Senna is a stimulating and powerful purgative that promotes the vigorous evacuation of the bowels and is very helpful in relieving severe constipation or when an easily-passed stool is recommended after rectal surgery or prior to a colonoscopy.
Plant Description:
Senna is a smallish shrub with an erect, smooth, pale green stem and long, spreading branches, bearing lanceolate leaflets and small flowers; and depending upon the geographic location, the plant may grow anywhere from two to six feet.
History:
It is a native of Africa, the Middle East and India, and it was first brought into medicinal use by the ninth-century Arabian physicians, Serapion and Sesue, who gave it its Arabic name and employed it as a purgative. The Cassia acutifolia plant (also called Senna alexandrina or Cassia Senna) was exported from Egypt, via Cairo and the Red Sea, and Cassia angustifolia from India, via Madras; and by 1640, Senna was cultivated and being utilized in England for its cathartic properties. The herb was officially listed in both the British Pharmacopoeia and the United States Pharmacopoeia, and the herb is one of the few herbal medicines approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for over-the-counter use and may be one of the most widely used herbal medicines in the United States. In the United States, Senna leaf, fruit and extract are used in over-the-counter laxatives (e.g., Correctol®, ExLax®, Senokot®, Smooth Move®).
In Germany, Senna leaf, Alexandrian Senna pod and Tinnevelly Senna pod are licensed as standard medicinal teas available only in a pharmacy, official in the German Pharmacopoeia and approved in the Commission E monographs. They are used alone and in more than 110 prepared drugs, mostly laxatives and biliary remedies. The plant is well distributed throughout the world as an annual or perennial, depending upon its geographic location, and the herb encompasses many species within the genus Cassia. All are virtually used interchangeably in herbal medicine. Some of the constituents in Senna leaves include anthraquinone compounds, including dianthrone glycosides, sennosides (aloe-emodin derivatives), flavonoids, naphthalene glycosides, mucilage, tannin, resin and beta-sitosterol.
Medical Uses:
Senna is an effective and potent purgative with its action being chiefly on the lower bowel. The anthraquinone stimulate the bowel and increase the peristaltic movements of the colon by its local action upon the intestinal wall, leading to evacuation in approximately ten hours. The herb has been recommended for people who require a soft, easily-passed stool, especially when following rectal surgery or preparing for a colonoscopy). This active purgative principle (a glycoside) was discovered in 1866.
As a vermifuge, Senna has been used to destroy and expel worms and parasites from the intestinal tract, possibly due to the herb's powerful laxative action.
By cleansing the colon, Senna may have positive results in improving skin afflictions (pimples, etc.) and helping in cases of obesity.
Treatments:
Senna is an ingredient that is primarily used to help with constipation.
Senna is not known to treat constipation, but can be associated with alleviating this problem for a short period of time. A natural herb that comes from a plant that is grown and cultivated in places like India, Sudan, Egypt and Pakistan, Senna is also used in many over the counter laxatives and may be found in pharmaceutical products.
