E
Indications (Evening Primrose) — ADD (f; PH2); Alcoholism (1; APA; FAD; MAB); Allergy
(1; MAB); Alopecia (f; APA); Alzheimer’s (1; CAN); Anxiety (f; APA); Arthrosis (2; APA; CAN;
FAD; PH2); Asthma (1; FAD; PH2); Atherosclerosis (1; PHR); Boil (f; DEM); Bruise (f; DEM;
FAD); Cancer (1; CAN); Cardiopathy (1; APA; LAF; MAB); Cholera (f; MAD); Colitis (1; APA;
CAN; MAB); Debility (1; DON); Dementia (2; MAB); Dermatosis (1; APA; MAM; PH2; SHT);
Diabetes (1; APA; FAD; PH2); Diarrhea (f; MAD); Dysmenorrhea (1; FNF); Dyspepsia (f; MAB);
Dyskinesia (1; MAB); Eczema (2; FAD; PH2; SHT); Endometriosis (2; CAN; DON); Enterosis
(f; APA; FAD); Erythema (1; MAB); Fibrocystosis (1; DON); Gastrosis (f; APA); Hemorrhoid
(f; DEM; FAD); Hepatosis (1; MAB); High Blood Pressure (2; APA; CAN; MAB; PH2); High
Cholesterol (1; APA; PH2); Hot Flash (1; MAB; PH2); Hyperactivity (1; PHR); Hypercholes-
terolemia (1; PHR; PH2); Hyperkinesis (f; PH2); Hyperlipidemia (1; MAB); IBS (1; CAN);
Infertility (f; APA); Inflammation (1; APA; FNF; FAD; MAB; SHT); Insomnia (1; APA; FNF);
Itch (1; APA; MAM; PHR; SHT); Laziness (f; DEM); Mastosis (2; APA; CAN; FAD; MAB;
PH2); Menstrual Distress (f; CAN); Migraine (1; FAD); Multiple Sclerosis (1; APA; CAN);
Myosis (f; FAD); Nephrosis (1; CAN); Nervousness (1; APA; FNF); Neurodermatosis (f; PHR;
PH2); Neuropathy, diabetic (2; CAN; DON; MAB); Numbness (1; DON); Obesity (f; DEM;
FAD); Osteoporosis (2; MAB); Pain (1; PH2); Pertussis (f; APA); PMS (2; APA; CAN; PH2);
Prostatosis (2; FAD); Psoriasis (f; MAB); Raynaud’s Syndrome (1; DON; MAB); Rheumatism
(2; APA; CAN; FAD); Schizophrenia (1; CAN; MAB); Sjogren’s Syndrome (1; CAN; DON);
Stress (1; MAB); Stroke (1; APA; LAF); Swelling (1; APA); Syndrome-X (1; SYN); Tardive
Dyskinesia (1; CAN); Thrombosis (1; PH2); Tumor (1; CAN); Xeroderma (1; DON); Wound (f;
APA); (Not entertained by Commission E).
Dosages (Evening Primrose) — 250 mg GLA/day (APA); 250 mg oil up to 3 ×/day (APA); 250
mg oil/day/and up (PNC); 270–720 mg EPO equivalent to 1–2 g GLA (obviously an error here)
(APA); 6–8 g EPO/day,^1 / 2 as much for pediatric dose (PH2); 2–4 g (child) or 4–8 g EPO/day for
atopic eczema; 3–4 g for mastalgia (CAN); 3–12 (500 mg) capsules EPO/day; 1 (1300 mg) capsule
(StX with 1300 mg EPO with at least 130 mg GLA and 962 mg cis-linoleic acid) 2 ×/day (NH).
Contraindications, Interactions, and Side Effects (Evening Primrose) — Class 1 (AHP). The
literature looks reasonably clean. I’ve heard from two separate personal cases of women taking
it satisfactorily for PMS, that it caused migraine-like headaches which they did not experience
before taking EPO. Anecdotal but credible. As one source of tryptophan, which may convert to
cerebral serotonin, it can alter brain levels of serotonin, which is involved in some migraine
cases. Colic, headache, and nausea may occur in a small percentage of subjects. CAN reports
patients with schizophrenia on phenothiazines may experience mild dyspepsia and/or increased
risk of epilepsy. They rather give it a green light for breastfeeding mothers, since both linoleic
acid and gamma-linolenic acid are normally in breast milk (CAN). The conservative Miller and
Murray (1998) book says, “No adverse effects of EPO have been reported. Chronic toxicity and
carcinogenicity studies of EPO in rats, mice, and dogs revealed no important adverse effects or
tumor differences” (MAM). The second edition of the Herbal PDR warns that EPO may possibly
lower the seizure threshold in patients being treated with drugs that lower the seizure threshold
in schizophrenia. One of the better sources of gamma-linolenic acid, often known as GLA (and
to some British as gamolenic acid), and tryptophan (FNF). Two large clinical trials with EPO
match clinical relief from cyclical breast pain with bromocriptine and danazol (side effects in
ca. 33%) but with virtually no EPO side effects. For PMS, Vitex and nutrients (e.g., magnesium
and vitamin B6), are more promising than EPO (DON).
EVODIA (Tetradium ruticarpum (A. Juss.) T. G. Hartley) ++Synonyms — Boymia ruticarpa A. Juss., Euodia bodinieri Dode, E. ruticarpa (A. Juss.) Benth.,
E. ruticarpa var. bodinieri (Dode) C. C. Huang.