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Arnica Extract Powder Arnica montana extract powder

2017-03-14

Arnica montana is a flowering plant about 18–60 cm (7.1–23.6 in) tall aromatic fragrant, perennial herb. Its basal green ovate-cilitate leaves with rounded tips are bright coloured and level to the ground. In addition, they are somewhat downy on their upper surface, veined and aggregated in rosettes. By contrast, the upper leaves are opposed, spear-shaped and smaller which is an exception within the Asteraceae.
Arnica montana is widespread across most of Europe. It is absent from the British Isles and the Italian and Balkan peninsulas and Slovakia. In addition, it is considered extinct in Hungary and Lithuania. Arnica montana grows in nutrient-poor siliceous meadows or clay soils. It mostly grows on alpine meadows and up to nearly 3,000 m (9,800 ft). In more upland regions, it may also be found on nutrient-poor moors and heaths. However Arnica does not grow on lime soil, thus it is an extremely reliable bioindicator for nutrient poor and acidic soils. It is rare overall, but may be locally abundant. It is becoming rarer, particularly in the north of its distribution, largely due to increasingly intensive agriculture and commercial wild-crafting. Nevertheless, it is cultivated on a large scale in Estonia.
The main constituents of Arnica montana are essential oils, fatty acids, thymol, pseudoguaianolide sesquiterpene lactones and flavanone glycosides. Pseudoguaianolide sesquiterpenes constitute 0.2-0.8 % of the flower head of Arnica montana. They are the toxin helenalin and their fatty esters.
Historically has been used as an herbal medicine. It has been used in herbal medicine for centuries.
Clinical trials of Arnica montana have yielded mixed results:
When used topically in a gel at 50% concentration, A. montana was found to have the same effect when compared to a 5% ibuprofen gel for treating the symptoms of hand osteoarthritis.
A scientific study by FDA funded dermatologists found that the application of topical A. montana had no better effect than a placebo in the treatment of laser-induced bruising.
In 1998, a systematic review of homeopathic A. montana at the University of Exeter concluded that there are no rigorous clinical trials that support the claim that it is efficacious beyond a placebo effect.
A 2013 Cochrane Collaboration systematic review of topical herbal remedies for treating osteoarthritis concluded that "Arnica gel probably improves pain and function as well as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs do."
The demand for A. montana is 50 tonnes per year in Europe, but the supply does not cover the demand. The plant is rare; it is protected in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and in some regions of Switzerland. France and Romania produce A. montana for the international market. Changes in agriculture in Europe during the last decades have led to a decline in the occurrence of A. montana. Extensive agriculture has been replaced by intensive management.