Gemmotherapy

Gemmotherapy [from Lat. "gemma", bud, and New Lat. "therapīa", Grk. "therapeia", medical treatment] is a form of herbal medicine that uses remedies made principally from the embryonic tissue of various trees and shrubs (the buds and emerging shoots), but also from the reproductive parts (the seeds and catkins) and from newly-grown tissue (the rootlets and the cortex of rootlets). In two instances, remedies are also made from the sap.

This raw material is taken in the Spring (in the case of the seeds, in the Autumn), at the peak time of the tree or shrub’s annual germination, in order to capture the various nutrients, vitamins, plant hormones and enzymes that are released during this process, and which in some cases are only present in the plant at this time. Some practitioners of gemmotherapy (they are rarely referred to as ‘gemmotherapists’) furthermore believe that:

* the vital energy of trees and shrubs is at its highest point when the new leaves, branches and flowers begin to emerge
* the vital energy is concentrated in these parts
* this energy in some way remains in or informs the resulting gemmotherapy remedies; and
* the efficacy of gemmotherapy remedies is enhanced or explained by it

Development and spread of gemmotherapy

The therapeutic effects of remedies made from the embryonic material of plants were first investigated in the late 1950s by a Belgian doctor, Pol Henry MD (1918-88), working with a group of French homeopaths and biotherapists including Max Tétau MD (1927-) and O.A. Julian MD. They conducted a series of clinical trials on humans and animals to establish the psychopharmacological effects of, initially, some twenty or so gemmotherapy remedies, and published several monographs detailing their findings (see for example refs 3-5 below).

Gemmotherapy became an accepted form of herbal medicine in France (entering the "Pharmacopée Francaise" ["Pharmacopée Francaise", 8th edition, Ministère de la Santé, Gouvernement Français, Paris 1965] in 1965), but it is now most widely used in Italy. Until recently it has been virtually unknown outside these two countries, with the partial exception of the UK, the USA, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Use of gemmotherapy remedies

Gemmotherapy remedies have principally been used for organ drainage in France, generally prior to homeopathic treatment. There, the primary role of herbal or naturopathic treatment is considered to be the detoxification of tissues that have accumulated waste material due to the malfunction of the body’s eliminative processes, under pressure from environmental pollution, poor diet and the modern lifestyle. Gemmotherapy remedies are often used in mixtures or combinations, or together with herbal medicines and oligotherapy, in line with the ‘complex’ approach of complementary and alternative therapies (CAM) in that country.

In Italy, where homeopathy and related therapies adhere to the more classical tradition of the ‘simplex’ (i.e. one remedy at a time), gemmotherapy remedies tend to be used in a different way. Although they continue to have an important role as drainage remedies, they are frequently also used either symptomatically or systemically as an adjunct to homeopathy and other therapeutic approaches, or indeed as a sole treatment in their own right. They are therefore as likely to be used in the treatment of sleeplessness or high blood pressure as for sinusitis or digestive problems.

Production of gemmotherapy remedies

Producers follow the protocol laid out in the "Pharmacopée Francaise" and subsequently in the "European Pharmacopoeia". ["European Pharmacopoeia", 6th edition, European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare, Strasbourg 2007]

As soon as possible after being picked (and with a delay of not more than a few hours), the buds, young shoots or other parts to be used are cleaned and weighed. A sample is set aside so that the dry weight of the plant material can be determined. This is done by heating it at 105° C in an oven until its weight does not reduce any further.

The rest of the fresh plant material is macerated in an equal quantity of alcohol and vegetable glycerin, to a combined total weight of twenty times the equivalent amount of the dried sample. The proportion of fresh buds to excipient is about 1:9, and of young shoots, about 1:4.

The mixture is left to stand for one month in a cool, shaded environment, and is agitated at intervals. It is then decanted and filtered under constant pressure. After standing for a further forty-eight hours, it is filtered once more. The resulting liquid is known as the "souche", or stock. It consists of equal parts of glycerin and alcohol, and 10-25% plant material, depending on the water content of the plant used.

To prepare the remedies in their final bottled form, one part of the souche is diluted with nine parts of a mixture of 50% glycerin, 30% alcohol and 20% water, and this is lightly succussed (shaken rather than struck) thirty times to bring it to the 1DH (1X or 1:10) homeopathic potency.

If properly stored in light-proof bottles and a cool, preferably dark, environment, the therapeutic qualities of gemmotherapy remedies do not diminish significantly over time. However, European regulations stipulate that they should be used within five years of the date on which the plant material from which they were made was picked.

One or two producers use modes of production at variance to that described in the "European Pharmacopoeia"; for example by diluting the remedies in the final stage to the 2DH homeopathic potency, or by not diluting them at all and offering them as ‘concentrated’ gemmotherapy remedies.

Literature on gemmotherapy

The founding work is Henry’s "Bases Biologiques de la Gemmothérapie". [Henry, P., "Bases Biologiques de la Gemmothérapie". Saint-Norbert: Tongerlo. Belgium, 1959]

Several exploratory monographs were published in French in the Archives Homéopatiques de la Normandie during the 1960s (see for example [Tétau, M., Conception de la Gemmothérapie. Archives Homéopatiques de Normandie, January 1959] [Julian, O.A., Observation clinique de Gemmothérapie. Archives Homéopathiques de Normandie, January 1961] ), and in the Cahiers de Biothérapie and other journals of biotherapy and phytotherapy through the 1970s and 80s (see for example [Reymond, E., La Gemmothérapie dans les affections du système nerveux. Cahiers de Biothérapie, April 1972] [Guillemain, J., Tétau, M., Contribution à l'étude d'un ‘tranquillisant végétal’: Tilia tomentosa bourgeons. Société Mèdicale de Biothérapie, Sommaire 68, December 1980] [Fauron, R., Gemmothérapie et teintures-mères-thérapie associées dans le traitement de certaines affections hépatiques. Cahiers de Biothérapie No 87, supplement, October 1985] ).

From the 1980s onward, many introductory and self-help books on gemmotherapy became available in Italy (see for example [Swenson, T., "Gemmoterapia". Edizioni Mediterranee, Rome 1981] [Rossi, M., "Tinture Madri in Fitoterapia". Studio Edizioni, Milan, 1982] [Brigo, B., "Fitoterapia e Gemmoterapia nella Pratica Clinica". La Grafica Briantea, Como 1991] ).

The most extensive and authoritative book to date on gemmotherapy is "Compendio di Gemmoterapia Clinica", only available in Italian, by Fernando Piterà MD. [Piterà, F., "Compendio di Gemmoterapia Clinica". De Ferrari Editore, Genoa 1994]

Some research has been published in English, for example in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology. [Hoefler, C., Fleurentin, J., Mortier, F., Pelt, J.M. and Guillemain J., Comparative choleritic and hepato-protective properties of young shoots and whole plant extracts of Rosmarinus officinalis in rats. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, No. 19, 1987, pp 133-143]

The main work on gemmotherapy available in English is "Gemmotherapy: A Clinical Guide", by Max Tétau MD. This is a translation, published in Canada, of his "Nouvelles Cliniques de Gemmothérapie". [Tétau, M., "Gemmotherapy, A Clinical Guide". Éditions du Détail, Inc., St Bruno, Quebec 1998 [translated from "Nouvelles Cliniques de Gemmothérapie", Éditions Similia, France, 1987] ]

References