Herbal Medicine & Myocarditis

Astragalus membranaceus

I found an article in which nine different herbal medicines were tested in China to test their efficacy in testing viral diseases including viral myocarditis. While more research needs to be done, the article states that herbal medicines are widely used for treating viral myocarditis in China. One plant that showed some positive findings was Astragalus membranaceus, and you can read the article here:

Herbal medicines for viral myocarditis 

- James Conrad Moore  

8 Articles Linking Myocarditis & Ailanthus Altissima

     I have created a 'Resources' section on the main page of this blog that lists many articles I have found concerning Ailanthus altissima & myocarditis. Some of the links also explore the Spotted Lanternfly as the tree of heaven is the main source of food for this invasive pest. I also included one link to a research article that studied alkaloids present in the bark of Ailanthus altissima. 

     Of the links on the main page of this blog are eight articles which connect exposure to the sap of Ailanthus alissima as being a cause of myocarditis. I will also list the links to those articles here:

Myocarditis from the Chinese Sumac Tree 

Beware the tree of heaven! 

Tree-of-Heaven Isn’t “Heavenly” 

Tree-of-heaven | Ontario Invading Species Awareness Program 

A Tale of Two Invaders: Tree of Heaven and Spotted Lanternfly 

Tree-of-Heaven | PennState Extension 

Now is the Time to Tackle Tree of Heaven 

Heart Beat: Tree of heaven may be hard on the heart

- James Conrad Moore  

Tree of Moths?

      A plant lover I work with by the name of Delisa mentioned to me that her son was working with Ailanthus altissima in New York, and that I should see what I can find about that plant in that state. One of the first articles I found was from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation that focused on an invasive insect called Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula). That moth has a bright orange color to warn predators that it's toxic, and it obtains that toxic characteristic from the Tree of Heaven...

    That led me to another article that studied what alkaloids could be isolated from the root bark of Tree of Heaven. My plan now is to find other plants that contain similar alkaloids and if there are any reports related to medical issues caused by being exposed to the sap. I also plan to make a list of all articles I've found along my journey in making this blog. 

- James Conrad Moore  

Ailanthus Awareness

     I don't have a long post this time, but it's been a while since I posted so an update is due, and I do have news! I reached out to the Virginia Department of Forestry & an Invasive Species Specialist by the name of Sal Flower responded to my inquiry just yesterday. What I learned is that no one in the VFOD agency has received any reports of Ailanthus altissima exposure causing issues like myocarditis. Well then, no cases in Virginia...must be a dead end, right? Wrong! They thanked me for bringing this to their attention! The VFOD was not aware of any research linking Ailanthus altissima & myocarditis. At least now this connection is on their radar for possible future cases and hopefully will take into consideration the use of proper PPE when dealing with this not so heavenly plant.

- James Conrad Moore

The Path to Virginia

 

Ailanthus altissima. Vista, CA

     Aaron Echols from the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District suggested I reach out to the Catalina Island Conservancy for more information on Ailanthus altissima in the last blog post. You'll never believe who responded to my email...Aaron! Not the same one though. This was Aaron Kreisberg who is the Invasive Plant Program Manager on Catalina Island.   

    Mr. Kreisberg let me know that Ailanthus altissima is currently restricted to the city of Avalon currently and they are not managing that population beyond monitoring. That means no reports of toxicity of this plant affecting any field staff. He then recommended I reach out to someone at the IERCD by the name of....Aaron! These two knew each other! So, I let Aaron know that I already reached out to Aaron, and then Aaron Kreisberg suggested I reach out to another person involved with the Tree of Heaven in California by the name of Bill Neil.   

     Bill Neil is an herbicide applicator in the LA County Weed Management Area. Bill let me know he's treated hundreds of trees and saplings. On larger trees he doesn't girdle or fell Ailanthus altissima but instead uses an ax to chop the bark near ground level. This method kills the tree while preventing root sucker growth. By using these methods, Bill has had no contact with the sap from the Tree of Heaven. Bill then suggested I look for cases in Virginia where this plant is so common that it's harvested for wood & even used to make furniture! 

     I greatly appreciate all the help I've gotten from Aaron, Aaron, and Bill here in California. I'm looking forward to connecting with plant experts in other states!

- James Conrad Moore

A Scary Selfie

Conrad & Ailanthus altissima. Vista, CA

     Back in October I was able to connect with the arborist mentioned in my last blog post. I had a name, a phone number, and I knew he worked in Devore. I searched typed 'Aaron Echols plants inland empire' in the search bar on my web browser and found his email in no time! So I sent an email, left a voicemail on the phone number my aunt Carrie gave me, and crossed my fingers. A day or so later I got a call from him!  

     Aaron was very friendly on the phone and shared some great information with me. He is a Restoration Ecologist for the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District, and one of the things he does is remove invasive plant species like the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) that can outcompete native species by allelopathy and cause structural damage to buildings or roads. He was digging around Wikipedia for information on a PowerPoint presentation he was working on & found myocarditis being mentioned as a cause for concern with Ailanthus altissima. This is the presentation my aunt Carrie must have heard. While PPE is always taken seriously, Aaron had never spoken to someone that had actually been diagnosed with Myocarditis and came into contact with the tree of...heaven. 

