Evening Primrose

What is it?

Evening primrose is a plant found in northern America and Europe. Native Americans use these plant for bruises, wounds and skin diseases. Evening primrose has been found to contain omega-6 an essential fatty acid which is necessary for good health well-being.

Benefits

People have used it for conditions like pre-menstrual symptoms, breast pain (mastalgia) during menstruation and cancers. However there are currently insufficient evidence based studies that prove its effectiveness in the above conditions.

There is some studies that show that evening primrose helps in rheumatoid arthritis and skin diseases like eczema and dermatitis. More research need to be done to really prove its effectiveness in these conditions.

Possible side effects

Evening Primrose is generally safe for most people. However some may experience side effects like headache, nausea and stomach upset.

There is insufficient evidence to prove if it is safe for pregnant/lactating women to consume it, hence it is best to avoid.

People with bleeding disorders should avoid evening primrose as the latter will increase the bleeding tendencies.

Drug-drug interactions

1.         Hypertension medications: evening primrose will lower blood pressure, when used together with hypertensive medications it may drop the blood pressure further.

2.         Anti-coagulants & anti-platelets: Evening primrose will increase tendency to bleed when used with anti-coagulants and anti-platelet medications.

3.         Phenothiazine: Evening primrose may increase seizures, nausea and vomiting in people with epilepsy who are on phenothiazine.

Dosage

There is currently no specific scientific guidelines on the dosage. Please follow the instructions on product label and if in doubt consult your doctor first.

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