Pau d'arco

Pau d'arco is a tree with extremely hard wood. Its name is the Spanish word for “bow stick,” an appropriate term considering the tree’s use by the native South American Indians for making hunting bows. The bark and wood are used to make medicine.

Special Precautions of Pau d'arco

Pau d'arco is POSSIBLY UNSAFE at typical doses. At high doses, it is LIKELY UNSAFE. High doses can cause severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, and internal bleeding. Pau d'arco should be used with caution. Talk with your healthcare provider before you decide to take it. Special Precautions & Warnings: Pregnancy and breast-feeding: During pregnancy, pau d’arco is POSSIBLY UNSAFE when taken by mouth in typical amounts, and LIKELY UNSAFE in larger doses. Not enough is known about the safety of applying it to the skin. The best rule is, don’t use it orally or topically if you are pregnant.

The safety of using pau d’arco during breast-feeding has not been well studied. But, since it might be unsafe for anyone to use, it makes sense to avoid pau d’arco if you are breast-feeding.

Bleeding disorders: Pau d'arco can delay clotting and might interfere with treatment in people with bleeding disorders.

Surgery: Pau d'arco might slow blood clotting and could increase the chance of bleeding during and after surgery. Stop using it at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery. Interactions : Medications that slow blood clotting (Anticoagulant / Antiplatelet drugs) interacts with PAU D'ARCO Pau d'arco might slow blood clotting. Taking pau d'arco along with medications that also slow clotting might increase the chances of bruising and bleeding.

Some medications that slow blood clotting include aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix), diclofenac (Voltaren, Cataflam, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), naproxen (Anaprox, Naprosyn, others), dalteparin (Fragmin), enoxaparin (Lovenox), heparin, warfarin (Coumadin), and others

The benefits of Pau d'arco are

• Though possibly unsafe, especially at higher doses, pau d'arco is used to treat a wide range of infections. These include viral respiratory infections such as the common cold, flu, and H1N1 (swine) flu; sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea and syphilis; infections of the prostate and bladder; ringworm and other parasitic infections; yeast infections; and infectious diarrhea.
• Pau d’arco is also used for cancer. Interest in this use was intensified by extensive research in the 1960s that focused on the possible anti-cancer activity of lapachol, one of the chemicals in pau d’arco. However, research studies were stopped because, at the amounts needed to be effective against cancer, pau d’arco might well be poisonous. Among other things, it can cause severe internal bleeding.
• Other uses for pau d’arco include diabetes, ulcers, stomach inflammation (gastritis), liver ailments, asthma, bronchitis, joint pain, hernias, boils, and wounds. Because some people see pau d’arco as a “tonic and blood builder,” it is also used to treat anemia.
• Pau d'arco is applied directly to the skin for Candida yeast infections : Sometimes it’s hard to know what is in pau d’arco products. Teas, labeled as pau d'arco or lapacho, do not always contain pau d’arco (Tabebuia species). In some cases, they contain the related species, Tecoma curialis. Additionally, some product labels state that the product contains the inner bark of pau d’arco, which is thought by some people to be more effective than outer bark, when in fact the product contains outer bark.
• Yeast infections.
• Common cold.
• Flu.
• Diarrhea.
• Bladder and prostate infections.
• Intestinal worms.
• Cancer.
• Diabetes.
• Ulcers.
• Stomach problems.
• Liver problems.
• Asthma.
• Bronchitis.
• Arthritis-like pain.
• Sexually transmitted diseases (gonorrhea, syphilis).
• Boils.