Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

[listening to Dr. Niman cough in interview].

It's a demulcent [i.e. soothing] available as powder, or much more conveniently as tablets.

There's a pretty nice .pdf giving a little of the history and traditional medicinal uses of slippery elm put out by the National Forest Service.

http://www.sfp.forprod.vt.edu/factsheets/elm.pdf

Here's a link to New England Medical Center's and U Michigan's pages on the herb:

http://www.tufts-nemc.org/apps/HealthGate/Article.aspx?chunkiid=21870

http://health.med.umich.edu/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=6&action=detail&AEProductID=HW_CAM&AEArticleID=hn-2167004

PubMed doesn't have squat to say about slippery elm (U. rubra) unfortunately. There are only a few abstracts. Didn't anyone feel this herb merited study???

Maybe he'll believe me now?


Also good for diarrhea. I even give it to my dogs.

Oh, and despite the disclaimer about the obligatory consulting with a professional before using--it's so safe that my son ate a whole bottle when he was a naughty pre-schooler.

Looks like they may be getting ready to test it in a few medical applications, though, VJP, so maybe there'll be something in the literature soon. A couple of the preliminary looks suggested it merited further more-detailed study.

Slippery Elm tea has worked for me in the past when I had a cough. It didn't cure it, but it did help loosen up the cough and soothe the throat.