    I shared with Aaron the fact that I used to weed-whack poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) for hours and have no issues at all. I even used to harvest stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) to help a friend that suffered from arthritis. I was perfectly healthy, until I touched the Ailanthus altissima. The biogenic variability of individuals means different plants can cause different reactions in everyone. I found this article from Penn State Extension where it states a few cases of dermatitis have been reported by coming into contact with Ailanthus altissima, and there have been rare reports of myocarditis when being exposed to the sap through broken skin. 

     It was great talking with someone passionate about plants like Aaron, and he suggested I continue my research by looking into the CAL-IPC symposium & talking to the Catalina Island Conservancy. So, my next blog post will probably be about those two topics, but I also want to look into the history of this plant, what the future holds for this plant, and find out who I can blame for giving it the name 'tree of heaven'. I also plan to never stand so close to plant that again, but I needed at least one selfie with the plant that almost killed me right!? A huge thank you to Arron Echols for his time & being one of the first people to help me start connecting the dots between Ailanthus altissma & myocarditis.

- James Conrad Moore

The Catalina Cardiac Cruise

Conrad & Grandpa Moore fishing off of Catalina Island

     I'm 32 years old now and fully recovered from Myocarditis years ago, but a cloud of uncertainty has followed me since I was diagnosed with Myocarditis at the age of 17. I didn't have the foggiest notion as to what caused my Myocarditis. I talked to many doctors, even some overseas, but it was a rare disease and hard to pinpoint the cause. Maybe it was my genetics causing my immune system to go haywire after catching mononucleosis? I thought it could be a crazy reaction from a bee sting, but I had been stung by bees before without any serious issue so it couldn't be that right? Maybe it was just horrible luck? I never knew, and just lived everyday like it could really be my last.... until my aunt sent me a life changing text message just about a month ago.

     My aunt lives in the city of Devore, and she recently attended a city meeting. At that meeting was an arborist that informed people that he was going to be removing Ailanthus altissima from the city as it can cause Myocarditis. Well, my aunt Carrie texted me right away to share that news because myocarditis & plants are two very important things to me. I called her to confirm what she sent me was true and started searching away for more information on the internet. I love plants, but never considered that one had caused me so much harm without me knowing.  There didn't seem to be much information about this at all! I only found three good articles that linked the connection between exposure of the sap from Ailanthus altissma & Myocarditis. I contacted Dr. Leslie Cooper that same day to let him know that I may have finally made some kind of connection as to what caused my Myocarditis. Dr. Leslie Cooper had not heard of this connection either and assured me he will keep an eye out for similar cases. 

     For a plant called The Tree of Heaven, you'd think it wouldn't need to be brought to light! Well, I'm here to try and clear the fog surrounding this plant. So far, I only have a few research articles to follow up on. I do have that arborists phone number, and I hope to get an interview for a new blog post! Before that though, I'll finish sharing my personal story that connects Ailanthus altissima & Myocarditis. 

    At the age of 17 I was beginning to study horticulture and was camping on Catalina Island just before I got sick. Going around trying to identify leaves was a natural thing for me to do & Ailanthus altissima is an invasive plant that grows all over Catalina Island & southern California. I was a horticultural novice at the time and probably ripped off a piece of that plant for dissection without a second thought. Another thing to keep in mind is that I was working construction at the time and usually had at least a couple open cuts on my hands. 

    At the age of 19 I was studying for my B.S. in botany & collecting many plant samples. I was diagnosed with viral pancreatitis, as a cause could not be determined. I can easily see myself collecting one sample of that plant, studying its characteristics, realizing it's a horrible invasive species, & then never wanting to touch it again. The students were all warned of poison oak, stinging nettle, and poison hemlock...but never Ailanthus altissima. 

    Now, I manage a nursery and touch many species of plants daily. In my days of gardening, I like to tell stories of plants that were very difficult to remove, like the Schinus molle at my parents' house that required a jackhammer to get rid of all the roots. I really feel like I would remember having to remove or even touch an Ailanthus altissima. My wife remembers pointing out one of those trees at the San Diego botanic garden recently, & my response was "that's the tree of heaven, but in reality, it's one hell of a weed." I have a lot of horrible plant jokes.

    It's highly plausible that the only time I ever touched Ailanthus altissima was at the age of 17 while camping on Catalina Island, and the age of 19 while studying plants at the Mt.SAC Wildlife Sanctuary. I'm always surprised when people are not aware of the dangers of Euphorbia sap, and now I will be sure to spread awareness of the sap from Ailanthus altissima. I live in the plant world & have never heard of this plant being toxic; just lots of people asking how to kill it because it grows like a weed.

    After all these years worrying about my heart giving up at any moment, worrying about the chance of passing on some genetic issue to my son, worrying about a bee sting making me sick for months... all I had to do was not touch the Tree of Heaven and I would be just fine. I hope with all my heart to change the common name of this plant to the 'Tree From Hell' because that's what it put me and my family through. I believe raising awareness about the toxicity of this plant will prevent future cases of Myocarditis and that's what I hope to do. 

- James Conrad Moore

Botany & Myocarditis

    Thank you for visiting this blog! A little background on myself: I have a B.S. in botany from HSU (now Cal Poly Humboldt), I am a CCNP (California Certified Nursery Professional), and a nursery manager. I've also had Myocarditis. This blog aims to explore the connections between Ailanthus altissima & Myocarditis. I'm not the best artist, but I definitely put my heart into this drawing of a plant that changed my life. Please be sure to subscribe to the socials to stay informed on my journey in raising awareness about this not so heavenly tree. 

- James Conrad Moore