Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria (30 page)

Both species are readily identifiable due to the presence of their “berries,” which are actually small cones that form after fertilization of the flowers. Like everyone else, I just call them berries. (Yes, I know tomato is a fruit, but no one cares.) The berries are green when first formed, then turn purplish during the winter, after a good frost.

Juniperus communis
is a circumpolar species of the northern hemisphere. It and its high-altitude relations (
J. sibirica
,
J. montana
) are generally found from 8,000 feet (2,400 m) up to timberline. The tree species grow lower, up to about 8,000 feet, and are widely spread throughout the world; various species can be found in Africa as far south as Zimbabwe, and also in Australia and South America. The genus has been widely planted as ornamentals throughout the world. All of the species can be used for medicine.

Given that the berries of the junipers do contain seeds, there is no doubt that the trees propagate that way. Information on starting them from seed, however, is very hard to find. Everyone apparently plants seedlings—I just can't find out where the seedlings come from (storks
maybe or perhaps Hogwarts). In any event, the seedlings need a well-drained soil in which to grow.

You can gather the needles, bark, roots, or heartwood at any time. First-year berries (they are green) should be gathered after the first frost, second-year berries (they are bluish-purple) at any time. Basically, the berries should be purplish before you use them for medicine—the frost is what does it.

There are some 80 to 100 different compounds that have been identified in the junipers so far. Generally, alpha-pinene, junipene, eicosane, hexadecane, stenol, heptacosane, aromadendrene, germacrene, alpha-copaene-8-ol, ledol, elemol, trans-caryophyllene, epoxy caryophyllene, amorphene, and limonene are the major constituents. There is also totarol, ferruginol, longifolene, trans-communic acid, cedrol, alpha-cedrene, beta-cedrene, alpha-cedrol, 3-carene, terpinen-4-ol, beta-pinene, sabinene, myrcene, mycene, thujone, caryophyllene, cadinene, elemene, linalool, piperitone, gamma-terpinene, trans-pinocarveole, rho-cymene, alpha-terpineole, gamma-cardinene, beta-carophyllene, bornyl acetate, germacrene B, germacrene D, verbenol, camphene, tricyclene, beta-eudesmol, humulene, borneol, nerol, geraniol, carvacrol, and so on.

The constituents differ not only in species, but in species' location and in their age. Century-old trees have markedly different chemical profiles than those a decade old. The primary constituents in all species are monoterpene hydrocarbons, which are highly bioactive, strongly antimicrobial compounds.

Juniper, and all the evergreens, have been used in every culture on Earth for purifying and cleansing—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. They have been used in sweat baths and saunas throughout time to help prevent or cure illness.

One of the often overlooked attributes of the evergreens is their vitamin C content. All animals except the higher primates synthesize their own vitamin C. The new spring growth of the evergreens is lighter in color, less astringent, and decidedly more citrus-tasting than older growth (it has a definite lemon-lime flavor). This new growth has traditionally been used in the human diet in scores of cultures to treat scurvy.

There are five species of juniper used in India,
Juniper communis
being the most common. Called by a variety of names, depending on which local language is being used, it is
hapusha
in Sanskrit. The berries are the main part of the plant used for medicine, though the leaves and wood are sometimes used as well.

Juniper is considered aromatic, carminative, stimulant, emmenagogue, digestive, stomachic, strongly antibacterial, and diuretic. It is used for scanty urine, chronic Bright's disease, hepatic dropsy, coughs and pulmonary disease, fever, gonorrhea, leukorrhea, catarrh, arthritis, amenorrhea, tuberculosis, diabetes, and improving digestion and appetite.

There are 23 primary species of juniper in China with numerous subspecies. Most of them are designated by a phrase ending in
bai
(or beginning with
bai
, depending on whether you read left to right or right to left); e.g.,
chui zhi bai
for
Juniperus recurva
, or
bei mei yuan bai
for
Juniperus virginiana.
The junipers
are
used in Chinese medicine; it's just that none of my sources have much about it. “Used similarly to thuja,” says one fairly rare book, “see that listing.” The book then stops at the letter “N.” And, of course, I haven't been able to find volume two anyplace. Irritating. And wouldn't you just know it, none of my other Chinese herbals list thuja either. Increasingly irritating.

However, the tiny amount I can find lists juniper as traditionally used for treating bleeding from coughs, for colds, for hemorrhage, as a
general tonic, and for convulsions, detoxification of the blood, hepatitis, and sweating. It is used in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in situations where there is phlegm overproduction and congestion, blood stasis, and spleen deficiency.

Junipers were extensively used by indigenous cultures in the Americas for the exact same conditions as those in China and India. Additionally, they used them for diarrheal conditions, colds and flu, ulcers, throat infections; as an aromatic for lung conditions; for vaginal infections and scanty menses, especially after childbirth; as a primary tuberculosis medicine, a wash for skin infections, an anthelmintic, and a general disinfectant to prevent disease or to clean rooms after disease.

The Eclectic physicians in the United States used the berries as a potent diuretic, for dropsy, for ascites, as a specific for infected mucous discharges from the urethra, and for cystitis, pyelitis, pyelonephritis, and renal hyperemia. They were also used for leukorrhea, gleet, gonorrhea, scorbutic diseases, skin infections, eczema, psoriasis, and skin parasites. They were used similarly in Europe. Juniper is still official in German medical practice.

There has been little scientific study on juniper, other than some rather extensive explorations of its constituents and their antimicrobial activity. A few in vivo studies do exist.

In vitro studies have found that extracts of the heartwood of various juniper species are comparable in their antimicrobial effects to streptomycin. Leaf extracts are comparable in potency to amphotericin B. Other in vitro studies found that leaf extracts were very active against resistant staph and bacillus bacteria, as potent as ampicillin and erythromycin in their zones of inhibition. Juniper inhibits the NorA efflux pump in staph organisms, making them more susceptible to the antibacterial compounds in the plant.

