Bacopa is an herb native to India that has been used in Ayurvedic medicine as a brain tonic for thousands of years. Bacopa has shown positive results when tested for improving cognition and information retention as well as helping to relieve stress and anxiety. While use of the herb doesn't help regain lost memories, it's improvement with retaining new memories is a hopeful step in research on Alzheimer's disease.
Types
There are up to 100 species of bacopa, but the most commonly used herb, and the one usually referred to when speaking about bacopa, is bacopa monnieri.
Features
Bacopa is similar in look to a succulent, with small oval fleshy leaves and juicy stems. A low growing, creeping herb, bacopa has white to violet flowers and small ovoid fruits. Bacopa is a member of the Scrophulariaceae family, related to the snapdragon.
Uses
Bacopa monnieri is a principal herb in the Ayurvedic medicine tradition of India. According to the Vitamin and Herb University, the entire bacopa plant is dried and powdered to form the medicinal drug 'Brahmi' used in Ayurvedic medicine to help treat stress, anxiety, memory loss and diseases of the brain.
In allopathic medicine, bacopa is also used to help relieve stress and anxiety. According to Amruta Herbals bacopa contains a number of elements that have potent medicinal applications including saponins, beta sitosterol, octacosine and amino acids. Its application in modern allopathic medicine is in the fields of nervous system support, anti-inflammatory drugs, memory enhancement and also as a cardio tonic. In a 2001 study published in "Psychopharmacology" C Stough and colleagues found that bacopa extracts given in a blind study significantly improved memory, learning rate the speed of information processing as well as anxiety levels.
History
Bacopa has a long tradition of use in India, dating back around 3,000 years. According to Neetu Sharma's dissertation on the micropropogation of bacopa the herb was mentioned in the sacred Vedic texts that date back to around 800 BC. In India, the high priest class called 'Brahmin' used bacopa to help remember the epic poems and hymns that were a part of their extensive oral histories.
Warnings
Bacopa contains Brahmine, an alkaloid that is highly toxic in high doses and reduces blood pressure rapidly. If used inappropriately adverse effects can result. Because Brahmine is a small component of the herb, and is used medicinally in the right doses, toxicity from the use of bacopa extracts is extremely rare. According to Amruta Herbals no lethality or adverse side effects have resulted from the use of bacopa, and the extract is generally well tolerated by a wide cross section of test patients.
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