Importance Of Butterbur Extract

The extracts from Butterbur (an herb) is used by many people to help them with the many annoying symptoms that occur from hay fever, migraines, cramps, asthma, and coughs. Butterbur works by preventing the chemicals - histamine and leukotrienes - from inflaming.

Using butterbur to prevent hay fever is still being examined and has not officially been deemed as a definite medicine to take. There was a study performed that took 186 people to see who benefited from it. Some of the volunteers took butterbur three times a day and the others only took one or two. Both groups of volunteers showed positive results.

Many people have also compared butterbur extract to fexofenadine (also known as Allegra) and placebo and found that the butterbur worked just as well as the fexofenadine and much better than the placebo.

If you do decide to try butterbur you should keep in mind that there may be some side effects which include headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation. Also if you are allergic to plants such as ragweed, daisy, marigold, or chrysanthemums than you should avoid using butterbur because they all come from the same plant family.