The red sage, or danshen as it is called, is a Chinese herb that is valued for the potential and real uses of it in traditional Chinese medicine. This herb is native to China and Japan, and is known to grow in grassy places – forests, along stream banks and hillsides.
This herb is very rarely used by itself. It is, however, widely used in a combination with other herbs and is known for its quality to cure a diverse number of ailments. Cardiac and vascular disorders have been known to react positively to the application of this herb. It is also said to have quite an effect on abnormalities that include blood clotting.
This herb is known to help in ‘thinning’ the blood, and thus, helps reduce blood clots. This is one of the reasons why it should be avoided in patients who have bleeding disorders; and is a definite no-no prior to surgeries. Do not use it in combination with other blood thinning herbs and medications.
In 2007, the Washington Post came out with a news piece that was titled ‘Chinese Herb May Lower High Blood Pressure’. The red sage or danshen (as they referred to it) was famous. Suddenly there was a hype about this natural remedy for blood pressure related ailments.
The news piece further went on to discuss how this herb could one day become the foundation of all high blood pressure treatments. Studies were conducted on this herb, to understand the causes of its effectiveness.
One of these studies used hamsters to work on, and it was seen that the hypertension in hamsters was lowered. This happened due to the widening of their blood vessels which was a direct onset due to the application of the red sage (danshen). One of the researchers on the team, David K. Kim, was quoted in The Washington Post. He said that though traditional Chinese practitioners had established clearly that danshen could help in reducing blood pressure, it was the first time that anyone had been able to figure out how it did so. The reasons had been unknown until date. So this was a breakthrough that was achieved due to this hamster-study.
This research might help lay the groundwork for any investigations that need to be made into danshen’s potential in the future. It could actually be used to create licensed hypertension drugs. The problem with the drugs available in the market right now is that most of them have significant side effects. With the red sage, however, there are lower chances of any such side effects, given the fact that it is effective in its most natural form.
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