A good safe creme for all purposes?? read below לנשים בעקר

For woman patients: a short note [ from a "male doctor"]
many cosmetic creams have shown to contain toxic products.
you could better avoid all sort of commercial creams.
if you want a real effective and safe cream [for all purposes] then use symphytum cream.[comfrey]
The french pharmacy in Gilo [ tel: ]makes an excellent one and a I would highly recommend this instead of the often unsafe commercial ones.
the article below describes some other [ pharmacological] aspects of the symphytum plant.

Summary

Topical preparations containing comfrey extracts are used for the treatment of various muscle and joint complaints. There are numerous recent clinical studies and postmarketing surveillance studies available for these preparations. They confirm the analgetic and anti-inflammatory as well as the anti-exudative spectrum of action of the medicinal plant and also prove its high degree of efficacy and tolerance. The findings are presented in this overview.
Schlüsselwörter

Symphytum - Beinwell - klinische Studie - Anwendungsbeobachtung - Wirksamkeit
Key words

Symphytum officinale L. - comfrey - clinical study - postmarketing surveillance study - efficacy

vitex agnus castus

Vitex agnus-castus
[Vitex]agnus castus, in Hebrew Siach Avraham.

This is an herb I have advised to hundreds of women [to take as a tincture, as drops] over the years, so I would like to tell to some more about what is known about this herb.
Agnus castus is primarily an herb for women!!
The biggest blessing is that it can increase the chance of getting pregnant and reduce the chance of miscarriages.
In quite a few cases I have seen after a few months of taking this herb women getting pregnant, often after a long period of "waiting". Once pregnant, it may be taken for the first 8 to 12 weeks in pregnancy which may help prevent miscarriage; thereafter it is in general wise to stop it.
It is often specially indicated if the progesterone levels are low [abnormal low progesterone levels three weeks after the onset of menstruation (serum progesterone below 10-12 ng/ml). which is considered abnormal when occurring in women between ages 20 to 40 years]
It can be very useful for all kind of menstruation disturbances. It may help to bring on and to regulate a menstruation, which is very irregular or absent [amenorrhea], it may settle irregular bleedings, It may be helpful to help regulate the ovulatory cycle, regulate menorrhagia (heavy menstruation) and it may be very useful also during the menopause.
It can stimulate the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) and inhibit the release of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)]
It is also used for premenstrual complaints [PMS], both for the physical and psychological manifestations.
Physical symptoms such as headaches, sore breasts [mastalgia, mastodynia] bloating and fatigue and psychological changes such as increased appetite, sweet cravings, nervousness, restlessness, anxiety, depression, mood swings and lack of concentration can all be all reduced.
[Don't use it "automatically" for premenstrual depression as this may sometimes get worse from agnus castus.]
It may be used to regain a natural balance after the use of the birth control pill.
It may help to regulate [high] prolactine levels [by which the chance to get pregnant is enhanced]
It can help in cases of endometriosis[look this up in wikipedia if you want to know more about this condition]
It may help stimulate breast feeding, but this may take only effect after a few weeks of use.
In some cases of acne it may be also very useful, especially if these get worse before the menstruation. It may the have to be used for many months.
Again: a woman's herb for many purposes, which may be tried in many cases, even not by an expert.
It has a clear progesterone effect, but at the same time can be considered to be an amphoteric herb, as so many herbs are.
This means that it will regulate what has to be regulated [like an automatic "pilot"]. It helps restore a normal estrogen-progesterone balance, simply normalizing what has to be normalized. One of the wonders of nature, this self regulatory mechanism!!
It helps to restore corpus luteum insufficiency, and a non optimal ovarian function.
The general dose: 40 drops in the morning in a glass of water before breakfast. [It is wise to start with 10 drops and slowly increase the dose, in a week or so]
Ask [in Israel] for: agnus castus M.T.[tarkiz em] form the company ketzar and buy a bottle of 100 cc to start with.
Or buy it from any herbalist in Israel who knows how to prepare the tincture himself.
The shrub is native to the Mediterranean region.
Agnus castus can be used for a long time on a daily base until one gets pregnant or until the complaints get better.
Of course, not getting pregnant can have many medical [and non medical] reasons.
A not proper functioning thyroid is a well known cause from the female side.

Now I will sum up some other uses of this herb which with I have no personal experience, but which are mentioned in various research articles.

Now I will sum up some other uses of this herb which with I have no personal experience, but which are mentioned in various research articles.
Agnus castus can be used as a spray to keep away certain ticks from animals and humans for at least 6 hours. Mosquitoes, biting flies and fleas are also repelled for about 6 hours.
Significant antibacterial activity against some very problematic bacteria: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella aerogenes, Proteus vulgaris, and Pseudomonas aerogenes
It has been further used in tradition for: cholera, liver disorders, .malaria rheumatism, skin diseases, ulcers, worms, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, prostate enlargement, fibroids of the uterus, bothersome candida infections, and epilepsy.
In the book of Prof Dan Palevitch z.l. and Prof. Zohara Yaniv [for which Nissim Krispel and others interviewed quite a few older Jews , Arabs, Bedouins, Druze and Cherkassians in Israel]
the following indications are mentioned as folk medicine:
drinking a tea of boiled leaves for headaches, crushing the seeds and using and using it locally for pain, tea from the boiled crushed seeds for stomach pains and also for strengthening the hair roots.
Siach Abraham: what is in the name?? Everything is in the name!!
According to the same book this would have been the shrub where the ram was caught by it horns when Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac.

