European Mistletoe
Other names : All-Heal, Banda, Birdlime Mistletoe, Blandeau, Bois de Sainte-Croix, Bouchon, Devil's Fuge, Drudenfuss, Eurixor, Guérit-Tout, Gui, Gui Blanc, Gui Blanc d’Europe, Gui des Feuillus, Gui d’Europe, Gui Européen, Helixor, Herbe de Chèvre, Hexenbesen, Hurchu, Iscador, Isorel, Leimmistel, Mistlekraut, Mistletein, Mistletoe, Muérdago Europeo, Mystyldene, Nid de Sorcière, Pain de Biques, Rini, Verquet, Vert-Bois, Vert de Pommier, Visci, Visci Albi Folia, Visci Albi Fructus, Visci Albi Herba, Visci Albi Stipites, Vogelmistel, Vysorel, Viscum album.
According to Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, mistletoe is "insanely aristocratic," because it grows according to its own rhythms, "as if the Earth were not there." It grows in any direction, often forming a strange ball up in a tree, it flowers in the winter, and it has berries all year long. He argued that mistletoe was the perfect remedy for cancer and developed it into a specially crafted medicine called Iscador, which is used in Europe (and which is not the same thing as an extract - mistletoe is poisonous). Mistletoe is also known as Birdlime, Herbe de la Croix, Mystyldene, and Lignum Crucis. This is chopped mistletoe harvested in Europe from apple trees.
see also : Iscador Therapy
Special Precautions of European Mistletoe
All species of mistletoe are not recommended for the home herbalist and are best left to professional practitioners. While there are valuable medicinal uses for this herb, all parts of the plant are acutely toxic and there are much safer and less toxic choices available to the home herbalist to treat the same conditions. The berries are considered to be especially toxic. Call your health care practitioner if you experience any of these possible side effects of mistletoe:
- change in pupil size
- mild fever
- dehydration
- fever
- nausea
- delirium
- seizures
- diarrhea
- slow pulse
- hallucinations
- Combining herbs with certain drugs may alter their action or produce unwanted side effects. Don't use mistletoe while taking:alcohol and other drugs that slow the nervous system, such as cold and allergy drugs, sedatives, tranquilizers, narcotic pain relievers, barbiturates, seizure drugs, and muscle relaxants, drugs that lower blood pressure, drugs to relieve depression called MAO inhibitors (such as Marplan and Nardil). Mistletoe should not be used along with heart medicines; the combination creates an increased risk of cardiac slow-down.
Important points to remember
- Don't use mistletoe if you're pregnant or breast-feeding. The herb may stimulate the uterus.
- Be aware that all plant parts are toxic.
- Keep the mistletoe plant and all extracts and formulations made with it out of reach of children.
- Leukemia: Some test tube studies suggested European mistletoe might be effective against childhood leukemia. But benefits have not been shown in people. In fact, European mistletoe might make leukemia worse. If you have leukemia, don’t take European mistletoe.
The benefits of European Mistletoe are
Folk healers in Europe and particularly in Asia have long relied on mistletoe for treating everything from rapid heart rates and high blood pressure to epilepsy. But by far the most popular use of mistletoe today--particularly in Europe--is for treating cancer. Despite mistletoe's known toxic effects, some people still use it as a natural remedy. Certain chemicals in mistletoe have shown antitumor activity, but more studies must be done to evaluate the herb's effectiveness and long-term safety. In the United States, intravenous mistletoe preparations aren't standardized, so researchers probably won't evaluate the herb as a tumor treatment in the near future. In Europe, the plant is used in oncology therapies under the trade names Iscador® and Helixor®.
- Cancer : It is hypothesized that water soluble mistletoe lectins are the active anti-cancer constituents in the plant, along with polysaccharides, phenolic compounds, and viscotoxins (14, 23). Lectins in particular induce programmed cell death, or apoptosis, in cancer cell lines, and exhibit direct cytotoxic (cancer cell killing) activity. Commercial methods of aqueous mistletoe purification are not able to extract water insoluble triterpenoids, which have anti-melanoma effects.
