Bloodroot

Bloodroot

It is important to remember that yes, all plants do have a very significant - some might say - divinely inspired medicinal value, but what about the 'poisonous' ones? 

Bloodroot is known for being incredibly toxic and one of North Americas most deadliest of plants. Sanguinarine is an alkaloid that is quite concentrated in the red juices of this beautiful root making it an unusually powerful arterial sedative, meaning very effective at stopping your heart. Thats right. 

How can such a toxic plant possibly have medicinal value? Perhaps Circa Survive said it best when they named one of my favorite songs: 'The difference between medicine and poison is the dose.' Yes this plant is dangerous but used properly it is one of the most amazing women's medicines in preparation for pregnancy. 

First, let me give you an idea of this plants potency. We all know that image of the woodlands warrior with a painted red face right? Much a stereotype. 

Every culture had a scare tactic used in warfare to first scare the enemy before having to face or deliver casualties. The front-line of the ancient Israelite armies walked carrying the ark which is well known for scaring the pants off

some relatively large armies, the Maoris of New Zealand had the haka-haka which the New Zealand all blacks rugby team adopted and by the way, have never lost a match. So in a way this scare tactic is still doing its job! The Scots invented this eerie instrument which the front-liners squealed in

Ireland's incredibly thick fog and gently creepy rolling hills. It was called the bagpipe, again they scared off some of the largest armies with a few hundred freaky bagpipes screaming

freaky songs, some of which that can be heard in recordings online. Let me tell you, you would not want to take another step toward the foggy screaming Scottish hills. 

For us woodland warriors we had front-liners with pans of macerated bloodroot that we smeared on our faces. The red juices of bloodroot are most readily absorbed transdermally, through your skin. If that wasn't enough - in literature - excessive doses of bloodroot produces a high that extends to 'an alarming prostration of strength'! The stereotypical red painted warrior faces we all know is suddenly not just paint. It is natures most powerful arterial sedative that takes 15-20 minutes to stop your heart. Now we understand that these red faces had to be the scariest thing to see - that is - if your face is not red. Meaning if you are not literally a dead man walking, you are fleeing because you are not ready to die, whereas the red faced woodland warriors are already, dead. This was our war tactic that scared away some of the largest armies of enemy’s. 

Observing this plant in nature it becomes alarmingly clear it is to be handled with severe caution. Squirrels are known for covering every square inch of the forest floor and canopy, but they will not go anywhere near any bloodroot. Deer trails seldom go through a patch of bloodroot, the meandering black bear doesn't go near it, and if it does, it stops as if to panic, turns around and exits the patch in the same footprints he came in on.

I hope I made it painfully clear that these plants are unique medicines for our bodies but are not to be handled unless you are with an amazingly accomplished professional. A lot are definitely considered poison but lets see in much greater detail the medicinal side of this beauty!

The 3 proofs of the medicinal claims of bloodroot:

Traditional: 

Ancient woodlands midwifery, the way it was explained to me, which is in a traditional sense, is much different today than it was. Back in the day when a couple found each other, they would go to a midwife before getting pregnant. The midwife would give them a load of medicine to take before the couple even attempted reproducing and when the medicine was finished then the couple would then start to try and have a baby. There is a very real reason for this. It is said: the most terrible thing that can ever happen to a woman is a miscarriage or a still born. This medicine has everything needed to prevent this from happening. Bloodroot is a principle ingredient in this compound medicine so, needless to say, bloodroot is mainly used as a women's medicine to prepare the uterus for pregnancy, mostly by eliminating fibroids, the leading cause of miscarriages and still borns.

Scientific: 

Uterine fibroids are one of the main causes of miscarriages. This is because the baby can only grow so big until the body realizes that the fibroid's are taking up to much room and this baby cannot get any bigger, which prompts its evacuation. If we can find out how to get rid of fibroids, if we can find out how to stimulate their regression, we are then able to combat the leading cause of a miscarriage/stillborn.

Lets talk about the uterus! Let me first start out by saying that the cause and exact etiology of Uterine fibroids is not known. I am not able to refer to direct studies done. What I will do is look at all causes and contributors to fibroids and show you peripherally. Some of the main factors involved are very well known. Lets take a look at the factors that we know are involved in the creation and proliferation of uterine fibroids:

The first subgroup we will explore are the different growth factors involved in their genesis and growth. In the issue of uterine fibroids,

Chelerythrine is the second most prominent compound in bloodroot, let me give you an idea of one of its most famous action, A protein Kinase C inhibitor, using the example of one of the most dangerous cancers out there. Some cancers are more susceptible to radio therapy than others, also some cancers are more susceptible to chemo therapy than others, whereas some cancers are resistant to radio and some are resistant to chemo. There is a cancer out there that is both chemo and radio-resistant, squamous cell carcinomas. They are among the deadliest. Many large studies were done one of the larger ones done on 9 of these deadly cancers brought the result of bloodroot's compound chelerythrine right into the spotlight. Studies outlined Chelerythrines unusually 'perfect' activity as a protein kinase C inhibitor, this action elevated it to be one of the most promising anti-squamous cell carcinoma killers.

Transforming Growth Factor Beta1 (TGF-beta1) 

Transforming growth factor beta-1 or TGF-beta1 is a known factor in the development of fibroids. To show you; a study done by the Department of Urology in the North Western University Medical School in Chicago Illinois in 1997 shows that Protein kinase C inhibition (of which chelerythrine is literally one of the best.) is an event associated with TGF-beta1 postreceptor signaling. Which means that chelerythrine mediates suppression of cell proliferation. Which makes chelerythrine a suppressor of one of the largest factors in the development of fibroid's. 

