Caulophyllum Thalictroides – Blue Cohosh/Squaw-Root

The mother tincture is prepared from the fresh rootstock and attached roots of the plant, Caulophyllum thalictroides [L.] Michx., a native of damp North American forests from Canada to Carolina, and of Asia. N.O. Berberidaceae.

The main indications are:

Dysmenorrhoea. Leucorrhoea excoriating, acrid, copious, in children. Rheuma- tism of the small joints (fingers).

There is no doubt that Caulophyllum has a specific action on the uterine muscles; thus through use of this remedy childbirth can be made easier and habitual miscar- riage and weakness of contractions can be prevented. The author has seen this borne out  in  numerous  female  patients  in  the  course  of  his  practice  in  Berlin.      At that time it was his custom to prescribe all pregnant patients Pulsatilla 30X in the morning and Caulophyllum 30X at night from the sixth month, i.e. during the last three months of pregnancy, and he cannot remember a single case of childbirth with pathology or complications. This of course cannot be taken as proof, since precise statistical details are not available.

In contrast with this, the author has not seen any substantial effect on the course of primary chronic polyarthritis (in rheumatism of the small joints of hands and feet, with wandering pains). This may be due to the fact that primary chronic arthritis in- volves severe degenerative damage to the pituitary-adrenocortical axis, so that too little cortisone is produced, since medicinal doses of cortisone remove all the symp- toms in a short space of time. Unfortunately this is not permanent and at the same time there is the threat of side-effects from the cortisone.

Nevertheless in such cases Caulophyllum should be used as a long-term therapy and, supported by implants of fresh/frozen/dried pituitary and adrenal cells, it can be of tremendous benefit.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Caulophyllum thalictroides, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Fed- eral Gazette) for caulophyllum thalictroides: disorders affecting menstruation and the uterus; dystocia; rheumatism of the finger and toe joints.