Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Hops are tonic, hypnotic, febrifuge, antilithic, and anthelmintic. Their tonic and anthelmintic properties are small, and probably depend upon their bitterness; they possess no antiperiodic virtues. Sometimes they cause diuresis, and are said to correct lithic acid deposits. They are principally used for their sedative or hypnotic action—producing sleep, removing restlessness, and abating pain, but which they often fail to accomplish. A pillow stuffed with hops has long been a popular remedy for procuring sleep. Hops, as well as lupulin, are useful in delirium tremens to allay the morbid excitement and vigilance, while at the same time it exerts its stomachic effects. It is extremely efficient in dyspepsia where restlessness and a brooding disposition are prominent features. Fermentative dyspepsia, with consequent eructations, often yields to hops or lupulin. Externally, in the form of a fomentation alone, or combined with boneset or other bitter herbs, hops have proved beneficial in pneumonia, pleurisy, gastritis, enteritis; also as an application to painful swellings or tumors. An ointment made by boiling 2 parts of stramonium leaves and 1 of hops, in lard, has proved an effectual application in eczema, ulcers, and painful tumors.
Lupulin exerts a more certain influence than hops, and should be preferred for internal use, as the dose is much less bulky. The properties here ascribed to hops are possessed by lupulin, and the conditions benefited by lupulin are also those in which hops act beneficially. The subject will be further discussed under Lupulin (see Lupulinum).
The decoction of hops is seldom employed. Ale, porter, and beer are frequently administered in cases of debility in the absence of inflammatory symptoms, as tonic, stimulant, and nutritive agents. (For specific indications see Lupulinum.)