Carpesium is a perennial plant of the compositae family. It is grown from southern Europe to eastern Asia, particularly China, Japan and Korea.
Carpesium grows to about one meter in height, usually in land that has most soil, with little or no shade. The seeds are used medicinally.Carpesium seeds are small (3-4 millimeters in length) and yellow-brown or dark brown in color, with ridges along the edges. The seeds have a mild odor, and are bitter and pungent in flavor. Carpesium seeds are used to kill intestinal parasites such as roundworms or pinworms, and to treat abdominal pain caused by enteritis or malnutrition.
Other parts of the plant are used for different purposes. The entire plant can be ground up and used as a laxative or to induce vomiting, while carpesium juice (taken from the plant's stems) can treat sore throat and insect bites.
The standard dosage of carpesium is 3-10 grams, which should be prepared in a decoction for oral administration. Some herbalists recommend it be ground into a powder and combined with soup when being administered. It is sometimes used in conjunction with betel nuts to enhance its anti-parisitic effects.
In addition to raw or dried seeds, carpesium can be found in pill and powder form.
As of this writing, there are no known adverse effects or drug interactions with carpesium. As always, make sure to consult with a qualified health care practitioner before taking carpesium or any other herbal remedy or dietary supplement.
References
Structured water (H3O2) can be considered a fourth state of water between liquid and solid. It has the hexagonal structure of ice; however, missing a critical bond, it behaves more like a gel than a solid, but retains some of its crystalline structure.
In the past five years of my clinical practice, I have seen an astonishing upsurge in the chronic use of proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medications for the gastrointestinal issue diagnosed by allopathic medicine as GERD. It is not uncommon to encounter patients taking these prescriptions for five-plus years.
Working with chronically ill patients entails acknowledging the reality that not all patients will survive their diagnosis. Chinese medicine and acupuncture play a crucial role in palliative and end-of-life care, addressing medication and disease side effects, alleviating pain associated with death, reducing anxiety and stress, and helping patients find peace during the dying process.
