Mistletoe - Side Effects and Health Benefits

Botanical Name of Mistletoe: Viscum album.

Other Common Names:
European mistletoe, Christmas mistletoe, oak mistletoe, herbe de la croix, mystyldene, lignum crucis. gui de chêne, all heal, bird lime, devil’s fuge, golden bough and viscum.

Habitat:
Viscum album grows in Europe, northwest Africa, and central Asia and Japan. Mistletoe is a perennial, semi-evergreen parasitic plant, growing on the branches of trees. Viscum is most commonly seen on old apple, ash, and hawthorn trees; although mistletoe does not grow as well on oak trees, mistletoe from oak trees has traditionally been the most commonly used.

Description:
Mistletoe has opposite, thick, leathery leaves that are oval or lance-shaped and about 2 inches long. These form a drooping yellowish evergreen bush about 2-3 feet long on the branch of a host tree. It has densely crowded branches with oval to lance-shaped leaves about 2 inches long. The flowers, in compact spikes, are bisexual, unisexual, or regular. They are yellower than the leaves and appear in the late winter. These become one-seeded, white berries, which when ripe are filled with a sticky, semi-transparent pulp. The seeds are eaten by birds and spread by them to other trees.

Plant Parts Used:
Leaves and stems.

The Mistletoe Plant (Viscum album)
(Click on image to enlarge)
Attribution:Andrew Dunn

Mistletoe Herb & Extract

Mistletoe Extract by Herb Pharm

Therapeutic Uses, Benefits and Claims of Mistletoe

• The active constituents of mistletoe are: mistletoe lectins I, II and III (glycoprotein); viscotoxin (protein); galacturonan, arabinogalactan (polysaccharides), and alkaloids.

The Medicinal Herb Mistletoe
(Viscum album)
Koehler's Medicinal-Plants - 1887.
• Mistletoe was a sacred plant of the Celtic peoples; the Celts and Gauls called it “all-heal” or “cure-all”.
• Shakespeare called mistletoe ‘baleful Mistletoe’, a reference to the Nordic mythology that Baldur, the god of peace and beauty, was slain by an arrow made of mistletoe. Baldur was brought back to life by the other gods. After that it was declared by Frygg, Baldur mother, that everyone who passed under it should receive a kiss to show the victory of love over hate.
• Mistletoe is used by traditional herbalists as a nervine, antispasmodic, tonic and narcotic and European herbalists considered mistletoe to be a specific remedy for St. Vitus’s Dance, epilepsy and other convulsive nervous disorders.
• It has a long history as a herbal treatment for delirium, hysteria, neuralgia, and nervous debility and mistletoe tincture was used as a heart tonic in typhoid fever.
• Herbal practitioners have used mistletoe as a treatment for urinary disorders, heart disease, and other symptoms arising from a weakened or disordered state of the nervous system.
• Mistletoe has been used to lower blood pressure and heart rate, ease anxiety, and as an herbal sleep aid.
• Viscum album was traditionally used throughout Europe as a remedy for headaches, dizziness, loss of energy and irritability
• It has been used as a traditional herbal remedy for the treatment for cough, especially convulsive cough, bronchial asthma, and asthmatic attacks due to psychological tension.
• Traditional herbal medicine uses mistletoe as a natural treatment for arthritic pain and it is believed to be an effective external treatment for leucorrhoea, gout and sciatica.
• Numerous studies have reported that the plant lectins, in viscum album possess toxic, cytotoxic, antitumor, and anticarcinogenic properties. Research is currently being done in Europe to determine their potential in cancer chemotherapy and in Germany, extracts of European mistletoe (viscum album) is sometimes used as a treatment for certain types of cancer.
• Europeans include V. album in oncology therapies under the trade names Iscador® and Helixor®.
• The German Commission E has approved mistletoe as a treatment for degenerative and inflamed joints and as a palliative therapy for malignant tumors.
• Note that the North American species, phoradendron leucarpum is rarely used medicinally. Some herbalists believe that phoradendron leucarpum has an opposite effect than the European viscum album. However both American and European species of mistletoe contain toxic proteins which are similar in their chemical composition and produce similar effects, including hypotension, bradycardia, and vasoconstriction in test animals. American mistletoe, often called false mistletoe, is believed by some herbalists to stimulate smooth muscles, causing a rise in blood pressure and increased uterine and intestinal contractions. Native Americans used phoradendron leucarpum. as a treatment for paralysis, and it was also used as an oral contraceptive and to stop bleeding after childbirth.

Dosage and Administration

As dried leaves: 2-6 grams taken orally three times daily
As liquid extract: 1:1 solution in 25% alcohol, 1-3 milliliters orally three times daily.
As a tincture: 1:5 solution in 45% alcohol, 0.5 milliliter orally three times daily.
For external use: one part tincture to five parts water. For gout and sciatica, tincture compresses are used on the affected areas daily for one hour.

Side Effects and Possible Interactions of Mistletoe

All species of mistletoe are not recommended for the home herbalist, and are best left to professional practitioners. While there are valuable medicinal uses for this herb, all parts of the plant are acutely toxic and there are much safer and less toxic choices available to the home herbalist to treat the same conditions. The berries are considered to be especially toxic. Mistletoe should be avoided during pregnancy or breast feeding, as it may stimulate uterine contractions.

Possible side effects include change in pupil size, mild fever, dehydration from diarrhea, slow pulse, hallucinations, nausea, delirium, or seizures. This herb should not be used while consuming alcohol or taking drugs that slow the nervous system, such as cold and allergy drugs, sedatives, tranquilizers, narcotic pain relievers, barbiturates, seizure drugs and muscle relaxants. the use of mistletoe should be avoided with drugs that lower blood pressure, or with drugs to relieve depression (called MAO inhibitors, such as Marplan and Nardil). Mistletoe should not be used along with heart medications as the combination creates an increased risk of cardiac slow-down. The use of mistletoe should always be under the guidelines of a professional health care provider.

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