Tabebuia avellanedae is a plant native to South America and used traditionally for treating many health disorders. It is more commonly called lapacho, taheebo and pau d'arco. Some components in the inner bark show beneficial medicinal properties in laboratory testing according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, UMMC, but research with humans is lacking.
If you'd like to try pau d'arco as a remedy, you can buy it in tablets, capsules, tincture and tea, although the UMMC advises against the tea because the beneficial chemicals do not dissolve well in water. Standardized extracts are best. Make sure the label lists Tabebuia avellanedae as an ingredient. Consult a qualified health care practitioner before beginning any herbal therapy.
Anti-Cancer Effects
Laboratory studies with pau d'arco indicate it has anti-cancer and anti-metastatic effects according to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. It kills cancer cells and also prevents cancer cells from spreading. Some alternative cancer therapies include pau d'arco in treatment plans; anecdotal reports say it works, although the effectiveness of pau d'arco for this use outside of test tubes is unproven.
The American Cancer Society notes that the component lapachol may be an effective cancer treatment when isolated from the herb, but lapachol stops blood from clotting, an effect that could be dangerous in doses that are high enough to treat cancer.
Antifungal Effects
Pau d'arco wood is very resistant to fungal attack, and antifungal properties of this herb have been verified in laboratory studies according to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, BIDMC. Oral and topical pau d'arco are purported to treat infections from the fungus-like yeast Candida albicans, which causes common vaginal infections as well as oral thrush. Some people also use pau d'Arco as a remedy for the theoretical condition known as chronic candida or chronic candidiasis, which involves an overgrowth of this yeast in the body and may be responsible for a wide variety of symptoms.
Anti-Parasitic Effects
Some components of pau d'arco, primarily lapachone, isolapachone and lapachol, appear to kill various types of parasites that cause disease according to the BIDMC. In the lab, pau d'arco appears effective against schistosomiasis, which is caused by worms; and sleeping sickness, technically known as human African trypanosomiasis, which is spread by flies. Both laboratory and animal research have indicated the effectiveness of individual components of pau d'Arco for treating malaria, a parasitic infection spread by mosquitoes according to the BIDMC. The American Cancer Society cautions that this does not confirm that the herb itself would have the same effect.
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