Talk:Astragalus (plant)

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Translation of Chinese name

In the Chinese name, 黄芪, I don't think the second character means "leader." Wiktionary says it means "celery." Can someone verify the "yellow leader" translation, as found on various websites? Otherwise, I'm going to change the wording. Badagnani 23:49, 13 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Sources For Medicinal Claims?

-- The URL below does not work. A search of the nih.gov website shows the following URL which might be similar and updated. nih.gov astragalus search
User:AJStadlin 13:00, 10 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

-- I can't find genuine medical evidence that ANY of the medicinal claims printed have been approved by the FDA... the most positive thing I've found so far is Government sites that say "The Claims are unproven", or the "Evidence is unclear". I only bring this up because a lot of hacks are claiming it is an "Ancient Chinese anti-viral" and cure for H5N1 (Avian Flu) and pointing to this Wikipedia article as "proof" that it has ANY medicinal properties at all... again, about the most "Pro" thing I've been able to find at a reputable site is at this URL: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-astragalus.html And even there they say "Unclear scientific evidence for this use" under ALL medicinal claims, other than "It was sometimes used as a thickener in ice cream, an emulsifier, a denture adhesive and an anti-diarrheal agent." It was basically used like we use Corn Starch. I can't find any reputable, verifiable "Uses" in China other than as an expensive imported Spice... we need scientific facts and studies if ANY medicinal uses are going to be claimed. The "Recent Studies" that are claimed in the article, aren't cited. Peace/Love/Harmony 23:20, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I am not sure, but we should discuss the assumed medicinal effects, if there are any, in the respective section of the exact species. Astragalus is a genus, not a species. Such mix ups and irregularities might lead to misidentifications of crude drug materials with possible negative effects on the consumer. ML —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.78.27.80 (talk) 14:12, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This article is obviously being manipulated by financially interested parties. A review needs to be done to remove all the biased medical information.

noeditsection command

I spent a frustrating hour in the sandbox today trying to figure out how to make the section edit commands stop bunching up and blocking text. Taxobox and picture throw them off. So I finally blocked them. If you know how to do this right please leave info on my talk page. Trilobitealive (talk) 01:22, 14 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It should work now. Message left on your talk page. Cheers, Rkitko ^(talk) 02:56, 17 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cool! Thanks!Trilobitealive (talk) 04:14, 17 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Species list

This one seems like a good candidate for splitting the species list onto its own page. (I'm never sure what exactly is supposed to make a species "selected"-worthy. :-) ). Stan (talk) 16:08, 17 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Supplement use

This paragraph: "Popularly found in tea or tablet form as an immune system booster, it strengthens general vitality, improves digestion and builds up the body's defense against viruses." is partially copied off the site it uses as reference, which is a restaurant guide. I can't seem to find any scientific backing for these claims. 77.106.141.89 (talk) 14:03, 3 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I believe you will find a lot of the information on Astragulus, also known as Huang Qi, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) references. One such English work is Xie's Chinese Veterinary Herbology, however, understanding it seems to require a basic "systems" knowledge of TCM. Another search approach has to do with some keyword fraction of the TH1-TH2 ratio, one such book result. Web search results also seem to show "scholarly articles" that may be of help. It appears that there is some scientific basis for your quoted sentence, one such is PMID: 15015443. Gzuufy (talk) 03:23, 4 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Identifying astragalus

Does the astragalus plant contain any veins that have a whitish milk in them, like dandelions? I am having difficulty identifying this plant. Is the only way of identifying it by waiting for it to bloom? What time of year does it produce flowers? 216.99.219.135 (talk) 22:14, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]