Dioscorea villosa
- VERMEULEN Frans
Dios.
These impossible women! How they do get around us!
The poet was right: can't live with them, or without them.
[Aristophanes]
Signs
Dioscorea villosa. Wild Yam. Colic Root. Devil's Bones. N.O. Dioscoreaceae.
CLASSIFICATION The Dioscoreaceae or Yam family, mainly consisting of tropical climbers, is distributed throughout the tropics and some temperate regions. The family is most closely related to the Liliaceae.
FEATURES Except for a few dwarf shrubs, all species are climbers with well-developed tubers or rhizomes at their bases. The stems are unable to support their own weight for any great height and climb by twining on a support. The regular, small, inconspicuous flowers are either bisexual or unisexual [male and female being borne on separate plants]. Dioscorea, Rajanhia and Tamus have unisexual flowers; the other 3 genera have bisexual flowers. The genus Dioscorea is pantropical and comprises about 600 species.
ECONOMIC USES The only economically important genus is Dioscorea, the yams, of which a number of species are grown for their edible tubers. Yams form the staple source of starch for many people in three main centres, Southeast Asia, West Africa and Central and South America. Some species are the source of diosgenin, a steroidal sapogenin and a precursor in the manufacture of progesterone for use in contraceptives. Species yielding diosgenin include Dioscorea floribunda, Dioscorea mexicana, and Dioscorea villosa. [In addition to Dioscorea species, diosgenin also occurs in such plants as Trillium erectum, Helonias, and Aletris.]
CONTRACEPTIVES In the 30s of the 20th century the only hormones available were injectable slaughterhouse hormones, obtained from the ovaries of pigs. Four tons of ovaries were needed to produce 25 mg oestradiol. In the early 40s an American researcher launched the idea of making oral contraceptives. Searching for plants rich in steroidal saponins - which have a close structural relationship with steroid hormones - he settled for Dioscorea mexicana and initiated a process for making progesterone from diosgenin. When the production process became economically feasible, the industrial synthesis of contraceptive hormones soon developed into the large-scale industry it is today. Dioscorea stood at the cradle of this development, but in the 80s it lost its leading position as oral hormone raw material to the soybean [Glycine max].
WILD YAM Wild Yam is native to North and Central America. It grows in moist thickets and trails over adjacent shrubs and bushes. The plant is common in the central and southern portions of the United States. It is a vine growing to a length of 4-5 metres with a smooth, reddish stem and heart-shaped leaves. The twisted, cylindrical, brown rhizome runs horizontally underneath the surface of the ground. The leaves are covered with soft hairs on the under side and are borne on long, slender stems. Male and female flowers are separated on different individuals; the males in drooping panicles, the females in drooping spicate racemes. The small, greenish-yellow flowers produce fruits ripening in September and remaining on the vine for some time during the winter.
NAME The genus is named Dioscorea in honour of Dioscorides, a Greek surgeon in the Roman army who laid the foundation of virtually all botanical knowledge. The generic name villosa means 'covered with soft hairs.' [As an army surgeon Dioscorides travelled extensively in Greece, Italy, Germany, Gaul, Spain, and Asia Minor, collecting meanwhile at first hand a great deal of general information about some 400 plants. The five volumes of his De Materia Medica relate his own experiences as well as those of many other botanists and herbalists. Numerous drugs that he described are still to be found in the modern pharmacopoeias of Europe.] The term 'yam' is normally applied to cultivated Dioscorea species but in the USA it has been used for sweet potatoes with orange flesh. The confusion arose from the cultivation in the 1930s of a variety of sweet potato that had darker flesh than previously known versions. To distinguish the new variety from its lighter-fleshed cousins, the growers called them yams. Nevertheless, the sweet potato is a root rather than a tuber and it belongs to the morning glory family [Convolvulaceae].
