Description: Comfrey has been banned by the FDA. This site explores the animal research and human case reports behind the ban. The toxicity of pyrrolizidine alkaloids is explained and the clinical use of comfrey discussed.
safety (4263) alternative medicine (885) herbal medicine (531) comfrey (11) case report (8) symphytum (3) symphytum sp. (1) boneknit (1) pyrrolizidine alkaloids (1) therapeutic use (1)
Comfrey Plant in Spring
The first herb I ever befriended was comfrey.  Indeed, the first herbal medicine I made was comfrey salve.   Comfrey is a lovely, easy to grow plant that is well-known for its tenacity to live.  Careful selection of its place in the garden is called for since comfrey easily sprouts from small pieces of its root.
Although I have limited my personal use to topical application on wounds and abraded skin, many herbalists and physicians prize comfrey for the treatment of broken bones, torn cartilage, tendon damage, lung congestion and ulceration in the gastrointestinal tract.   These applications have not been tested in clinical trials although there is research supporting anti-inflammatory [3-8] , analgesic [9-10] , would healing [9,11] , and immune modulating effects [15-17] .   The major barrier to testing th