The root or corm of this plant has acridity and biting pungency with a corrosive effect on the skin which must be removed by prolonged drying or roasting. One Indian use was of the raw corm that was mixed with lard and made into a salve then used to treat ringworm or as a counterirritant for snakebite (6).
If dried long enough to remove corrosiveness, the powdered corm could be boiled in milk and used to treat tuberculosis, sore throats, and coughs. Others have also used the dried ground corm for the alleviation of arthritis, asthma, and bronchitis. It was considered useful as a diuretic, to ease stomachache and gas, and when placed on the forehead and temples, to ease headache. The powder was employed as an insecticide (6).
Wild ginger, also known as Snakewood, was used in potent decoctions by some Indians to induce sweating, mitigate fever, and as a diaphoresis and carminative for flu, cold symptoms, and for colic. Others used it for treatment assistance in attacks of yellow fever (6).
Plant extracts of members of the Genus Asarum have been shown to have antifungal properties. Internal use should be avoided because members of this genus contain varying amounts of the mutagenic terpene beta-asarone, as well as the nephrotoxic and mutagenic compound aristolochic acid (88).
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