Protein Kinase C inhibition is bloodroot most amazing advantages in the expulsion of fibroids. Non-mediated growth factors is one of the main issues in the most advanced theories in the genesis of fibroids, below we are going to explore how chelerythrine's protein kinase c inhibition mediates these growth factors eliminating the main cause and whats needed to stimulate the beginning of their end, their regression.

Keep in mind that these are mediators not eliminators. Meaning that bloodroot is not throwing your whole body out of whack, it is simply returning it back to normal.

Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor or bgfg

Chelerythrine provided by bloodroot, again, inhibit Protein Kinase C which has been shown to heavily mediate bfgf proliferation. Meaning bloodroot controls the amount of bfgf being made, which means that bloodroot controls or mediates the proliferation of another big and necessary factor in the development of fibroid's.

Epidermal Growth Factor or EGF

Perhaps the effects of Chelerythrine on EGF are best described using its role in the deadly Squamous cell carcinoma research we had talked about earlier. EGF is absolutely necessary for the survival and growth of Squamous Cell carcinoma, but EGFs survival relies upon PKC production. When Chelerythrine comes in and inhibits (completely) PKC production, guess whos proliferation is halted – yes – EGF. Without our friend EGF we have created an environment that squamous cell carcinoma cannot grow in, and an environment in which regression can begin. EGF is also necessary for fibroid development, and again, with PKC completely inhibited, no more growing fibroids and an environment in which regression can begin is created!

Platelet derived growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor and insulin-like growth factor are the three remaining growth factors that are involved in the creation and growth of fibroids and all are absolutely halted by safely ingestible concentrations of bloodroots chelerythrine.

Telomerase

Chelerythrine has been in the anticancer spotlight in biochemistry for a very long time, as its specificity and potency is regarded as incredible. All of you geneticists will love this one. So one of the most active regions in anticancer research is in telomerase inhibition. Telomerase – the enzyme - has been observed in around 90% of all human tumors thus its inhibition can lead to some premium drug discovery. Chelerythrine which is the second most prominent compound found in bloodroot binds to the g-quartet (in molecular biology: guanine-rich 4-stranded, nucleic acids) and to the phosphate backbone of the quadruplex, just like an antibody attaching itself to invaders like bacteria and virus'! Chelerythrines binding actions lead to aggregation to inhibit telomerase activity. Showing us that bloodroot has some incredible and invaluable promise in cancer treatment and prevention. Telomerase is present and prominent in the formation and necessary for the growth of uterine fibroids, yet another issue covered by our beloved bloodroot.

Sanguinarine, bloodroot's most famous and most common compound is well known for its antimicrobial effects but most

well known for being a potent apoptosis inducing, cell-destroyer! Many comparative studies have been done exploring sanguinarines dose dependent capability of destroying only abnormal tissues whilst leaving normal tissues alone.

Sanguinarine and chelerythrine were put through numerous comparative studies along side western medicines go-to steroid therapy, prednisone. Bloodroots anti-inflammatory actions were either on par or more significant in decreasing cytokine action than that of prednisone. In the event of fibroids, bloodroot eliminates just about every inflammatory and pro-inflammatory marker, allowing our bodies to focus on fixing the issue. Remember, inflammation keeps our bodies from being able to heal itself!

Combine the plants ability to eliminate the largest issues in the development of fibroids with its capability to target cell death in only abnormal tissues. It urges the mediation of growth factors, a process necessary for their regression. Lastly, bloodroot shows more significant anti-inflammatory action against cytokines expressed in fibroids. Inflammation gone, targeted cell death, halted growth and stimulated regression is the biggest soup of problems that fibroids have not been able to live through for who knows how many millenia the midwives of the woodlands have been prescribing, in the preservation of one of the worst things that can every happen to a woman, a miscarriage.

Other amazing medicinal benefits of Bloodroot

Bloodroot showed inhibition concentration-50 value of 0.53 against NB4 (leukemia) lines and 1.53 against mkn-45 (gastric cancer) lines which is outstandingly superior to the Standard anticancer inhibition concentrations, cis-platinum, with ic-50 of 2.39. just look at those numbers.

Bloodroot also has amazing antimicrobial effects against gram negative and gram positive bacterias, with its most outstanding efforts against Staph A.

The Doctrine of Signatures:

Bloodroot is an incredibly brilliant plant to behold. Its one leaf usually has two twin lobes horizontal from one another, with one narrow downward-facing large toothed appendage, the stem and root are in the center of this incredible plant.

In nature when a plant has 'twin' features horizontal from one another it usually has something to do with fertility or the reproductive system of a man or woman, to tell which the plant represents more features need to be identified. Bloodroot is obviously more connected to the female reproductive system because of the downward facing appendage in-between the twin lobes. This appendage is exact and remarkably familiar to the cervix.

So with this plant we have a perfect cervix and two ovaries, what should be in the middle of all this is a giant uterus, where is it? In the middle of all this is the stem holding everything up. At the base of the stem we have one of the most unique roots in nature, unique due to the brilliant red fluid that is shed when the root is cracked. This root is a beautiful representative of the uterus that sheds the endometrial blood-lining.

Here we have what my people have called a 'women's medicine' for who knows how long. A medicine that has been a relief of one of the most terrible and preventable circumstances that a woman can face, a miscarriage. We can clearly see now that this plant has been created to look like a female reproductive system, because that is what it has been created to heal!