Hyssop Remedies and Cures

Hi Merryanne. I used to grow Hyssopus officinalis in my herb garden about 20 years ago. I had a variety with blue flowers and a less vigorous variety with pink flowers. I knew it as Hyssop, but didn't use it very much. They looked pretty alongside the other herbs, and were very popular with the bees.

I have a book by Rosemary Hemphill "Herbs for all Seasons" in which she states 'While it is not certain whether the hyssop we know is the biblical herb, its wonderful healing powers are undisputed'. She goes on to say that it can be used as a tea to cure a weak stomach, asthma, catarrh, or an infusion of the leaves can be used externally for muscular rheumatism, bruises or cuts. It is used in the perfume industry and in the making of liqueurs. 'In cooking, hyssop may be interchanged with savory. Try the chopped leaves with all kinds of beans and with other vegetables; in soups, sauces and salads; with meat, fish and poultry; and mixed into cottage cheese. ' 'In companion planting, hyssop planted near grapevines is said to increase the yield of grapes. It inhibits the growth of radishes.'

She goes on to give some simple recipes, which include Yorkshire pudding with hyssop added to the batter.

I think that I would also like to grow this plant again. Hope this has been of some help to you.

Thank you Alexandra for that very helpful information. I think I will add that plant to my herb garden also, and I will look for that book. Merryanne in Central Fl USA

No, your mother should be on a regimen of PDE-5 inhibitors, endothelin antagonists and prostinoids, the only demonstrated treatment for pulmonary hypertension."

10/19/2010: Tom from Regina, Sk replies: "Krista:

Does your mother smoke, or did she for many years, even decades?
Even if not, she could still have toxicity from heavy metals build-up over decades. If she did smoke, or still does, then the likely culprit is cadmium toxicity if the problem is a heavy metal. (Of course, the real problem could be something else entirely, not related to this at all. )

Anyway, once again to the orthomol site:
http://www.orthomolecular.org
Click on SEARCH in the big molecule, then type "pulmonary hypertension" into
The searchbox.
First result, "Keynote Speech", from Page 5:
http://www.orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1975/pdf/1975-v04n01-p002.pdf
We must emphasize that low zinc aids cadmium absorption. And that cadmium, once in the body, may never leave it. Among the other cadmium-zinc disorders is probably pulmonary emphysema which is Associated with pulmonary hypertension. Cigarette tobacco contains about 1 ppm cadmium, and the burning tobacco is hotter than the boiling point of cadmium. A pack a day may provide 2-4 ug to the body burden of 38 mg. In time this adds up to a lot, 33 mg in 30 years. Then there's this tidbit from Page 3 it would be good to be aware of:
EDTA causes an outpouring of zinc and has caused acute zinc deficiency in large doses although copper and nickel are more tightly bound by it. Obviously zinc in tissues is available for chelation and other metals less so. The Perrys showed this 14 years ago.

OR, Nutritional Treatments for Hypertension, Page 10:
http://www.orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1992/pdf/1992-v07n04-p221.pdf
Elevations in serum copper and cadmium have been found in smokers, which may be the reason why they have elevated blood pressure, according to Davidoff and colleagues (1978) and Kromhout, et al. (1985). Serum copper was inversely related to HDL level (Kromhout, et al. , 1985). Contraceptive pill users have elevations in serum copper and elevations in arterial pressure (Staessen, et al. , 1984). Patients who suffered from myocardial infarctions had decreased levels of zinc and iron but increased nickel levels (Khan, et al. , 1984). Hypertensive subjects that use diuretics have significantly higher serum copper levels. Increased serum copper has a role in primary or pulmonary hypertension (Ahmed and Sackner, 1985). Zinc lowers serum copper and may actually lower blood pressure (Ahmed, Sackner, 1985). Higher dietary zinc intake has been associated with lower blood pressure (Pfeiffer, 1975; Medeiros and Brown, 1983). Zinc is depleted by diuretics (Olness, 1985). Increased red cell content of zinc in essential hypertension has been found by Frithz and Tonquist (1979) and Henrotte, et al. (1985). Zinc is a well-known antagonist of heavy metals such as cadmium and lead (Pfeiffer, 1977), which even in chronic dosages has been found to elevate blood pressure. Hence, all our hypertensive patients receive zinc to lower copper, lead, cadmium, and manganese. So, if you want to push out heavy metals, it seems you want to make sure your Zinc levels are topped up FIRST (which itself will push out heavy metals) before trying EDTA for chelation, because the EDTA molecule preferentially binds zinc! There's many more Search results at this site you can read, and print out to make notes to ask your doctor or practitioner.