Wild ginger contains aristolochic acid. Aristolochic acid stimulates contractions of the uterus; it is 100% effective in blocking pregnancy in mice after a single oral dose (100 mg/kg) on the 6th or 7th day after coitus. A dose of 20 - 90 mg/kg was sufficient to block implantation, and a dose of 30 mg/kg interrupted midterm pregnancy.[468] Aristolochic acid inhibits phospholipase hydrolysis, which checks inflammation and may alter release of luteinizing and growth hormones from the pituitary.[469]
Gathering: The root may be gathered when the leaves begin die back. It should be dried thoroughly and stored in an airtight container.
Preparation: Wild ginger tea should be taken in small doses, as large doses tend to nauseate the stomach. Wild ginger is most effective as an emmenagogue if taken in early pregnancy.
Words to the Wise: A related Asarum plant Asarum Europoem has caused death in women who tried to use it to induce miscarriage in the second trimester.[470] Modern science has shown a strong correlation between consumption of herbal products containing aristolochic acid with delayed onset renal failure and cancer. Carcinogenic doses of aristolochic acid have been noted at long-term low doses or short-term high doses, and thus herbs containing aristolochic acid have been relegated to the back of the shelf because of safety issues.[471] Wild ginger is also estrogenic and may contribute to estrogen-dependent cancers or interfere with normal blood clotting.
Watch for Signs of Toxicity specific to Wild Ginger: Vomiting, pains in the abdomen, and convulsions.
Abortifacient Decoction (root): 1 tsp. (5 g) macerated root to 2 cups (500 ml) boiling water. Simmer 5 -10 minutes. 1 – 2 Tbs. (15 – 45 ml), four to six times a day.
Tincture (fresh root): 1:2, 65% alcohol, 20 - 40 drops, two to three times a day.
Powdered Root: 2 - 4 #0 capsules, four to six times a day.
Homeopathy
The adherents of the old school of medicine assail the body with large, often protracted and rapidly repeated doses of strong medicine, whose long-lasting, not infrequently terrible effects they do not know, and which they apparently make purposely unrecognizable through the commixture of more such unknown substances into one medicinal formula…
With the medical art of homeopathy, it is entirely different.
-Samuel Hahnemann, 1833
Homeopathy is an alternative form of medicine created in the late 1700’s by German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Hahnemann saw the harm done by traditional medicine and sought to develop a medicinal art where the medicine would do no harm, and the disease would be cured. A homeopathic remedy is made from an individual substance that in undiluted form, given to a healthy individual, causes symptoms that are similar to the disease that the homeopathic remedy is intended to treat. The substance intended as a homeopathic remedy is extracted into a tincture (called the mother tincture) and then diluted repeatedly and dymatized (moved) at each dilution. Dymatization, through shaking or spinning, is believed to increase the power and vitality of the remedy to act on an energetic level by inducing a temporary weightless vortex which excites the molecules of the diluted substance. Dymatization has been likened to the increased magnetism produced in a steel rod when it is rubbed repeatedly.
Homeopathy is founded on the ancient principle of the law of similars, similia similibus curantur, which holds that a substance of natural origin that produces certain symptoms in a healthy person will cure those same symptoms in a sick person. Hippocrates, in his work On the Place of Things which Regard Man, commented on the ancient understanding “Disease is born of like things, and by the attack of like things people are healed – vomiting ends through vomiting.”
Homeopathy is sometimes described as quantum medicine, for the particles of medicinal substances are so small that they are believed to influence the cells of the body at the molecular level. Often a homeopathic remedy will have no scientifically discernable molecules of the original active ingredient in the final dilution. In homeopathy, it is believed the more diluted the remedy the more powerful the biological effects. Hahnemann said, “Homeopathic medicine’s goal is to provide a gentle permanent cure to disease without significant side effects.” This is in contrast to pharmaceutical medicines which are thought by those who believe in homeopathy to negatively affect the life force.
It is widely known that pharmaceutical drugs can have significant negative side effects to the liver, kidneys, and reproductive systems, even at the appropriate doses. Homeopathy remains controversial, because it is directly opposed to medical and pharmaceutical knowledge founded on observed dose-response relationships of conventional drugs.
Homeopathic abortion holds the promise of having a simple, natural form of abortion with few side effects. If homeopathic abortion proves itself to be safe and effective, all other self-induced abortion methods may be deemed inferior. Unfortunately, no scientific testing has been undertaken to evaluate homeopathic abortion methods.
Inducing abortion with homeopathic preparations is a controversial subject even among homeopathic doctors. Some homeopathic doctors believe that inducing miscarriage is not possible via homeopathic preparations. Pregnancy is a natural human function, and homeopathic drugs are intended to promote natural processes of the human body. Homeopathic abortion in some literature is shown to be generally ineffective. One study in rural Bangladesh found that only 4 out of 29 attempts to induce abortion with homeopathy succeeded.[472] However, certain homeopathic prescriptions in a double-blind trial have been shown in childbirth studies to impact pregnancy by reducing labor time and decreasing abnormal labor.[473] In India, one homeopathic medicine, Abroma radix, has developed a reputation among homeopathic doctors for its effectiveness at inducing abortion; one homeopathic physician has claimed Abroma radix “may be used for easy abortion, minimizing the scope of D&C operations.”[474]
Homeopathic medicines used to induce abortion are often in the LM (also called Q) potency. LM is the term used to describe one of the most diluted potencies available; it is serially diluted at a 1:50,000 dilution ratio and vigorously shaken at each dilution. LM potencies are believed to have a strong curative action without causing therapeutic aggravation when prescribed according to the homeopathic principle of similar disease symptoms.
When using homeopathic medicines:
1. Utilize the assistance of a trained homeopathic physician. 2. Remember that less is more. Taking more of the medicine will not be more effective.
3. Contraceptive pills and prescribed drugs can negatively affect homeopathic medicine.
4. Do not eat, drink, or use toothpaste 15 minutes before or after using the homeopathic remedy.
5. Avoid strong smelling substances, like menthol or camphor.
6. Avoid drinking caffeinated coffee. Decaf is okay, and tea is okay.
468
J. C. Saha, E.C. Savini, and S. Kasinathan, “Ecbolic Properties of Indian Medicinal Plants,”
469
M.D. Rosenthal, “Effects of Aristolochic Acid on Phospholipase A Activity,”
470
Alfred Swaine Taylor,
471
Min Cui, Zhi-Hong Liu, Qi Qiu, Heng Li and Lei-Shi Li, 'Tumour Induction in Rats Following Exposure to Short-Term High Dose Aristolochic Acid I,” (Nanjing: Research Institute of Nephrology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, 2002).
472
Etienne Van de Walle and Elisha P. Renne,
473
"Preparing for Labor and Birth with Homeopathy - Study on the Influence of a Homeopathic Treatment in Preparation for Labor and Birth." Dolisos Homeopathy Study. Pierre Dorfman, Marie Noel Lasserre, and Max Tetau, "Preparation a l’accounchement par homeopathie: Experimentation en double-insu versus placebo" (Preparation for Birth by Homeopathy; Experimentation by Double-Blind Versus Placebo),
474
Dr. R. Dubey, “Indian Drugs and Their Clinical Application,”