Gotu kola's therapeutic uses
Gotu kola, a creeping plant native to subtropical and tropical regions, is primarily utilized for its therapeutic potential in treating chronic venous insufficiency and varicose veins. This condition often leads to symptoms such as pain, swelling, and heaviness in the legs, and studies indicate that gotu kola extract may alleviate these symptoms. Additionally, gotu kola has been explored for a variety of other uses, including treatment for hemorrhoids, anxiety, wound healing, and improvement of cognitive function. Traditional practices, particularly in Ayurvedic medicine, have long recognized its benefits for various ailments, including skin disorders and mental health.
Research has shown promising results regarding its effects on anxiety and cognitive performance, with some studies suggesting improvements in attention and memory. While generally considered safe with minimal side effects, caution is advised for specific populations, such as pregnant or nursing women and individuals with liver or kidney conditions. Despite the potential benefits, further research is needed to confirm many of its proposed uses and to ensure comprehensive understanding of its efficacy and safety in diverse health conditions.
Gotu kola's therapeutic uses
- DEFINITION: Natural plant product used to treat specific health conditions.
- PRINCIPAL PROPOSED USE: Venous insufficiency/varicose veins
- OTHER PROPOSED USES: Anal fissures, anxiety, burn healing, cellulite, hemorrhoids, improving cognitive function and mental health, keloid scars, liver cirrhosis, periodontal disease, scleroderma, wound healing, circulatory health, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant
Overview
Gotu kola is a creeping plant native to subtropical and tropical climates. Gotu kola has a long history of use in Ayurvedic medicine (the traditional medicine of India) to promote wound healing and slow the progress of leprosy. It was also reputed to prolong life, increase energy, and enhance sexual potency. Other uses of gotu kola included treating skin diseases, anxiety, diarrhea, menstrual disorders, vaginal discharge, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Based on these many traditional indications, gotu kola was accepted as a drug in France in the 1880s. British physicians in Africa used a special extract to treat leprosy.
Therapeutic Dosages
The usual dosage of gotu kola is 20 to 60 milligrams (mg) three times daily of an extract standardized to contain 40 percent asiaticoside, 29 to 30 percent asiatic acid, 29 to 30 percent madecassic acid, and 1 to 2 percent madecassoside. When using it for venous insufficiency, give gotu kola at least four weeks to work. To prevent keloid scars (a purpose for which gotu kola has not been proven effective), the herb is typically taken for three months before surgery and another three months afterward.
Therapeutic Uses
The best-documented use of gotu kola is to treat chronic venous insufficiency, a condition closely related to varicose veins. In these conditions, blood pools in the legs, causing aching, pain, heaviness, swelling, fatigue, and unsightly visible veins. Preliminary double-blind, placebo-controlled studies indicate that gotu kola extract improves major venous insufficiency symptoms, reducing swelling, pain, fatigue, sensation of heaviness, and fluid leakage from the veins. However, no studies have evaluated whether regular use of gotu kola can make visible varicose veins disappear or prevent new ones from developing. Gotu kola has also been suggested as a treatment for hemorrhoids because they are a type of varicose vein, but there is no direct evidence that it is helpful for this purpose.
Like other herbs used to treat varicose veins, gotu kola is thought to work by strengthening connective tissues. This has led to trials of gotu kola extracts for preventing or treating keloid scars and treating anal fissures, bladder ulcers, burns, cellulite, dermatitis, liver cirrhosis, periodontal disease, scleroderma, and wounds.
Several studies provide evidence that gotu kola might be helpful for anxiety, insomnia, and depression. Gotu kola has a reputation for improving memory, and the positive results from a study in rats performed in 1992 produced a temporary rush of public interest in gotu kola as a brain booster. Further study appeared to confirm gotu kola’s ability to increase cognitive function. Gotu kola should not be confused with the caffeine-containing kola nut used in original recipes for Coca-Cola.
There are several additional proposed therapeutic uses for gotu kola. Its ability to promote collagen synthesis and improve blood circulation may help in wound healing and reducing the appearance of all types of scars. Its ability to aid in cognitive function shows promise for the potential to be an adjuvant treatment for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. The properties that aid in reducing the symptoms of varicose veins may also aid in general circulatory health. Finally, its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties may protect against free radicals, which can lead to chronic health conditions.
Scientific Evidence
Venous insufficiency/varicose veins. There is significant, but not definitive, scientific evidence for the effectiveness of gotu kola in treating varicose veins/venous insufficiency. For example, a two-month double-blind, placebo-controlled study of ninety-four people with venous insufficiency of the lower limb compared the benefits of gotu kola extract at 120 mg daily and 60 mg daily against a placebo. The results showed a significant dose-related improvement in the treated groups in symptoms such as subjective heaviness, discomfort, and edema.
Another two-month study of double-blind design enrolled ninety people with varicose veins and compared the benefits of gotu kola at 60 mg and 30 mg daily against a placebo. Again, the results showed improvements in both treated groups but greater improvement at the higher dose. In one study of people with venous insufficiency, two weeks of treatment with gotu kola extracts reduced the time necessary for the swelling to disappear.
Another study of double-blind design followed eighty-seven people with varicose veins and compared the benefits of gotu kola at 60 mg and 30 mg daily against a placebo. Again, the results showed improvements in both treated groups but greater improvement at the higher dose.
Anxiety. Gotu kola has been used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine to treat anxiety. Because evidence suggests that easy startling is related to anxiety, researchers have attempted to test this use by measuring the acoustic startle response. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, forty study participants were given either gotu kola or a placebo and then subjected to sudden loud noises. Researchers measured eye blinks and found a significantly reduced startle response in those treated with gotu kola. This suggests, but does not prove, that gotu kola may be helpful for anxiety.
As the twenty-first century progressed, gotu kola underwent more scientific study through lab, animal, and human clinical trials. Small studies supported its use in treating wounds and scleroderma. While a small clinical study did support gotu kola’s use in improving cognitive function, bringing hope to treating conditions such as Alzheimer's, a later systematic review of studies called these findings into question. Gotu kola did show promise for its phlebotonic properties, making it a possible treatment for Chronic Venous Insufficiency. In 2022, a study found gotu kola improved cognitive performance and reduced oxidative stress in study participants. A 2023 study found supplementation with gotu kola improved attention, memory, and mood when compared to the placebo group.
Safety Issues
When taken orally, gotu kola seldom causes any side effects other than the occasional allergic skin rash, and safety studies suggest that it is essentially nontoxic. However, one animal study hints that gotu kola might have carcinogenic effects if applied topically to the skin.
Although gotu kola has not been proven safe for pregnant or nursing women, studies in rabbits suggest that it does not harm fetal development, and Italian physicians have given it to pregnant women. Safety in young children and those with severe liver or kidney disease has not been established.
Bibliography
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"Gotu Kola." Mount Sinai, 2023, www.mountsinai.org/health-library/herb/gotu-kola. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
Klovekorn, W., et al. "A Randomized, Double-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled, Half-Side Comparison with a Herbal Ointment Containing Mahonia aquifolium, Viola tricolor, and Centella asiatica for the Treatment of Mild-to-Moderate Atopic Dermatitis." International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, vol. 45, 2007, pp. 583-591.
Phan, Ross. "Benefits vs. Risks of Taking Gotu Kola Supplements." Verywell Health, 9 Aug. 2024, www.verywellhealth.com/the-benefits-of-gotu-kola-89566. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
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