About Bloodroot Cures

Bloodroot is a perennial herb native to eastern North America. It grows from Nova Scotia, Canada southward to Florida, It is a common plant that has been used for centuries for many cures, starting with many Native American tribes. Bloodroot extract is available in pill form. Many different claims have been made about bloodroot as a medicine, and many of these are quite controversial. Therefore, it is important to understand that treatment with bloodroot is not medically recognized and should only be used if approved by a doctor.

General Illness

• Christine Remus reports that bloodroot can be used to cure the common cough, influenza, whooping cough and phthisic. Her claims are made in a short pamphlet that offers no medical proof and consists mostly of directions on how to make bloodroot medicine (see Resources).

Gingivitis

• Bloodroot extract has been used in mouthwash for some time. Many people have made claims about the effectiveness of bloodroot on healing their gingivitis. On Earthclinic.com, a user of bloodroot makes the following claim: "I put Bloodroot in my herbal mouthwash. It feels wonderful on your gums. I have heard it is also good for gingivitis." The FDA has approved small amounts of bloodroot extract for use in toothpaste and mouthwash.

Wart Removal

• Wart removal is perhaps one of the more convincing uses of bloodroot. Dermatend is a wart remover that uses heavy amounts of bloodroot in its formula. Bloodroot may be worth a try in wart removal as it is a condition that is minor enough that a variety of approaches may be tried with safety.

Cancer

• The most controversial use of bloodroot is to cure cancer. In her article "The Controversy of Bloodroot as a Cancer Cure," Agnes Farside discusses the many private practitioners of herbal medicine who claim that bloodroot is a powerful tool against skin cancer. She also points out that the FDA regularly takes up lawsuits against people who make these claims. In fact, bloodroot has been published on the FDA's list of "125 Fake Cancer Cures."

HIV

• On Earthclinic.com, a man suffering from HIV has made claims that it helped treat the lymph node cancer that occurs in patients suffering from HIV. He claims, "[I] had swollen glands in the back of my neck and behind the ears. . . . The lymph nodes have almost disappeared, I gained some weight on my body and face. The bags under my eyes are gone." One claim does not make a case, and people who are considering using bloodroot as a treatment for HIV should realize the potential for failure.