Lapacho Usage

Based on its traditional uses, lapacho is sometimes recommended by herbalists as a treatment for cancer . However, there is no reliable scientific evidence that the herb is effective. Test tube studies have found that lapachone can kill cancer cells by inhibiting an enzyme called topoisomerase, and there are hopes that effective anti-cancer drugs may eventually be produced through chemical modification of lapachone. ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7} Nonetheless, this does not indicate that lapacho is effective against cancer in humans; it would be difficult to take enough of the herb to provide active levels of lapachone.

Similarly, test tube studies have found that constituents of lapacho (especially lapachone, isolapachone, and lapachol) may be able to kill various microorganisms, including various fungi and the parasites that cause schistosomiasis, malaria, and sleeping sickness. ^{8 9 10 11} These findings have led to the widespread belief that lapacho is useful against the yeast Candida albicans, a common cause of vaginitis , as well as the purported condition colloquially known as chronic candida ; unfortunately, the supporting research remains far too preliminary to meaningfully show clinical benefits.

Similarly, these studies have been twisted to support claims that lapacho is useful for many infections, including colds and flus and bladder infections . However, there are at least two problems with this reasoning. First, lapacho has been tested primarily against fungi and parasites; there is little evidence that it can kill viruses (the cause of colds) or bacteria (the cause of most bladder infections). Furthermore, even if lapacho can kill these microorganisms on direct contact, this does not imply that it would be effective if taken by mouth. Consider this analogy: wine easily kills the cold virus on direct contact, but if you drink wine when you have a cold you’re not likely to get well faster. Similarly, hundreds of herbal products kill microorganisms in the test tube, but fail to prove effective as systemic antibiotics. A substance taken by mouth has to survive the digestive tract and passage through the liver, and reach sufficient concentrations in the bloodstream to produce a meaningful effect. Few substances can do this without simultaneously proving toxic to the body; that’s why antibiotics were not invented until the 20th century and remain difficult to invent even today. Until lapacho’s potential effects as an oral antibiotic are examined directly, it is not reasonable to assume that the herb is likely to help systemic infections.

Lapacho and its constituents have also been investigated for potential use in the treatment of pain, ¹² psoriasis , ¹³ and ulcers ; ¹⁴ however, the evidence for benefit is as yet too preliminary to rely upon at all.