Download Pau d`Arco: Wondrous Rainforest Herb

Pau d’Arco:
Wondrous Rainforest Herb
Photo credit: © 2006
Joseph Dougherty/ecology.org
TM
FORMULAS
NutriPlex Formulas’
DetoxFormula
Contains
Pau d’arco from the
Costa Rican
Rainforest,
along with other
important immunebuilding and
detoxifying plant
foods.
PROSTATE INFLAMMATION • DETOXING
INFECTION • CANCER • SKIN CONDITIONS
Pau d’arco is a tree found in the rainforests of Central and South America. Its common names
include lapacho, taheebo and trumpet tree. The inner bark of pau d’arco is used by native tribes
to treat cancer, lupus, infectious diseases, wounds, backache, toothache and sexually transmitted
diseases. “The medicinal value of pau d’arco is thought to reside in certain compounds, called
naphthaquinones, in the inner bark. Proponents claim that naphthaquinones enhance the
immune system, cleanse the body and stimulate the production of red blood cells, which can
increase the amount of oxygen the blood can carry contributing to healing.” * The heartwood of
Pau d’arco — Tabebuia avellanedae — contains chemical compounds called naphthoquinones
such as lapachol, as well as significant amounts of the antioxidant quercetin.
“Pau d'arco, or the inner bark of the Tabebuia avellanedae tree, is native to Brazil, where it is used
traditionally to treat a wide range of conditions including pain, arthritis, inflammation of the
prostate gland (prostatitis), fever, dysentery, boils and ulcers, and various cancers. Preliminary
laboratory research examining the properties of pau d'arco is beginning to suggest that the
traditional uses may have scientific merit. Such laboratory studies have shown that pau d'arco
has pain killing, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-infectious, anti-psoriatic, and anti-cancer
abilities.” Other uses include for candidiasis (a yeast infection of the vaginal or oral areas), herpes
simplex virus, influenza, parasitic diseases such as schistosomiasis, bacterial infections such as
brucellosis, and inflammation of the cervix (cervicitis) or the vagina (vaginitis). Pau d'arco may
also reduce inflammation of the joints associated with arthritis. (University of Maryland Medical
Center; http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsHerbs/PaudArcoch.html)
Traditional uses also include for cancer, lupus, infectious diseases, wounds, backache, toothache
and sexually transmitted diseases. Proponents claim that naphthaquinones enhance the
immune system, cleanse the body and stimulate the production of red blood cells, which can
increase the amount of oxygen the blood can carry contributing to healing. In large doses, Pau
d’arco has killed lung cancer cells grown in the laboratory and reduced the rate of lung tumor
growth in mice. The whole bark has no known side effects. The unrefined bark is much safer
than taking extracts of the active ingredients. High doses of naphthaquinones can cause
uncontrolled bleeding, nausea and vomiting. (University of California Medical Center, San Diego; Moores Cancer Center) For
this reason, it is safer to consume the plant in its whole, natural form (as found in Nutriplex Formulas’ Detox Complex) rather
than as preparation that infuses isolated naphthaquinones into the formula.
“In addition to its reported antitumor activities, Pau d’arco clearly has demonstrated broad clinical actions against a number of
disease-causing organisms, which supports its wide uses in herbal medicine. Antimicrobial properties of many active phytochemicals were demonstrated in several trials, in which they exhibited strong in vitro activity against various gram-positive
and gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and yeast (including Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, cryptococcus neoformans).
”Lapachol has been stated to be active against certain viral strains including herpes virus types I and II. Naphthoquinones
have been documented to show effectiveness against four strains of the flu, polio and vesicular stomatitis virus. The mechanism of action of these quinolones is supposed to be via DNA and RNA polymerase inhibition and retrovirus reveres transcriptase. Further Beta- lapachone is presumed to interfere with the replication of HIV-1 virus via transcriptase inhibition. Pau d’arco
and its chemicals also have demonstrated in vitro antiviral properties against various viruses, including Herpes I and II,
influenza, poliovirus, and vesicular stomatitis virus. It is reported that lapachol decreases the replication of viruses in human
subjects however there is no available clinical data. (Rahel Woldu; Reviewed 5/14/03 Susan Paulsen Pharm D; University of
Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center)
IMPORTANT NOTE ON QUALITY: “Most of the commercially-available pau d’arco contain the inner and outer bark of the
tree—which is stripped off at sawmills when the heartwood is milled into lumber for construction materials. At least 10
species of Tabebuia are logged commercially in South America for lumber purposes alone. When these logs arrive at lumber
mills, the identifying leaves and flowers (which distinguish the tree species) are long gone—it’s all just “pau d’arco.” This may
explain varying species of pau d’arco bark being sold as herbal products—and their resulting (diminished) quality.” FOR THIS
REASON, NutriPlex Formulas uses a guaranteed pure source of Pau D’arco from the Costa Rican Rainforest.
* A Cancer Patient's Guide toComplementary and Alternative Medicine, 2nd Edition; Editor: Kerry Harwood, RN, MSN;
Duke University
DetoxFormula
Medical Center
NutriPlex Formulas, Inc.