Boneset

Boneset's name comes from its traditional use as a treatment for "breakbone fever", an old term for dengue fever.  Dengue is a mosquito-borne, viral disease that causes muscle pains so intense that people imagine their bones are breaking. Unfortunately boneset has never been shown to provide significant relief from dengue fever.

The Indians introduced boneset to early colonist as a sweat-inducer, and old treatment for fevers.  The Indians used boneset for all fever-producing illnesses: influenza, cholera, dengue, malaria, and typhoid, hence boneset's other  names, feverwort and sweat plant.

Boneset was listed as a treatment for fever in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1820 through 1916.  But over time fell from favor, replaced by another herbal fever-fighter, aspirin.

European studies show this herb helps treat minor viral and bacterial infections by stimulating white blood cells to destroy disease-causing microorganisims more effectively.  In Germany, where herbal medicine is more mainstream than it is in the United States, physicians currently use boneset to treat viral infections, such as colds and flu.