MEDICINAL USES Wild Yam is considered to be anti-inflammatory, cholagogue, antispasmodic, and a mild diaphoretic. Some believe it to be "the best relief and promptest cure for bilious colic." It may act as an expectorant and diuretic in large doses. The root has been employed for hundreds of years to treat rheumatism and joint inflammations. It is said to be able to relax the abdominal region of the body. In Central America it has traditionally been taken to relieve menstrual, ovarian and labour pains. Studies have shown that yams can induce decreases in blood pressure and increases in coronary blood flow. The good therapeutic effect of Dioscorea saponins on patients with atherosclerosis combined with hypertension was confirmed in clinical practice. Large doses of the tincture produce nausea and vomiting.
USES Wild Yam is a component of 'workout formulas' and 'female supplements' because of its reported potential to 'boost crucial hormone levels for athletes and people with active lifestyles.' For this and for menopausal problems the plant is, deceptively, advertised as a good source of 'natural progesterone'. Plants do not make progesterone, people do. The human body cannot convert diosgenin to progesterone; it takes many synthetic steps to get from one to the other. If yam has steroidal effects on the body, it is not because it contains steroidal hormones, but because the steroidal precursors have similar effects. The body uses them in a similar way.
PROVINGS •• [1] Burt - self-experimentation, 1864; method: fluid extract, repeated doses of 30 to 200 drops, for three days.
•• [2] Nichol - self-experimentation, 1865; method: 1x dil. first and second days; 1x trit. of dioscorein sixth to eighth day.
•• [3] Drake - self-experimentation, 1867; method: daily doses of 1st trit., increasing from 1 grain to 14 grains, for 8 days.
•• [4] Woods - self-experimentation; method: single 10-drop doses of 6th and 15th dils.
•• [5] Cushing - self-experimentation, 1867; method: increasing doses and increasing potencies of 'dioscorein', starting with 1x trit. and ending with 8x dil.; followed by increasing doses and increasing potencies of Dioscorea, beginning with tincture and ending with 30x dil.; 2nd proving with 10x, 15x and 30x dils. Cushing alone is responsible for some 90% of the symptoms mentioned in Allen's Encyclopedia. Where the other provers confined themselves to one week, at most, Cushing continued his proving for 81 days, taking nearly every day one or more doses Dioscorea. Half a year later he repeats the experiment, this time for 38 days.
Affinity
NERVES [cord; abdominal; sciatic]. Umbilicus. Gall bladder. *Right side.
Modalities
Worse: Doubling up. Lying. Tea. Eating. Early morning from 2 a.m. onwards. On waking. Sitting. Evening. Seminal emissions.
Better: Stretching out or bending backwards. Motion; in open air. Hard pressure. Standing erect. Riding. Belching.
Comparisons
Homoeopathy utilizes three species of the Yam family: Dioscorea villosa, Tamus communis, and Rajania subsamarata. Interestingly, all three belong to the unisexual genera. Not much is known of Tamus; Boericke gives as indication "chilblains and freckles". Clarke says that "the fruits steeped in gin are a popular remedy for chilblains, and the only use that Tamus has been made of by homoeopaths is as a paint for chilblains." Both the rubefacient slime from the rhizome and the juice from the berry of Tamus contain calcium oxalate raphides which are sharply pointed at both ends. They are responsible for mechanical irritation when rubbed into the skin. The colourless mucilaginous sap from the rhizome has been used as a rubefacient and counter-irritant application in lumbago, rheumatism, and similar disorders.
The drug picture of Rajania can be found in Julian's Dictionary of Homoeopathic Materia Medica. The proving by Legarreta brought out a couple of interesting symptoms, such as: "If he is questioned, he takes long time to get to himself; he trembles and falls into stupor or pronounces some words of insult, sings some obscene songs, or some religious songs, according to his education and culture." Julian mentions further: Loss of sense of personality. Attacks of exaltation, of fury, of lasciviousness. Sounds seem to come from far away. Sensitiveness to shrill sounds. Menses blackish, irritating, and offensive. General condition > menses. The Repertory has 32 entries for Rajania.
