Queen's Delight

• Overview
• Uses
• Side Effects
• Precautions
• Dosing

Queen's delight is a plant. The root is used as medicine.

Despite serious safety concerns, people take queen's delight to treat liver disease, gallbladder disorders, skin diseases, constipation, bronchitis, and hoarseness (laryngitis). It is also used to cause vomiting and as a “blood purifier.”

Some people apply queen's delight directly to the affected area to treat skin diseases and hemorrhoids.

How does it work?

There isn't enough information to know how queen's delight might work.

Insufficient Evidence to Rate Effectiveness for...

• Digestive disorders.
• “Blood purification.”
• Liver disease.
• Gallbladder disease.
• Constipation.
• Causing vomiting.
• Laryngitis.
• Hemorrhoids, when applied directly.
• Skin diseases, when applied directly.
• Other conditions.

More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of queen's delight for these uses.

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database rates effectiveness based on scientific evidence according to the following scale: Effective, Likely Effective, Possibly Effective, Possibly Ineffective, Likely Ineffective, and Insufficient Evidence to Rate (detailed description of each of the ratings).

Queen's delight might be UNSAFE when used by mouth or applied to the skin. It contains chemicals that might cause cancer. It might also activate viruses harbored in the body.

Queen's delight is very irritating and can cause swelling wherever it comes in contact with the body such as the skin, mouth, throat, and digestive tract. It can also cause vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea. In large amounts, queen's delight may cause a burning sensation of the mouth and throat, painful urination, aches and pains, itching, rash, cough, depression, fatigue, and sweating.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: It's UNSAFE to take queen's delight by mouth if you are pregnant or breast-feeding, especially if you are using fresh root instead of dried root. It's also UNSAFE to apply queen's delight directly to the skin.

Stomach and intestinal (gastrointestinal, GI) conditions: Don't use queen's delight if you have GI irritation or swelling (inflammation), nausea, or vomiting.

The appropriate dose of queen's delight depends on several factors such as the user's age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for queen's delight. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using.