- Breast Cancer, Colon Cancer, and Stomach Cancer : Early research suggests that a specific European mistletoe extract (Iscador, Weleda, Germany) given by injection might improve survival in patients with solid tumors of the breast, colon, or stomach. But these results have been questioned because the study wasn’t designed well. So far, there isn't enough reliable evidence to support using European mistletoe for any type of cancer. Stick to proven treatments.
- Bladder Cancer. Some evidence suggests that administering a specific European mistletoe extract placed into the bladder for 6 weeks might reduce bladder cancer recurrence rates in certain patients.
- Melanoma : Although human trials are conflicting, in vivo and in vitro studies have highlighted anti-tumor effects of mistletoe against acute lymphoblastic leukemia, various carcinomas, and melanoma cells.
- In addition, mistletoe has prolonged survival in patients with Pancreatic Cancer as well as breast and gynecological cancers in human studies
- Immunotherapy : Mistletoe extracts have also been used in cancer immunotherapy in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The field of immunotherapy, particularly encouraging our own bodies to fight cancers, is a particularly exciting field at present, using our own T-cells (from their origin in the thymus gland); many novel compounds serve to stimulate the immune system and/or activate the natural immune response, or function to aid and strengthen it. As mistletoe can enhance both humoral (antibody-mediated) and cellular immune responses when injected into cancer patients, potentially increasing the ability of the immune system to eliminate cancer.
- Hepatitis C. Injecting a water-based extract of European mistletoe may help to fight the viral infection that causes hepatitis C and improve quality of life in some people.
- Reducing the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
- High blood pressure.
- Internal bleeding.
- Hemorrhoids.
- Seizures.
- High cholesterol.
- Gout.
- Depression.
- Sleep disorders
- Fatigue
- Headache.
- Menstrual disorders.
- Epilepsy
- Headache
- High blood pressure
- Insomnia
- Irregular heartbeat
- Arteriosclerosis
- Bervousness
- Sterility
- Tension
- Ulcers
- Urinary disorders
References
- Thies, A. et al. (2008). Low-dose mistletoe lectin-I reduces melanoma growth and spread in a scid mouse xenograft model. British Journal of Cancer, 98, 106–112.
- Kienle, G.S. et al. (2009). Viscum album L. extracts in breast and gynaecological cancers: a systematic review of clinical and preclinical research. Journal of Experimental Clinical Cancer Research, 28(1), 79. doi:10.1186/1756-9966-28-79.
- Kienle, G.S. et al. (2003). Mistletoe in cancer - a systematic review on controlled clinical trials. European Journal of Medical Research, 8(3), 109-119.
- Kienle, G.S., & Kiene, H. (2010). Review article: Influence of Viscum album L (European mistletoe) extracts on quality of life in cancer patients: a systematic review of controlled clinical studies. Integrateve Cancer Therapies, 9(2), 142-157. doi: 10.1177/1534735410369673.
- Gardin, N.E. (2009). Immunological response to mistletoe (Viscum album L.) in cancer patients: a four-case series. Physiotherapy Research, 23(3), 407-411. doi: 10.1002/ptr.2643
- Duong Van Huyen, J-P. et al. (2006). Interleukin-12 is associated with the in vivo anti-tumor effect of mistletoe extracts in B16 mouse melanoma. Cancer Letters, 243(1), 32-37. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2005.11.016
- Strüh, C.M. et al. (2013). Triterpenoids Amplify Anti-Tumoral Effects of Mistletoe Extracts on Murine B16.F10 Melanoma In Vivo. PLoS One, 8(4), e621688. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062168
- Nazaruk, J., & Orlikowski, P. (2016). Phytochemical profile and therapeutic potential of Viscum album L. Natural Product Resaerch, 30(4), 373-385.
- Thies, A. et al. (2005). Influence of mistletoe lectins and cytokines induced by them on cell proliferation of human melanoma cells in vitro. Toxicology, 207, 105–116.
