![]() ![]() ![]() We’ve found comfrey and lanolin ointment effective on a range of skin complaints and also the most effective salve for an ear cancer that was itching our cat to distraction. You can still purchase ointments or creams and, of course, make your own poultices but should be aware that the alkaloids can be absorbed through the skin so minimise the use of these and official advice is never apply comfrey to broken skin and not to use comfrey ointment on children at all. To put things into perspective, by far the most dangerous drug for the liver is alcohol which was a contributory factor in over 6,000 deaths in England & Wales alone in 2006. Interestingly, the very few cases of liver problems, reportedly fewer than 10 cases, that have been blamed on comfrey taken as a medicine are not even clear cut as the people involved were taking other medicines that are known to put the liver at risk. Those of us who are suspicious of the multi-national chemical and pharmaceutical companies might wonder if they found an advantage in funding research that discredited effective and cheap herbal remedies leaving their own profitable complex products as the alternative. Until this test there was no suggestion that a cup of comfrey tea a day or applying it to an open wound could cause liver problems. Apparently the test that identified the risk involved injecting relatively huge amounts of the alkaloid into young rats. ![]()
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