Health Benefits of pau d arco

Other Common Names: Ipe Roxo, Lapacho, Tahuari, Pau d�arco, Pink Trumpet Tree, Tabebuia impestiginosa

Range: Central and South America and the West Indies

Various related species of pau d�arco trees grow in rain forests throughout Latin America.

While there are numerous varieties of Lapacho trees in South America, only the inner lining of the tree has any known medical value. It is this inner lining (or phloem) which carries nutrients made by the leaves to other parts of the tree and is, with the cambium layer (where all the new cells are produced) the "life" of the tree.

Pau D'Arco has a long and well documented history of use by the indigenous people of the rainforest who use several species of Tabebuia which include T. heptaphylla, T. impetiginosa, T. rosea, and T. serratifolia. There are even indications that its use may actually antedate the Incas. In fact, throughout South America, tribes living thousands of miles apart have employed it for the same medicinal purposes for centuries. Several Indian tribes of the rainforest have used Pau D'Arco wood for centuries to make their hunting bows and their common names for the tree when translated, means bow stick and bow stem. The Guarani and Tupi Indians call the tree tajy, which means "to have strength and vigor" and use the bark to treat many different conditions. The indigenous uses of Pau D'Arco include malaria, anemia, colitis, respiratory problems, colds, cough, flu, fungal infections, fever, arthritis and rheumatism, snakebite, poor circulation, boils, syphilis, and cancer.

South American medical doctors who discovered Lapacho in the pharmacopoeia of the natives were the first to experiment with it as a treatment for cancer.

Lapachol is just one of a number of plant substances known as napthaquinones (N-factors) that occur in lapacho. Anthraquinones, or A-factors, comprise another important class of compounds. The N-factors are not common except in herbal tonics. Seldom do both N- and A-factors occur in the same species. Several of the remarkable properties of lapacho may be due to a probable synergy between A- and N- factors.

Quercitin, xloidone and other flavonoids are also present in lapacho; these undoubtedly contribute to the plant's effectiveness in the treatment of tumors and infections.

A common thread that runs throughout early and current empirical and clinical reports of lapacho treatment is the consistent observation that the herb eliminates many of the common side effects of the orthodox medications. There is no explanation of this action, but it is so often seen that one cannot easily doubt its validity. Pain, hair loss and immune dysfunction are among the symptoms most commonly eliminated.



Known Hazards: While there can be no doubt that lapacho is very toxic to many kinds of cancer cells, viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites and other kinds of microorganisms, the substance appears to be without any kind of significant toxicity to healthy human cells. The side-effects mainly encountered, and usually with isolated lapacho constituents, are limited to nausea and anticoagulant effects in very high doses, a tendency to loosen the bowels, and diarrhea in very high doses. As indicated earlier, some nausea should be expected as a natural consequence of the detoxification process. The FDA gave lapacho a clean bill of health in 1981.

  • Dr. Donna Schwontkowski, HERBS OF THE AMAZON Traditional and Common Uses, Science Student BrainTrust Publishing, 1993
  • Dr. Mowry, Lapacho: Ancient Herb, Modern Miracle - Mountainwest Institute of Herbal Sciences, Salt Lake City, Utah