Natural Standard Featured CE/CME: Clove

Natural Standard's featured CE/CME for the month of November is November: Safety & Effectiveness.

Clove is widely cultivated in Indonesia, Sri-Lanka, Madagascar, Tanzania and Brazil. It is used in limited amounts in food products as a fragrant, flavoring agent and antiseptic. Clinical trials assessing monotherapy of clove are limited, although the expert panel German Commission E has approved the use of clove as a topical antiseptic and anesthetic.

Natural Standard offers CE/CME modules for multidisciplinary healthcare professionals. Students and other users may take courses for training purposes without generating credit certificates. Continuing Education requirements differ based on discipline, license and location. If you are unsure of your specific needs, please contact your local agency.

Comments

[af]

I read up on clove on the Natural Standard database. I think this is a perfect example of why complementary and alternative medicine is so interesting to study and learn about. Initially, one may think of clove as something used to add flavor or even fragrance to foods (as clove’s Latin name demonstrates, containing the word “aroma” in it). But, I learned that clove dried flower buds and oils have also been used for dental pain, anal fissures, dental hygiene, fever reduction, headache, mosquito repellant, and premature ejaculation. This just goes to show that one single CAM therapy can have a multitude of different uses.

[NL]

What a great CE. I just recently saw clove oil as an available product and wondered what its medicinal uses might be. As with all drugs and CAM options there is a risk and benefit to be considered when recommending it.

[tw]

Clove is such a versatile product! It was interesting to read through the comments to see the various uses people have for clove in its many forms. The only things I have used it for are cooking and I've used the oil for a natural remedy for dental pain. I had no idea the benefits it has for GI issues, premature ejactulation, and as a mosquito repellant! I have never seen this sold in the store as a pill, perhaps I should take another look for it! Thanks for the information!

[ML]

Some other possible uses for Clove are fever reducer, acute tension headache, and mosquito repellant. For the use as a mosquito repellant , a dose of 0.1 ml of clove oil at different concentrations was used. I was curious to see what other interesting herbals can be used as a mosquito repellant. Celery, garlic, and jojoba have NS evidence grade of C.

[Ashley]

It’s true that clove only has a Natural Standard grade of B (good scientific evidence) for dental pain, but it was interesting to see it has a grade C for premature ejaculation when applied topically as a multi-ingredient cream (SS Cream), which contained clove flower plus Panax ginseng root, Angelica root, Cistanches deserticola, Zanthoxyl species, Torlidis seed, Asiasari root, Cinnamon bark, and Toad venom. Article/abstract is at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10688090

[kn]

I’ve heard clove (Syzygium aromaticum) being used for upset stomach, nausea, vomiting, gas, and diarrhea because it is believed to be a carminative by some, to increase hydrochloric acid in the stomach and to improve peristalsis. I’ve also heard it used as an expectorant and for bad breath, which makes sense due to its sweet and strong aromatic smell. In Ayurvedic medicine, cloves are considered heating in nature. They have an energizing effect increasing Pitta but reducing Vata and Kapha.

[zq]

I have used clove many times in cooking, and have encountered it in the pharmacy for dental pain, but I did not realize it had so many other beneficial effects! I can imagine it would be helpful to repel mosquitoes as it doesn't seem like a scent bugs would appreciate. I also didn't realize it can act as an antiseptic, the only natural antiseptic that comes to my mind is tea tree oil. It is great to see that such a tasty spice has so many additional medical benefits!

[ML]

Just did this CE. Great information! I have used cloves for cooking. I have seen clove oil behind the pharmacy, but I did not know about all its possible medicinal effects. It’s interesting that it can be used for dental pain. But, the clove oil can cause nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity. I don’t know if people that smoke clove cigarettes understand the potential serious adverse reactions such as seizures and CNS depression.

[KJ]

Clove has been used traditionally for a variety of ailments including toothache, earache, nausea, and wounds. There are 3 forms that clove comes in: ground, whole and oil with differing potencies. Oil is the most potent and can be diluted as needed in a medium such as almond oil, ground clove is the least potent. Another interesting use for clove is a mosquito repellent!

[ac]

One of the uses for clove listed is as a mosquito repellant with a scientific evidence grade of C. I would love to try clove as a natural product as opposed to DEET based repellants when I travel to Thailand. I don’t like spraying myself day after day with those products and I think this would be a safer alternative if it works.