Botanical Index No. 778

Pau D’arco

tabebuia spp.

Medicinal Actions

Analysis pending research update.

Primary Conditions Treated

Adenopathy Anemia Athlete’s Foot Bacteria Boil Cancer breast colon esophagus intestine liver lung pancreas prostate skin throat tongue Candida Carcinoma Chlorosis Cold Dermatosis Diarrhea Dysentery EBV Dysuria Eczema Enterosis Enuresis Fever Fungus Gonorrhea Headache Hemorrhoid Hodgkin’s Disease Hyperglycemia Immune Dysfunction Immunodepression Incontinence Infection Inflammation Leukemia Lupus Malaria Melanoma Metastasis Mycosis Pain Parasite Pharyngosis Polyp Psoriasis Rabies Rheumatism Scabies Schistosomiasis Snakebite Sore Throat Swelling Syphilis Toothache Tumor Ulcer Vaginosis VD Virus Wound Yeast

General Dosage

15–20 g bark/pint water/day; 1.5–3.5 g dry bark/day; 15–20 g inner bark/pint/day; 0.25–0.5 cup fresh inner bark; 6–12 g dry inner bark; 9 g dry inner bark:45 ml alcohol/45 ml water; 300 mg bark capsules 3 ×/day; 3 capsules 3 ×/day; 3–7 ml extract in 45% ethanol/day.

Safety & Contraindications

Contraindications, Interactions, and Side Effects — Class 1. Side effects may include GI distress and nausea. “Whole bark has no known serious side effects”. Pregnant and lactating women should avoid. Guiraud et al. note that lapachol and beta-lapachone, though active against Candida, could be harmful. Multiple doses of oral lapachol at 500 mg/kg caused death with severe histopathological changes. In clinical trials, oral lapachol induced anticoagulant effects, nausea, and vomiting. After 6 doses at 9 mg/kg, beta-lapachone caused death, following anorexia, diarrhea, and weight loss. Napthaquinones have antifungal properties comparable to ketoconazole. Beta-lapachone is a better antifungal than ketoconazole. Since anticancer levels of naphthoquinones are toxic, pau d’arco cannot currently be recommended as a treatment for cancer. In large doses, lapachol and other

!