In vivo studies: Tacrolimus, a drug used for immunosuppression after organ transplants, can cause, among other things, severe kidney damage. Tacrolimus-induced kidney damage in rats was completely reversed by the use of juniper oil. The renal cell membranes incorporated vasodilatory
prostanoids, the herb elevated PGF2-alpha urinary excretion, and the precipitous fall in inulin clearance usually caused by the drug was completely prevented. (This bears out the Eclectic use of the herb in treating kidney disease.) Additionally, the kidneys and livers of mice injected with CCl4 who had previously been given an oral extract of juniper were strongly protected from injury. The researchers commented that
J. phoenicea
leaf extracts “show a remarkable effect in enhancing liver and kidney functions and may thus be of therapeutic potential in treatment of hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity.”
³

Juniper berry oil is high in 5,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid, a polyunsaturated acid similar to that found in fish oil; it is highly resistant to peroxidation. Hepatic reperfusion injury in rats fed the oil as a regular part of their diet was significantly minimized. (This bears out the traditional tonic use of the herb for treating digestive/liver problems.)

Juniper extracts showed potent anthelmintic activity against pinworm infections in mice; they are strongly anti-inflammatory to induced edema in mice and antinociceptive to induced pain; they significantly lower blood glucose levels in induced-diabetic mice while also increasing zinc levels in the liver.

Juniper extracts, and various compounds in juniper species, are potently active against a wide range of
Mycobacterium
organisms, bearing out the plant's traditional use for treating TB.

Juniper also contains, as do nearly all evergreens, a rather amazing constituent called totarol. Like many of the constituents in juniper (longifolene, alpha-pinene), totarol is strongly antibacterial. Totarol is antimicrobial against a wide range of microorganisms, including the mycobacteria, enterococci, staphylococci, streptococci,
Pseudomonas
, plus a variety of other Gram-negative organisms, and a number of parasitic organisms. It is potently synergistic with the other antibacterials in juniper; studies have found that it potentiates a wide range of pharmaceutical antibiotics as well. It is highly active at tiny doses and is a main part of the synergistic potency of the plant as an antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitumor, hepatic protector, and cholesterol-lowering herb. The constituent is also highly effective in the treatment of skin diseases such as severe acne. It is a fairly strong NorA efflux pump inhibitor.

A number of compounds in the plant, especially the berries, most especially terpinen-4-ol, substantially increase the output of urine without reducing either potassium or electrolyte levels in the body. Kidney filtration rate is also enhanced. The reasons why the highly antibacterial monoterpenes in the plant work so well is that the body immediately works to excrete them through the urinary passages. This has the effect of disinfecting the whole system. If you have a resistant UTI, this is the one plant you want to be sure to use for it.

Any
organic wildflower honey can be used effectively in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant skin and wound infections. There is some evidence that large-scale agricultural honeys and single-plant honeys are less potent than wildflower honeys. There are a few exceptions. Manuka honey from New Zealand, produced mainly from the flowers of
Leptospermum scoparium
, is very potent (which is why you will see it for sale all over the Internet at indecent prices—about four times the cost of locally produced wildflower honeys).

The belated recognition of the potency of honey in treating resistant bacterial infections of the skin, especially those acquired in hospitals, has led to significant study, clinical use, and trial of honeys in medical practice since the first edition of this book in 1999, primarily in the UK. Predictably, a pharmaceutical honey has been produced (which is, of course, tremendously expensive compared to local honeys). Called Medihoney, it is the only honey allowable for use in the medical system in the UK. (A brand called Revamil is used in the Netherlands.) The USFDA has also accepted the use of a pharmaceutical honey by clinicians in this country, again very expensive—though, of course, almost no U.S. hospitals are using it. Nevertheless,
any
wildflower honey will do. The more plants the bees collect nectar from, the more potent it will be. If it is organic, it will tend to be relatively free of agrochemical pollutants. Also important.

Other bee products such as propolis and royal jelly are also highly effective against resistant organisms. Studies have found them stronger in some instances than honey, but they are more difficult to apply. Royal jelly, when added to honey, increases its effectiveness.

Honey can be applied directly to wounds or used internally for immune stimulation, overall health improvement, and treatment of colds, flus, and respiratory infections.

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Potent antibiotic against all known forms of resistant bacteria that infect the skin and wounds. In addition:

Antiallergenic

Antianemic

Anticarcinogenic

Antifungal

Anti-inflammatory

Antiviral

Expectorant

Immune stimulant

Laxative

Tonic

Promotes healing for wounds, moist wounds, peptic ulcers, and bacterial gastroenteritis; reduces plaque; good for gingivitis; facilitates debridement; soothes inflamed tissues; acts as a wound barrier; and stimulates skin and muscle regeneration.

Active Against

Acinetobacter
spp.

Alcaligenes faecalis

Aspergillus niger

Bacillus stearothermophilus

Bacillus subtilis

Burkholderia cepacia

Candida
spp.

E. coli
O157:H7 (25 strains)

Enterobacter cloacae

Enterococcus faecalis
(essentially any vancomycin-resistant enterococci)

Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) bacteria

Haemophilus influenzae

Helicobacter pylori

Herpes simplex

Klebsiella oxytoca

Klebsiella pneumoniae

Listeria monocytogenes

Malassezia
spp.

Micrococcus luteus

Morganella morganii

Mycobacterium
spp.

Proteus
spp.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(152 isolates)

Rubella virus

Salmonella enteritidis

Salmonella typhimurium
(49 strains)

Serratia marcescens