The materia medica of Dioscorea contains very few 'female' symptoms; too little, one would say, for a plant that from a pharmacological point of view should strongly affect females. The reason is simple: the plant was proved by males only. Hering fills the lack somewhat by including the symptoms of 7 women cured with Dioscorea in his Guiding Symptoms. Of these 7 women, 4 had gastrointestinal complaints, 2 suffered from sciatica [one of them during pregnancy], and one had constipation and dysmenorrhoea. Hering gives two indications: dysmenorrhoea with pains flying suddenly to distant parts, and vomiting, pyrosis and gastralgia during menses or pregnancy.
Main symptoms
M Aversion to company, esp. of female company.
• "Desire to be alone; do not enjoy company; am usually quite fond of the company of ladies, but they seem now repulsive."
• "Feel dull; desire to be alone; conversation is troublesome." [Allen]
M Mistakes, from confusion.
• "Call things by wrong names; when I mean left leg or arm, I write it right arm or leg, and have to change it." [Allen]
G Suitability.
• "Persons of feeble digestive powers, old or young." [Allen]
G Pains darting about or radiating; to distant parts, arms, etc.
Pains UNBEARABLY SHARP, CUTTING, TWISTING, GRIPING or GRINDING.
G Paroxysmal PAINS extend to DISTANT parts [Caps.; Elat.];
stop suddenly, then start in a different place.
G Colicky pains.
> STRETCHING OUT, standing erect, bending backwards.
< Bending forward, lying [reverse of Coloc.]. • "Colics start in the umbilical region, and radiate all over the abdomen. ... The fact is that Dioscorea may cure any kind of colic, provided its symptoms have any similarity to its pathogenetic symptoms. If you find in any painful affection of the abdomen, stomach, uterus, or even the heart or head, that the pain, though constant, is aggravated in paroxysms; is attended by spasmodic symptoms [vomiting, cramps], or sympathetic pains in distant parts of the body, you can prescribe Dioscorea with advantage." [Hale] G < Tea. • "Flatulence after meals, or after eating, esp. of tea-drinkers." [Allen] P Offensive smells remain a long time in the nose. P Severe gastralgia, cramping pain extending along sternum into both arms. And Cold clammy sweat. > Eructations and standing erect.
P Gallstone colic, radiating pains.
> Belching.
P Dysmenorrhoea with shooting pains in DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS.
P Renal colic, pains shooting down into testicles or legs.
And Cold clammy sweat.
> Standing erect.
P Heart.
• "Angina pectoris and flatulence." [Mathur]
P Sciatica [right-sided] shooting down thigh.
< Motion. > Standing still on toes.
P Whitlow: early stage, with sharp pricking and agonizing pains.
• "When pricking is first felt." [Hering]
Rubrics
Mind
Fear, in a crowd [1]. Mistakes, in speaking, uses wrong words, calls things by wrong names [2], putting right for left side or vice versa [2]. Wants to be quiet [1]. Restlessness, from pain [1], > while walking [1].
Vertigo
While eating [1]. Swaying to right, while walking [1].
Head
Constriction, band or hoop [1], after eating [1]. As if vertex were lifted off [1].
Eye
Sensation of heat steaming out of eyes [1].
Ear
Noises, buzzing, during headache [1], ringing, during headache [1].
Stomach
Nausea, on swallowing saliva [1], yet constant inclination to swallow [1*]. Pain, radiating [1], > sitting erect [1], > standing [1]. Pulsation, while lying on back [2; Alum.; Op.]. Thirstless [2].
Abdomen
Pain, > bending backward [2], > pressure [1], > stretching out [1], > walking [1], wandering, shift suddenly to distant parts [3/1]; liver, gallstone colic [2]; radiating from umbilicus [2]; twisting [2].
Rectum
Diarrhoea, > wine [1; Chel.]. Pain, stitching, extending to liver [2/1].
