Oleum Chenopodii.
Related entry: Chenopodium
Oil of Chenopodium, Oil of American Wormseed.
A volatile oil obtained from Chenopodium ambrosioides anthelminticum, Linné (Nat. Ord. Chenopodiaceae). Naturalized in the United States.
Description.—A colorless or pale-yellowish oil having a penetrating and persistent disagreeable taste and odor. Soluble in alcohol. Dose, 1 to 6 drops.
Specific Indications.—Ascarides, hookworm.
Action and Therapy.—One of the most efficient but disagreeable tasting of anthelmintics, being especially useful for the removal of ascarides or roundworms. Two (2) or three drops may be given on sugar, in emulsion, or in capsules two or three times a day before meals, for two to five days, and followed by a brisk cathartic. Intestinal irritation and inflammation is not a bar to its use notwithstanding that it is a stimulant to both the circulation and nervous system. It is said to succeed better than thymol in hookworm (uncinariasis) and, unlike that agent, can be given in association with castor oil, the latter also increasing its efficiency. Oil of chenopodium forms the basis of several popular "worm nostrums". It is also diaphoretic, diuretic, and expectorant.