A wonderful Chinese herb for heart [cardiovascular ]problems :danchen [salvia miltiorrhiza] תרופה סינית לבעיות לב וכלי דם

Some of you may be familiar with this herb, which I my have prescribed to you as "salvia miltiorrhiza" [also known as dan chen],possibly mixed with other herbs in tincture form.

I was happy to see this article even if the effects of danchen on the cardiovascular system are already known for many years in the west [and in china for ages]
the "drug" is available in Israel as a tincture [from chevrat "ketzar"] and is also available from the U.S.A in a good form from "planetary formulas".

Active Ingredient in Common Chinese Herb Shown to Reduce Hypertension

Libraries Medical News		Keywords DANSHEN, HYPERTENSION, BLOOD PRESSURE, TANSHINONE IIA
Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only
Description Some 50 million Americans have hypertension, that is, blood pressure measuring above the normal range (less than 120/80 mmHg). If untreated, it can lead to heart attacks, strokes, or kidney disease. Using an animal model, scientists have found that tanshinone IIA, an active ingredient of danshen, reduces blood pressure.

Newswise — Some 50 million Americans have hypertension, that is, blood pressure measuring above the normal range (less than 120/80 mmHg). If untreated, it can lead to heart attacks, strokes, or kidney disease. Lifestyle changes are the first-stage treatment for the disease, but if they fail, medications are prescribed.

Many patients with high blood pressure have sought relief from complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). In so doing, many have consumed danshen, a Chinese herb used in Oriental medicine that promotes blood flow and treats cardiovascular disease.

Tanshinone IIA is an active ingredient of danshen. Since tanshinone IIA is widely available, a team of researchers has used it to investigate if this active ingredient can reduce blood pressure. In a soon-to-be-released study, using an animal model, the scientists have found that tanshinone IIA does reduce blood pressure.

Their study will soon be published in the American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology

(December 15, 2006), oi:10.1152/ajpheart.01027.2006, and is entitled Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase is a Molecular Vascular Target for the Chinese Herb Danshen in Hypertension. It was conducted by the team of David D. Kim, PhD, OMD; Fabiola A. Sánchez, PhD; Ricardo G. Durán, BS; Takehito Kanetaka, MD; and Walter N. Durán, PhD, all of the Program in Vascular Biology, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology and Department of Surgery, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ.

Summary of Methodology
To assess the effect of tanshinone IIA, the protocol consisted of several parts. The researchers applied the 2-kidney-1-clip protocol to induce renal hypertension in male golden Syrian hamsters. The animals were anesthetized and a retroperitoneal approach was used to place a silver clip to constrict the right renal artery. Sham-operated hamsters and mice underwent the same procedure, except for the placement of a clip.

Both sets of hamsters received 50 ?g of tanshinone IIA/100g of body weight once a day for two weeks. After the two-week treatment period, mean arterial blood pressure was measured in the right carotid artery. To examine the microvascular actions of tanshinone IIA researchers applied it topically to the hamsters' cheek pouch or mice cremaster muscles to achieve the final concentration of one ?g/ml or five ?g/ml. After the application of tanshinone IIA, the experiment was continued for an additional 60-minute period in order to measure arteriolar diameter and peri-arteriolar nitric oxide concentration.

Results
Tanshinone IIA was found to have significantly reduced blood pressure in the hamsters. The experimental constriction of the renal artery increased mean arterial pressure to 161.2±6.9 mmHg relative to 114.3±9.2 mmHg in age-matched hamsters. Treatment with 50 ?g tanshinone IIA/100g body for two weeks reduced the mean arterial pressure from 161.2±6.9 to 130.0±7.8 mmHg.

The research team also discovered that tanshinone IIA caused widening of the arterioles in the hamster cheek pouch microcirculation via enhanced expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. The topical application of tanshinone IIA at one ?g/ml and five ?g/ml caused significant dose-related vasodilation, indicated by the increased agent/control ratio of arteriolar diameters from 1.0 to 1.25±0.08 and 1.57±0.11, respectively, in the hamster cheek pouch. The increase in arteriolar diameter ratio was significant relative to the vehicle for each concentration as well as for comparison between the two concentrations of tanshinone IIA.

Conclusions
As a result of the findings the researchers concluded that tanshinone IIA: (1) significantly reduced blood pressure in hamsters, (2) enhanced the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase, (3) increased the production of nitric oxide and (4) induced blood pressure changes through vasodilation in hamster blood microvessels. While the mechanisms of how tanshinone IIA or danshen work in hypertension are not yet fully understood, these results contribute to the effort to bring complementary and alternative medicine and allopathic care closer together in the treatment of hypertensive patients.