Wolf's foot and the thyroid

1. The plant names never cease to amaze me. Fortunately I can still be amazed about silly things. Wolf's foot or Lycopus europaeus! It is a plant that does belong to the fragrant and sun-loving family of the lavender flowers, but has no scent itself and also feels more at home in our chilly little country.

Name Wolf's Foot and Gypsy Herb

1. In the shape of the leaf one saw a leg of a wolf in the past, probably in the time when wolves still roamed here. The Latin name also means Lycos, wolf and pous paw. There also seems to be quite a European consensus on that name, because in France this plant is called "Patte du loup" and in Germany "Wolfstrapp" or Wolfsfuss ". Only England has a different opinion, that is more certain, there the plant is called "Gipsy wort", gypsy herb, an intriguing name that we more or less find in Dodonaeus, namely "Heydenscruyt" and "Egyptenaerscruyt".

Lycopus medicinal: thyroid

1. Medicinally it has never been used much, more recently it has become known, especially by Dr. Vogel, which incorporated the Virginian species in its products and used it for thyroid hyperfunction. Much scientific research confirms the striking effects of Wolfspoot. It has an inhibitory effect on TSH, the thyroid stimulating hormone, by binding, among other things, chlorogenic acid and rosmarinic acid to the TSH molecule. (Winterhoff et al .: Horm. Metabol. Res. 15 / 503-507 - 1983)

Safe use of herbs

1. In 2001, Lycopus was included in the Dutch Commodities Act Decree on Herbal Preparations on Appendix III of this Decree, which states that herbal preparations may not contain material that originates wholly or partly from plants included in this Appendix. Although I also think that in recent years herbs have often been wrongly branded as dangerous and poisonous, it is certainly true that a plant that has an effect on such a vital organ as the thyroid gland can only be used well controlled.

Names of Lycopus europaeus

1. English: Gypsywort, Gipsywort, Bugleweed, European Bugleweed, Water Horehound French: Chanvre d'eau, Lance du Christ, Lycope d'Europe, Patte de loup, Pied de loup

For further study.

1. Kemper et al .: Inst. für Pharmakologie der Univ. Münster, showed the antigonadotropic and antithyreotropic activity. Publications in the Pharmaceutical Magazine for Belgium 61 / 310-312 - 1984. Kartnig Th .: Lycopus europaeus L. Ztschr. f. Phytoth. 10 / 31-34 - 1989 (doc. M. Godefridi) Winterhof H .: Endocrinological wirksame Phytopharmaka. Ztschr. f. Phytoth. 8 / 169-171 - 1987. (doc. M. Godefridi) Winterhoff H, Gumbinger HG, Sourgens H. On the antigonadotropic activity of Lithospermum and Lycopus species and some of their phenolic constituents. Planta Med. 1988 Apr; 54 (2): 101-6. Beer AM, Wiebelitz KR, Schmidt-Gayk H. Lycopus europaeus (Gypsywort): effects on the thyroidal parameters and symptoms associated with thyroid function. Phytomedicine. 2008 Jan; 15 (1-2): 16-22 (research confirms thyroid inhibitory effect) Vonhoff C, Baumgartner A, Hegger M, Korte B, Biller A, Winterhoff H. Extract of Lycopus europaeus L. reduces cardiac signs of hyperthyroidism in rats. Life Sci. 2006 Feb 2; 78 (10): 1063-70. A.G.M. van Asseldonk (transl.). The influence of Lycopus europaeus (wolf's foot) on thyroid function and thyroid-associated symptoms. Dutch magazine for Phytotherapy