Leonurus cardiaca
(Motherwort)

Therapeutic Actions:

• Antiplatelet aggregation action
• Antispasmodic
• Cardiac tonic
• Decreases blood lipids
• Diuretic
• Emmenagogue
• Female tonic
• Hypotensive
• Nervine
• Normalizes heart function
• Sedative
• Stimulating

Clinical Indications:

• Amenorrhea
• Dysmenorrhea
• Fertility/Infertility
• Hypertension due to stress
• Menopause
• PMS
• Heart palpitations
• Herpes zoster nerve pain
• Hyperthyroidism
• Hyperthyroid cardiac reactions
• Insomnia
• Lumbar pain
• Pelvic pain
• Tachycardia

Contraindications:

• Pregnancy due to the emmenagogue effect and because it contains the animal uterine-stimulating constituents, stachydrine and leonurine

Drug/Nutrient Interaction:

• Limited data

Chemical Constituents:

• Alkaloids
• Apigenin
• Caffeic acid
• Diterpenes of the labdane type such as leocardin
• Essential oil
• Flavonoids:
  
• Glycosides
• Leonurine-a bitter
• Leonurinine
• Tannic acid
• Quercitin
• Quercetrin

Toxicity:

• None known

Copyright 1998 - 2008 by L. Vicky Crouse, ND and James S. Reiley, ND. All rights reserved (ISSN 1527-0661).