Evening Primrose is also called King's cure-all, Fever Plant, and Scurvish.

Used as a wash it is very effective in the treatment of hemmorroids. Evening Primrose is also used to treat colds, depression, and digestive problems.

Native Americans used the whole plant as a poultice for bruises, a tea to treat obesity, and a decoction of the root to treat hemorrhoids. Early settlers used the leaves to treat wounds and to soothe sore throats and upset stomach.

Evening Primrose is rich in gammalinolenic acid and is believed that this acid improves the body's production of hormonelike compounds that reduce inflamation and increase blood flow.

Evening primrose oil has been used as a dietary supplement to provide essential fatty acids, especially gammalinolenic acid (GLA). GLA is an intermediate compound between the essential fatty acid, cis-linoleic acid and prostaglandin production in the body. Factors such as aging, alcohol abuse, cancerous conditions, poor dietary habits, or improper nutrition may prevent the natural conversion of cis-linoleic acid into prostaglandin El. Dietary supplementation of GLA from evening primrose oil can help resolve problems associated with essential-fatty-acid deficiencies.

Over 120 studies in fifteen countries report potential use of the seed oil in treating imbalances and abnormalities of essential fatty acids, including allergy-induced eczema, asthma, migraine, inflammations, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), diabetes, arthritis, and alcoholism. In some double-blind placebo-controlled clinical studies evening primrose oil significantly reduced breast pain and tenderness, irritability, and mood swings associated with PMS.

It should not be used in patients with schizophrenia or people are taking the phenothiazine-type drugs for epilepsy.