What Indian herb became a modern medicine?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

March 26, 2002

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In the 1930s, research began on the secondary compounds found in the genus Rauvolfia. The research faded a decade later, but was renewed in the 1950s. It was discovered the dried powdered roots of Rauvolfia contain about fifty alkaloids. Two have come into general medical use, reserpine and rescinnamine.

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Reserpine and rescinnamine are used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). Hypertension leads to arteriosclerosis, heart disease, strokes, and kidney failure. In the U.S., one in three black adult males and one in four white males is hypertensive.

The Rauvolfia alkaloids act on the sympathetic nervous system depleting norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter. This action relaxes the blood vessels causing a reduction in blood pressure. The alkaloids are also depressants (tranquilizers) and can cause side effects like lethargy, fatigue, weight gain, depression, and bradycardia (slow heart beat).

The Ayurvedic medicine men of India prescribed sarpagandha or Indian snakeroot (Rauvolfia serpentina Baillon) as a tranquilizer for highly agitated patients, to counteract snakebites, and reduce fevers. Holy men would chew leaves while meditating. It is said Mahatma Gandhi sipped Rauvolfia leaf tea when he wanted to induce a state of philosophic detachment.

When Western doctors went to India, they considered Ayurvedic medicine nonsense and the claims made about Rauvolfia extravagant. It took 300 years before science looked seriously at the herbal lore of a medical system that dates back to 2,000 BCE.

The University of Hawaii-Manoa has a series of photographs of Rauvolfia sandwicensis. To view the photographs, click on the link:

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/rauvolfia.htm

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