Gravel Root (Eupatorium fistulosum) Health Benefits and Side Effects

Gravel Root is a flowering plants, genus Eutrochium, belonging to the family Asteraceae.
It has been used in traditional medicine as diuretic agent and to treat kidney stones and urinary infections, typhus and other ailments.

Health Benefits
1. Antiinflammatory activity
In the investigation of the 5-acetyl-6-hydroxy-2,3-dihydro-cis-2-isopropenyl-3- tiglinoyloxybenzofuran (1) from crude ethanolic extract of the anti-rheumatic herbal drug gravel root (rhizome of Eupatorium purpureum) found that Compound 1 inhibited integrin-dependent cell-cell and cell-protein interactions in vitro with EC50 values between 7-20 micrograms/ml. As with indomethacin, 1 administered orally two hours before induction of inflammation (in rat paw) by carrageenan inhibited oedema formation in a dose (10 and 50 mg/kg)-dependent manner. It appears that 1 has therapeutic potential for diseases where integrin adhesion molecules play a significant role, according to "Cistifolin, an integrin-dependent cell adhesion blocker from the anti-rheumatic herbal drug, gravel root (rhizome of Eupatorium purpureum)" by Habtemariam S.(1)

2. Antibacterial activity
in the assessment of the ethanol extract of leaves of a herbal drug, boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum, Gravel root) and its cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity effects found that the extract showed a weak antibacterial activity against gram-positive test organisms (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus megaterium), according to "Cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity of ethanol extract from leaves of a herbal drug, boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)" by Habtemariam S, Macpherson AM.(2)

3. Healing burn
Fresh leaves of Joe-Pye weed (Gravel Root) are used by the Potawatomi, a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region to make poultices for healing burns, according to
"Ethnobotany of the Forest Potawatomi Indians" by Huron H. Smith (p. 48)(3)

4. Clean up after birth
The root also was under the name “maskwano'kûk” [red top] as a medicine to
clear up after-birth "Ethnobotany of the Forest Potawatomi Indians" by Huron H. Smith (p. 48)(3)

5. Diuretic effect
The Herbalist has been used the root as a diuretic agent and by eclectic practitioners in the
treatment of chronic urinary disorders, hematuria, gout and rheumatism, according to
"Ethnobotany of the Forest Potawatomi Indians" by Huron H. Smith (p. 48)(3)

6. Antidote for poison
the nerb has been used to treat after a person gets shot with an arrow he drinks a decoction of this plant to get well, according to "Ethnobotany of the Navajo' by FRANCIS H. ELMORE, A.A., A.B., M.S. A MONOGRAPH of THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO and THE SCHOOL OF AMERICAN RESEARCH, page 86

7. Miscarriage
The herb has been used to counteract the bad effects of a miscarriage by some Chippewa largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico, according to Gilmore, Melvin R. 1933 Some Chippewa Uses of Plants. Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Press (p. 142)

8. Etc.

12. Etc.
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Sources
(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10075543
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11054857
(3) http://www.swsbm.com/Ethnobotany/Ethnobotany_of_Potawatomi.pdf