What is Pao d'Arco useful for in humans? Animals?

Question

Excellent answers from both Neart and Halema so far. Many thanks. Titou is in fact in prime young health. We treated his forebear "Oliver", a 7lb. Yorkie, with Pao d'Arco for a malignant and inoperable nerve sheath tumor, which had impaired his bowel and the use of his hind legs.

Oliver showed no signs of pain, but it was sad to see him lose energy from lack of exercise and drift towards death. "Trying everything" I red the label of Pao d'Arco at the health-food store, and was impressed by the range of maladies it was thought to help. So, as suggested, I made a strong tea, and gave a teaspoon or so through an eye-dropper. Amazing result: Oliver was back on his feet with hours, and willing for the first time in months to play with his ball. He later succumbed to an overdose of a powerful alkaline anti-tumor medication administrated orally: a last-ditch attempt to try and cure him.

One year later, a friend whose cat was suffering from generalized aging responded equally well.

Answer 1

Lapacho is also known by the Portuguese name of Pau D'Arco, and by tribal names such as Taheebo and Ipe Roxo. This plant holds great promise for the effective treatment of cancers such as leukemia, candida and other troublesome infections, debilitating diseases (including arthritis), as well as a host of other complaints.  Lapacho is applied externally and internally for the treatment of fevers, infections, colds, flu, syphilis, cancer, respiratory problems, skin ulcerations and boils, dysentery, gastro-intestinal problems of all kinds, debilitating conditions such as arthritis and prostatitis, and circulation disturbances., Other conditions have reportedly been cured with lapacho including lupus, diabetes, Hodgkins disease, osteomyelitis, Parkinson's disease, and psoriasis.

It is used to relieve pain, kill germs, increase the flow of urine, and even as an antidote to poisons. Its use in many ways parallels that of the immuno-stimulants echinacea on this continent and ginseng in Asia, except that its action appears to exceed them both in terms of its potential as a cancer treatment.

Experience has taught that lapacho is best ingested as a tea, one or two cups a day, morning and evening. Used in this fashion, it promotes the health of the immune system, helps prevent the onset of colds and flus, keeps the bowel healthy and may impart some of the other important therapeutic effects, including a positive effect on arthritis, pain, localized infection (e.g. candida) and systemic infection.

During periods of acute, active infection, lapacho should be administered several times a day in tea form. It is up to the individual to determine the optimum amount for him or her.

At this time, I have been  unable to find research regarding this herb and animals.  The general rule of thumb for administering herbals to animals is by body weight.  If you wanted/needed to give some to Titou, since he is so small, you would need to make the tea and just give him dropper-full a few times a day, watching to see how quickly he improves, but continuing until after symptoms have disappeared for at least 1-2 days.  

I would be skeptical about using the concentrated form (capsules) until more research has been done on the herb.  When any good product is concentrated, but you then take it in high dosages like what is offered on the market, then you don't really know how it is going to react in the body, possibly resulting in overdosing.  Tea form is diluted and gentle enough to take frequently during acute stages.  Thousands of years of usage in South America has proven that the tea is the best form.  

Hope everyone is doing fine!

Answer 2

Pau d'Arco is an herb that is a derivative of the inner bark of the South American Tabebuia Avellanedae or Tabebuia Impetiginosa, also known as the Taheebo tree. Pau d'Arco is used treat a myriad of problems ranging from fungal infections to the common cold.

Researchers have found that the inner bark of the Tabebuia trees contain a group of powerful infection fighting compounds called naphthoquinones. One of these components is lapachol which seems to be especially potent. Naphthoquinones seem to help kill certain disease causing bacteria, viruses, and fungi. In fact, a study at the University of Rio de Janeiro discovered that Pau d'Arco helps to treat an antibiotic resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus. Additional research at Seoul National University finds that Pao d'Arco is active against a type of human intestinal bacteria, which can cause food poisoning.

Other laboratory studies have shown that Pau d'Arco has anti-fungal properties as good as the antifungal prescription drug ketoconazole. This is probably why it has been found to be very effective in the treatment of Candida vaginal and in fighting the fungi responsible for athlete's foot, jock itch, and other common fungal skin infections