Wheezing

CND-0151Chest and breathing

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Historical label: “Wheezing” in the 1850 edition’s “A List of the Principal Diseases”.

Modern reading: wheezing. Searched in PubMed as each plant’s Latin name with wheezing OR asthma OR bronchodilator OR airway. The counts and papers are on the Concordance page.

A note on the heading

Plain sense

Breathing with a whistling or piping sound, from a chest Culpeper sees as stopped with phlegm (Fennel’s “stopping of the lungs”), or with thin “rheum” running down on the lungs.

What the entries treat

15 claims: 15 with a sentence, 0 from the index alone. Never alone: wheezing comes in a list with the cough, “shortness of breath” and Filipendula’s “all the diseases of the lungs”. Coltsfoot for “a hot dry cough, or wheezing, and shortness of breath”; Elecampane for “wheezing in the lungs”, Pellitory of the Wall for “wheezing in the throat”; Fennel seed for “shortness of breath and wheezing by stopping of the lungs”; Nettles “to open the pipes and passages of the lungs, which is the cause of wheezing and shortness of breath”; Liquorice with Maiden-hair and figs, “a good drink for those that have a dry cough or hoarseness, wheezing or shortness of breath”; Hyssop, by Dioscorides, for “coughs, shortness of breath, wheezing and rheumatic distillation upon the lungs”; Sow Thistle’s milk for “those that are short winded, and have a wheezing”. Many are honeyed syrups, electuaries and licking medicines.

Where the word comes from

Middle English whesen, perhaps from Old Norse hvæsa, “to hiss”.

Today’s words

wheeze; wheezing; asthma; bronchitis; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) — a broad match: the heading covers more than this, or several modern things.

How it reads today

The same word for the same sound, a piping or whistling noise of difficult breathing; Wiktionary’s example is a person with asthma. Culpeper’s cause is one thing, the lungs stopped with phlegm, and the remedies are to loosen it and “expectorate tough phlegm” (Nettles). Asthma has its own heading; a reader with that word should look there too.

References

Wiktionary, s.v. “wheeze” (accessed 2026-10-28): “From Middle English whesen, perhaps from Old Norse hvæsa (“to hiss”)”; verb sense 1 “To breathe hard, and with an audible piping or whistling sound, as persons affected with asthma”; noun sense 1 “A piping or whistling sound caused by difficult respiration”.

ThinkDeep333, 2026-10-28 · draft, not yet checked. Offered beside Culpeper’s heading, never in its place; nothing here says whether a plant works.

Old claims, quoted verbatim: not medical advice. A warning sits above the claims and never hides them; no warning does not mean safe, only that no source here has flagged the plant.

15 claims: 15 with a sentence, 0 from the index alone

1. Coltsfoot Tussilago farfaraCLM-002065

   The plant is under Venus, the fresh leaves or juice, or a syrup thereof is good for a hot dry cough, or wheezing, and shortness of breath.

   QUO-000470Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
2. Elecampane Inula heleniumCLM-002066

   and to help the cough, shortness of breath, and wheezing in the lungs.

   QUO-000473Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
3. Fennel Foeniculum vulgareCLM-002067

   The seed is of good use in medicines to help shortness of breath and wheezing by stopping of the lungs.

   QUO-000872Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
4. Filipendula, Or Drop-Wort Filipendula vulgarisCLM-002068

   and is also very effectual for all the diseases of the lungs, as shortness of breath, wheezing, hoarseness of the throat, and the cough;

   QUO-000475Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
5. Hyssop Hyssopus officinalisCLM-0020691850 index

   Dioscorides saith, that Hyssop boiled with rue and honey, and drank, helps those that are troubled with coughs, shortness of breath, wheezing and rheumatic distillation upon the lungs;

   QUO-000482Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
6. Liquorice Glycyrrhiza glabraCLM-0020701850 index

   Liquorice boiled in fair water, with some Maiden-hair and figs, makes a good drink for those that have a dry cough or hoarseness, wheezing or shortness of breath, and for all the griefs of the breast and lungs, phthisic or consumptions caused by the distillation of salt humours on them.

   QUO-000427Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
7. Lungwort Lobaria pulmonariaCLM-0020711850 index

   It is of great use to physicians to help the diseases of the lungs, and for coughs, wheezings, and shortness of breath, which it cures both in man and beast.

   QUO-000484Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
8. Mallows And Marshmallows Malva sylvestrisCLM-002072

   But the roots are of more special use for those purposes, as well for coughs, hoarseness, shortness of breath and wheezings, being boiled in wine, or honeyed water, and drank.

   QUO-000486Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
9. Nettles Urtica dioicaCLM-002074

   The roots or leaves boiled, or the juice of either of them, or both made into an electuary with honey and sugar, is a safe and sure medicine to open the pipes and passages of the lungs, which is the cause of wheezing and shortness of breath, and helps to expectorate tough phlegm, as also to raise the imposthumed pleurisy;

   QUO-000879Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
10. Pellitory Of The Wall Parietaria officinalisCLM-002075

    The dried herb Pellitory made up into an electuary with honey, or the juices of the herb, or the decoction thereof made up with sugar or honey, is a singular remedy for an old or dry cough, the shortness of breath, and wheezing in the throat.

    QUO-000493Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
11. Polypody Of The Oak Polypodium vulgareCLM-002076

    and with some sugar-candy dissolved therein, is good against the cough, shortness of breath, and wheezings, and those distillations of thin rheum upon the lungs, which cause phthisicks, and oftentimes consumptions.

    QUO-000430Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
12. Rosa Solis, Or Sun Dew Drosera rotundifoliaCLM-002077

    The same water is held to be good for all other diseases of the lungs, as phthisicks, wheezings, shortness of breath, or the cough;

    QUO-000499Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
13. Sow Thistle Sonchus oleraceusCLM-002078

    The herb boiled in wine, is very helpful to stay the dissolution of the stomach, and the milk that is taken from the stalks when they are broken, given in drink, is beneficial to those that are short winded, and have a wheezing.

    QUO-001300Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
14. The Hedge-Mustard Sisymbrium officinaleCLM-002073

    The juice thereof made into a syrup, or licking medicine, with honey or sugar, is no less effectual for the same purpose, and for all other coughs, wheezing, and shortness of breath.

    QUO-000488Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation
15. Vervain Verbena officinalisCLM-002079

    helps the cough, wheezings, and shortness of breath, and all the defects of the reins and bladder, expelling the gravel and stone.

    QUO-000505Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the ConcordanceCopy permanent linkCopy citation

Source

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, a new edition (London: Thomas Kelly, 1850). Project Gutenberg eBook #49513. SRC-CUL-1850

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