The Controversy of Bloodroot as a Cancer Cure

The North American perennial Bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis) has become one of the most controversial herbs in today’s society. This small to medium sized plant with it’s spring-blooming flowers of white petals and golden yellow centers has been debated much of late, because of it’s reported cures for certain types of cancers.

According to Rodales Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs, by Claire Kowalchik, Bloodroot, found in deciduous woodlands, usually on slopes or hills, was used by Native Americans for body paint, dye, as a charm, and as a cure for skin cancer, warts, ringworm, skin tags, and much more. It gets its name from the sap that resembles blood which is stored in its rhizome (roots). Modern day Herbalist use it along with other herbs for the same cures as their forefathers before them. These herbal ingredients, when combined together, are often referred to as Black Salve (aka: escharotics). I remember as a child when someone would get a wart or a boil, my grandmother would get out her jar of Black Salve and put a dab of the stinky, smelling goop on the area and then cover it with gauze. It always seemed to work for a while, but the wart would always come back. When I asked what was in it, I was always told “plants from the woods.”

The controversy of Bloodroot as a cancer cure is stemmed from its history and present day uses in successes and non-successes of curing cancer. The controversy also stems from the FDA’s (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) regulations of unapproved herbs being sold as health remedies.

Sanguinarine, a toxin, found in the rhizome of the Bloodroot is what naturopaths’ say is the main alkaloid for fighting cancer. Herbal healers argue that Bloodroot powder, which comes from grinding the rhizome, is a cure for skin cancer. They have reported case after case of cancer victims being successfully treated by Black Salves and have argued their cause extensively with the FDA. They contend that Bloodroot only destroys the bad, cancer tissue and not healthy tissue. Natural healers do admit that after the tumor has been destroyed by the Bloodroot Salve, the cells lining the outer infected area may still contain cancerous cells.

Small amounts of Sanguinarine have been approved by the FDA for use in toothpastes to help fight gingivitis. But these are minute amounts compared to those put into the salves. FDA has also reported their cases where cancer patients have used Black Salves and did not fair as well. These patient’s experienced excruciating pain, vomiting, disfigurement, and other side effects.

In 2005, the FDA took legal action against an unlicensed practitioner for prescribing Bloodroot to several women with breast cancer who suffered disfigurement and tissue damage after topically using a salve containing Bloodroot extract.

Before anyone uses herbal remedies for medicinal purposes, they consider all safe options available to them, do extensive research, and most of all consult with their physician.