE STOMACH AND LIVER

liver & stomach Qi deficiency with slow painful digestion

Willow survival uses:

Willow bark contains a chemical called salicin, which is similar to aspirin. Just chew on a few small green twigs and swallow the juices for headaches and inflammation.
In spring and summer, willow bark will peel away from the wood and makes excellent cordage that can be used for a huge variety of tasks.
Young willow branches and saplings are very flexible and can be used to weave a variety of different baskets and funnel traps.
Dried willow wood can be used on many occasions for friction fire sets – both hand drill and bow drill
Willow saplings make excellent frog and fish gigs. Just split the base into 4 equal sections, press a rock to the bottom of the splits and sharpen the tines.

Source

Notes - HOLMES

The bark of a large variety of Willow trees is used for two broad therapeutic actions: for its cooling and for its pain relieving effects. Both depend on a combination of several biochemical constituents for their effect.

As a heat clearing remedy Willow is important for deficient Yin type heat, whether the mechanism is hyperemia, inflammation or fever. It is one of the best agents for the Shao Yin stage of illness where vital defenses are more than just weak, and where fever stretches out into an exhausting, recurrent evening time flickering of empty heat. Here Willow will benefit from the support of restoring remedies such as Ginseng and Elecampane, as well as other congenial herbs for clearing deficiency heat such as Poplar and Pipsissewa.

Alternatively, Willow is used where chronic inflammation, infection and pain exist for any reason; it provides good symptomatic treatment for these conditions. Here its acids, tannins, glycosides, aldehydes and salicin conspire to produce a reliable anti-inflammatory, astringent, anodineand antiseptic remedy that can be appropriately added to virtually any condition requiring support in these areas.

Here is one Chinese syndrome which fits this herb to a T: this is Yin deficiency of both heart and kidney, since this includes urogenital discharges and sexual over-stimulation. In the first century DIOSKURIDES already used the catkins for treating this type of syndrome, a use confirmed in the 20th century by the clinical experience of the herbalist physician HENRI LECLERC (1935). It is unclear whether the catkins or the bark (which is currently more used in America) is more effective in this respect. In focusing on the urogenital tract, Willow also addresses damp heat in this area, especially acute urinary infections.

In treating three types of hot conditions, Willow reminds one of the Chinese herb Huang bo, cortex Phellodendri. The difference between them is this: whereas Huang bo is used to treat fire toxin in addition to clearing damp heat and empty heat, Willow bark is also used to relieve symptoms of pain of any kind. Keeping this difference in mind, the two herbs may be interchanged.

Studies

In vitro studies.

The inflammation-suppressing effect of willow bark extract (WBE) relies,at least partially, on its ability to antagonize the activated monocytes, by blocking the activity of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF), enzymes (COX-2), and mediators (NF-KB) [R].

Animal studies.

The mechanism of the anti-inflammatory action of WBE was examined on two animal models of arthritis, an acute and a chronic one. WBE decreased the inflammatory infiltrate and exudate and blocked the cytokine surge with a potency at least equivalent to that of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), was better than ASA in reducing leukotrienes levels and in inhibiting COX-2, and as good as ASA in decreasing prostaglandins levels. WBE influenced favorably the oxidative stress increasing GSH and decreasing malondialdehyde levels more efficiently than ASA or celecoxib (a selective COX-2 inhibitor). Despite being more potent than ASA, on a molar basis, the salicin amount in WBE is much less than the salicylate content of ASA, suggesting that active principles other than salicin might play a role in the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative action of WBE, the polyphenols being among the candidates, at least regarding the protection against free radicals [R]. The ability to mitigate pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress was corroborated by still another study on the collagen induced arthritis animal model [R].

Human clinical studies.

The first clinical trial of aspirin, albeit uncontrolled and non-randomized, was conducted in the 18th century by the English Reverend Edward Stone—the good fellow, struck by the quinine-like bitterness of aspirin, surmised an antifebrile activity and, indeed, was able to cure fever in 50 patients [R]. A two-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial demonstrated the ability of willow bark extract (in a dose equivalent to 240 mg salicin/day) to control the symptoms of patients with OA, especially to reduce pain, although with rather subdued efficiency [R]. The same dose of willow bark extract was used in two other six-week, randomized, controlled, double-blind trials in patients with OA and RA, respectively, the herbal preparation being compared with a potent NSAID (diclofenac) and with placebo. The two trials yielded sobering results, as in neither was willow bark extract significantly better than placebo in pain relief [R]. In a six-week, open, multicentric observational study with reference treatment, WBE was evaluated as better as conventional therapy by physicians and patients alike, in terms of both therapeutic efficiency and side effects, when used for hip and knee degenerative disease [R].

A systematic review concluded that there is moderate evidence for the efficiency of WBE in low back pain, but insufficient data for OA and RA, suggesting that higher doses should be tested [R]. In a longer (six months) observational study on 436 patients with OA and back pain, WBE significantly decreased pain and was well tolerated [R].