ARTHRITIS

A Kentish village remedy for arthritis required NETTLES to be cooked and eaten, and then the water in which they had been boiled had to be drunk. PRIMROSE leaves and flowers used in salads will, so it is claimed, help to keep off arthritis. COMFREY root tea has been taken, too. A decoction of BIRTHWORT has been used to soothe the pain of arthritis, and in Russian folk medicine. The much-vaunted Oil of EVENING PRIMROSE has also been recommended to help arthritis.

WHORTLEBERRY leaves or young shoots were used- one part to one part of alcohol, kept in a warm place for 24 hours, and then strained. The dose would be a tablespoonful in warm water, twice a day. The Indiana remedy for the condition is to eat fresh or dried POKEBERRIES each day. In Barbados, the leaf decoction of GUINEA-HEN WEED (Petiveria alliacea) is taken for the conplaint.