Muira Puama

Ptychopetalum ovata

Marapuama Muira Puama Potency Wood Potenzholz Uses Considerations

Botanists have had almost as much trouble identifying the source of muira puama as zoologists have experienced in locating the Loch Ness monster. Although the existence of the plant (unlike that of the monster) is beyond dispute, it was once thought to derive from Liriosma ovata Miers or perhaps, Acanthea virilis (nomen nudum). Finally, scientists identified it as the stem-wood and root of two Brazilian shrubs, Ptychopetalum olacoides Benth. and Ptychopetalum uncinatum Anselmino. Both are members of the family Olacaceae. Also known as potency wood, the medication has a long history of use in Brazil as a powerful aphrodisiac and nerve stimulant. It is an ingredient in a number of proprietary remedies and folk medicines for sexual impotence. Muira puama is also touted for dyspepsia, menstrual irregularities, rheumatism, and paralysis caused by poliomyelitis, and as a general tonic and appetite stimulant. The medication is administered by mouth, either as a powder, an alcoholic extract, or a decoction (extract formed by boiling in water). An alternative method of obtaining the aphrodisiac effect is to bathe the genitals with a concentrated decoction. It is also applied locally to treat rheumatism and muscle paralysis. Chemical studies show that muira puama contains as its principal constituent 0.4 to 0.5% of a mixture of esters, two-thirds of which is behenic acid, lupeol, and beta-sitosterol; in the remaining portion, other fatty acids replace the behenic acid. Other more-or-less routine plant constituents, such as volatile oil, resin, fat, tannin, various fatty acids, and the like have been isolated from muira puama. None of the constituents in this medication is known to exhibit any pronounced physiological activity. This, plus the lack of any reported clinical testing of muira puama, causes us to view its reported effects with considerable skepticism. Until such tests have been carried out, no claims of efficacy or safety can be substantiated, and we must conclude at this point that potency wood is instead impotent.

USES

Muira puama has long been valued as an aphrodisiac and a tonic for the nervous system. It is soothing and helpful for nervous exhaustion, stress, and trauma, and helps alleviate symptoms of depression. It is also used in formulations designed to treat male pattern baldness.

Benefits of muira puama for specific health conditions include the following:

• Impotence and diminished sex drive. Muira puama is a good addition to or replacement for treatment with yohimbe. Clinical studies of muira puama in France have found that using the herb as a sole treatment restores sex drive and erectile function in 51 to 62 percent of cases. From the preliminary information, it appears that it works by enhancing both psychological and physical aspects of sexual function.

CONSIDERATIONS

Muira puama is available as a tincture. It is included in many blends of South American herbs marketed for treatment of male pattern baldness and erectile dysfunction, typically combined with catuaba, iporuru, and other rainforest herbs.