Valerian has been used for thousands of years, but only recently as a tranquilizer. Valerian began being used as a "relaxant and sleep aid" in the late 16th century and was especially popular during the 19th century for treatment of "the vapours" and other anxiety disorders.Valerian usage declined in North America with the introduction of “chemical tranquilizers”.European usage remained higher where Valerian is prescribed by Physicians for nervousness, anxiety and insomnia.There is a resurgence of Valerian usage in North America as consumers seek out safe, effective and natural products without side effects.Certified Organic root extracts are increasingly the choice of consumers as they become more sophisticated in herb use and demand more effective products.With 33% of North Americans considering chronic insomnia a problem, 15% having hypertension, and 10% regularly using benzodiazepines,it is clearly time to encourage the responsible use of the gentle medicines of nature.
The Use of Sedatives Sedatives are most often prescribed for the following conditions or situations:
·sudden stress and emotional strain (events that are not recurrent) ·chronic tension ·hypertension (high blood pressure) ·to potentiate analgesics (pain killers) and as an adjunct to anesthesia ·control convulsions ·various psychiatric uses (anxiety, neurosis, mania etc.) ·insomnia
Principal Actions of Valerian There is still much to be learned about Valerian from a scientific perspective.Much of the clinical work is 100 years old, when standards were not so rigorous.Notwithstanding this there is close to 300 years of informal knowledge, which was often coupled with astute and critical clinical observation, that indicates both efficacy and safety.
There have been a few double blind placebo controlled clinical trials and the conclusion that this stuff clearly works has been proven.
Among the most noted scientific attributes were:
·significant improvement in subjective feelings of stress reduction · improvements in objective (EEG) and subjective sleep parameters with sleep disturbed patients
