Feverfew
Tanacetum parthenium

Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Tanacetum
Species: parthenium

Synonyms and Common names: Chrysanthemum parthenium (L), Leucanthemum parthenium, Pyrethrum parthenium, Tanacete parthenii herba or folium, Featherfew, Featherfoil, Midsummer daisy, Bachelor’s buttons, Altamisa, nosebleed, flirtwort.

Description and Habitat: Feverfew is a perennial herb native to south-eastern Europe and Asia. Naturalized widely elsewhere. Found growing on rocky slopes, walls, waste places and a weed of gardens. A very easily grown plant, it succeeds in an ordinary garden soil, plants can even be grown in walls. Often grown in the flower garden, feverfew is usually self-sowing. The leaves have a refreshing aromatic aroma. Growing to 2 1/2 feet the stem is upright, erect, hairy, finely furrowed and branching. Strongly aromatic leaves are alternate, hairless, toothed, light green about 4 inches long, and divided into broad, lobed segments. The lower leaves are bipinnate with oval shaped leaflets. Many daisy-like flower heads (composite) bloom June-August, with white ray flowers surrounding nearly flat yellow centres, growing to about 1 inch across.

Parts used: Flowers, leaves and stems.

Harvesting: The leaves may be collected throughout spring and summer, but preferably before the flowering period.

Constituents: Sesquiterpene lactones (including parthenolide and santamarine), volatile oil, sesquiterpenes (including camphor, farnesene and germacrene), tannins, monoterpenes.

Actions: Migraine prophylactic, anti-inflammatory, vasodilatory, antirheumatic, febrifuge, digestive bitter, anthelmintic, uterine stimulant.

Indications: Migraine prophylaxis, arthritic conditions.

Therapeutics and Pharmacology: Although this herb has long been used in migraine prophylaxis, confirmed by clinical studies, the precise mechanism of the action is not yet fully understood. It is thought that the prophylactic action is due to serotonin (5-HT) inhibition, possibly via the neutralisation of sulphydryl groups on specific enzymes that are fundamental to platelet aggregation and secretion. Abnormal platelet behaviour with the release of 5-HT has been implicated in migraine. Parthenolide also interferes with both the contractile and relaxant mechanisms in blood vessels. Many of the patients involved in the clinical trials for migraine prophylaxis also reported that feverfew helped their depression. It helps ease tinnitus and dizziness, and allays nausea and vomiting. 

Tanacetum parthenium has long been reputed to help relieve arthritis, particularly in the painful active inflammatory stage. The sesquiterpene lactones, and particularly parthenolide, have been shown to inhibit human blood platelet aggregation and secretory activity in platelets and polymorphonuclear leucocytes (increased secretion is a feature of rheumatoid arthritis). However, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study over six weeks on 40 females with rheumatoid arthritis showed no beneficial effects. 

T. Parthenium has been used in the treatment of dysmenorrhoea and sluggish menstrual flow, and an infusion may be taken to cleanse the uterus after childbirth. Antimicrobial properties against Gram-positive bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi in vitro have been documented for parthenolide; Gram-negative bacteria were not affected.

Contraindications: The fresh leaves can cause mouth ulceration or gastric disturbance so it is recommended that those taking the fresh leaf for migraine prophylaxis should take it with some bread. Contact allergy is rare. The herb is contraindicated in pregnancy due to its stimulating action on the uterus.

Preparation and Dosage: In the past people consumed feverfew similarly to chewing tobacco, receiving nutrients from chewed leaves. This method can cause stomach and mouth irritation. Today feverfew is usually ingested in the form of extracts, capsules, and tablets made from dried feverfew; these forms do not cause irritation. Various dosages exist; clinical studies used 50 or 100 mg daily to prevent migraines. Up to 250 mg of feverfew can be taken without causing side effects. To prevent migraines, feverfew needs to be ingested for a minimum of four to six weeks.

To make feverfew tea, place one teaspoon of the dried leaves in 5 to 8 ounces of water. Boil for 5 to 10 minutes. Strain the leaves from the tea. Drink as much tea as preferred. The tea can also be applied to the skin to work as an insect repellent.

Additional Comments & Folklore: Feverfew was used by Greek physicians to treat "melancholy," which may have included headaches as well as depression.

The English used it into the seventeenth century for symptoms that might translate today into vertigo, depression, and headache, as well as for lowering fever. It faded from popularity after that, and during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was hardly used by herbalists.

It was, however, planted in gardens, perhaps for the small daisy like flowers or because it had a reputation for repelling insects. If that didn't work, it was sometimes used as a balm to ease the itching of insect bites.