Pau D’Arco is considered a mild laxative and diuretic. It promotes urine flow and supports urinary tract health, fighting such conditions as cystitis, prostatitis and other urinary infections. The herb is also thought to lower fever.
TREATMENTS:
As a blood cleanser, Pau D’Arco is thought to purify and clear toxins from the blood and multiply the numbers of red corpuscles, which helps to build the blood and may be helpful in combating pernicious anemia and other ailments entailing blood deficiencies,
Pau D’Arco is considered an immune enhancer that is believed to strengthen and stimulate the immune system to produce macrophages, immune cells that engulf and digest bacteria and infectious microbes before they invade cell walls and cause damage to cells and tissue. The herb is said to combat chronic degenerative ailments, increase energy and stamina and has been used as part of a treatment to combat environmentally produced allergies and asthma.
Pau D’Arco is said to protect and promote healthy liver function. It is believed to neutralize poisons that involve the liver and may be helpful in treating hepatitis. Some South American hospitals have used Pau D’Arco on patients to reduce the destructive process that chemotherapy exerts on the liver and kidneys. Chemotherapy has been known to destroy the liver and kidneys, and this may be of great help to patients undergoing such treatments.
Pau D’Arco is thought to be an excellent antibacterial and also support good digestion. In laboratory tests, the active ingredient, lapachol, reverses aspirin-induced irritation of the stomach lining, and may possibly have antibiotic effects on Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium associated with gastritis and peptic ulcer. Its antibiotic properties have been useful in the treatment of dysentery, and the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, has found that lapachol is also useful against parasitic infection and may be effective in treating malaria and Chagas disease.
Used externally, Pau D’Arco has been used to treat dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, scabies, boils and many other skin infections.
PRECAUTIONS:
Pregnant and nursing women should not use Pau D’Arco. and excess amounts (many times the recommended dosage) may cause nausea, bleeding, vomiting, dizziness and diarrhea. People who take prescription anticancer drugs or those on chemotherapy should not use this herb without consulting with a physician. Because it may induce bleeding, people who take prescription blood thinners (Coumadin, etc.) should not use this herb, nor should it be used prior to surgery.
DOSAGES:
Take two (2) capsules, two (2) times each day with water at mealtimes.