Sources: Valerian is the root of a perennial member of the valerian family found in eastern, southeastern, and east-central Europe, south Sweden, and the southern Alps. It escaped from cultivation in the northeastern United States and is commercially grown in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere.

Traditional Use: Valerian was best known to ancient classical authors as a diuretic and treatment for menstrual difficulties. The Greek physician Galen used it for epilepsy in children and adults. An Italian nobleman, Fabio Colonna, born in 1567, suffered from epilepsy and found Galen's reference. He took valerian himself and claimed it completely restored his health. Colonna's experience stimulated interest in the plant as a sedative; use of valerian to relieve spasms and induce sleep evolved in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Valerian was an official remedy in the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1936.

Current Use: Valerian is widely used in Europe as a mild sedative and sleep aid in cases of insomnia, excitability, and exhaustion. Experimental studies have shown that it depresses the central nervous system and relieves muscle spasms. Its sedative action is attributed to a number of chemical fractions, with no single compound emerging as the active principal.

In the 1980s Swiss researchers studied the effects of valerian water extracts on sleep patterns and found that valerian reduces the time taken to fall asleep, especially in older patients and insomniacs. Dream recall and nocturnal movement were apparently not affected, and no hangover effect, a common complaint among users of synthetic sedatives, was reported.

Ten controlled clinical studies have been published on valerian preparations, one of which suggests that valerian should be used for two to four weeks before daily mood and sleep patterns improve. The herb is therefore probably not appropriate for acute sleep disturbances.

German health authorities allow use of valerian in sedative and sleep-inducing preparations for states of excitation and for difficulty in falling asleep due to nervousness.

References

Valerian References: Chauffard, F. et al. 1982. "Detection of Mild Sedative Effects: Valerian and Sleep in Man." Experimentia 37:622.

ESCOP. 1997. "Valerianae Radix." In ESCOP Monographs on the Medicinal Use of Plant Drugs (Vol. 4). Exeter, England: ESCOP Secretariat.

Foster, S. 1996. "Valerian-Valeriana officinalis." Botanical Series, no. 312. Austin: American Botanical Council.

Hobbs, C. 1989. "Valerian (Valeriana officinalis): A Literature Review." HerbalGram 21:19-34. Houghton, R. J. 1988. "The Biological Activity of Valerian and Related Plants." Journal of Ethnopharmacology 22:121-42.

Leathwood, P. D., E Chauffard, E. Heck, and R Munoz-Box. 1982. "Aqueous Extract of Valerian Root (Valeriana officinalis) Improves Sleep Quality in Man, Reduces Sleep Latency to Fall Asleep in Man." Pharmacology Biochemistry & Behavior 17:65-71.

Schulz, V., R. Hänsel, and V. E. Tyler. 1998. "Valerian." In Rational Phytotherapy: A Physician's Guide to Herbal Medicine. Berlin: Springer.