Jimsonweed leaf and seed (Stramonii folium/-semen)

Stra­mo­ni­um­blät­ter/-samen

Name of Drug

Stra­mo­nii foli­um, jim­son­weed leaf, thorn apple.

Stra­mo­nii semen, jim­son­weed seed.

Composition of Drug

Jim­son­weed leaf con­sists of the dried leaf, or the dried lea­ves and flowe­ring tops of Datu­ra stra­mo­ni­um L. [Fam. Sol­a­naceae], as well as pre­pa­ra­ti­ons thereof.

Jim­son­weed seed con­sists of the ripe seed of D. stra­mo­ni­um L., as well as pre­pa­ra­ti­ons thereof.

Uses

Jim­son­weed pre­pa­ra­ti­ons are used for asth­ma, spas­tic or con­vul­si­ve cough, per­tus­sis during bron­chi­tis and influ­en­za, and as basic the­ra­py for dise­a­ses of the auto­no­mic ner­vous system.

The effec­ti­ve­ness for the clai­med appli­ca­ti­ons is not suf­fi­ci­ent­ly documented.

Risks

Jim­son­weed leaf and seed con­tain 0.1 – 0.6 per­cent alka­lo­ids. Main alka­lo­ids are L‑hyoscyamine and L‑scopolamine.

Poi­so­nings with fatal con­se­quen­ces are descri­bed. The amount of available alka­lo­ids in inhalant the­ra­pies, such as fum­i­ga­ti­ons and “asth­ma ciga­ret­tes” can­not be calculated.

Becau­se of the eupho­ric action of this herb, abu­se and depen­den­cy occurs.

Evaluation

Sin­ce the effec­ti­ve­ness is not suf­fi­ci­ent­ly docu­men­ted, the appli­ca­ti­on of jim­son­weed leaf and seed and their pre­pa­ra­ti­ons can­not be jus­ti­fied becau­se of their risks.