Kidneys
Pain, extending to arms [1/1], to chest [1/1], to extremities [1/1], to testes [1/1].
Male
Perspiration, pungent smell [2].
Chest
Palpitation, on waking suddenly [1].
Back
Pain, lameness, lumbar region, turning in bed almost impossible [1/1].
Limbs
Itching, lower limbs, on becoming cold [1], when undressing [1]. Twisting sensation, knees [1]. Weakness, knees, after coition [1/1].
Dreams
Of women [2].
Generals
Pain, appears suddenly [2], disappears suddenly [2]; in small spots [1].
* Repertory addition [Hughes].
Food
Aversion: [1]: Tea [1].
Worse: [1]: Cheese, old [C]; errors in diet; fruit, uncooked [C]; pastry; tea.
Better: [1]: Wine.
* Repertory additions [Clarke].
Dios.
 |
| Dioscorea villosa |
The poet was right: can't live with them, or without them.
[Aristophanes]
Signs
Dioscorea villosa. Wild Yam. Colic Root. Devil's Bones. N.O. Dioscoreaceae.
CLASSIFICATION The Dioscoreaceae or Yam family, mainly consisting of tropical climbers, is distributed throughout the tropics and some temperate regions. The family is most closely related to the Liliaceae.
FEATURES Except for a few dwarf shrubs, all species are climbers with well-developed tubers or rhizomes at their bases. The stems are unable to support their own weight for any great height and climb by twining on a support. The regular, small, inconspicuous flowers are either bisexual or unisexual [male and female being borne on separate plants]. Dioscorea, Rajanhia and Tamus have unisexual flowers; the other 3 genera have bisexual flowers. The genus Dioscorea is pantropical and comprises about 600 species.
ECONOMIC USES The only economically important genus is Dioscorea, the yams, of which a number of species are grown for their edible tubers. Yams form the staple source of starch for many people in three main centres, Southeast Asia, West Africa and Central and South America. Some species are the source of diosgenin, a steroidal sapogenin and a precursor in the manufacture of progesterone for use in contraceptives. Species yielding diosgenin include Dioscorea floribunda, Dioscorea mexicana, and Dioscorea villosa. [In addition to Dioscorea species, diosgenin also occurs in such plants as Trillium erectum, Helonias, and Aletris.]
CONTRACEPTIVES In the 30s of the 20th century the only hormones available were injectable slaughterhouse hormones, obtained from the ovaries of pigs. Four tons of ovaries were needed to produce 25 mg oestradiol. In the early 40s an American researcher launched the idea of making oral contraceptives. Searching for plants rich in steroidal saponins - which have a close structural relationship with steroid hormones - he settled for Dioscorea mexicana and initiated a process for making progesterone from diosgenin. When the production process became economically feasible, the industrial synthesis of contraceptive hormones soon developed into the large-scale industry it is today. Dioscorea stood at the cradle of this development, but in the 80s it lost its leading position as oral hormone raw material to the soybean [Glycine max].
 |
| Dioscorea villosa root |
NAME The genus is named Dioscorea in honour of Dioscorides, a Greek surgeon in the Roman army who laid the foundation of virtually all botanical knowledge. The generic name villosa means 'covered with soft hairs.' [As an army surgeon Dioscorides travelled extensively in Greece, Italy, Germany, Gaul, Spain, and Asia Minor, collecting meanwhile at first hand a great deal of general information about some 400 plants. The five volumes of his De Materia Medica relate his own experiences as well as those of many other botanists and herbalists. Numerous drugs that he described are still to be found in the modern pharmacopoeias of Europe.] The term 'yam' is normally applied to cultivated Dioscorea species but in the USA it has been used for sweet potatoes with orange flesh. The confusion arose from the cultivation in the 1930s of a variety of sweet potato that had darker flesh than previously known versions. To distinguish the new variety from its lighter-fleshed cousins, the growers called them yams. Nevertheless, the sweet potato is a root rather than a tuber and it belongs to the morning glory family [Convolvulaceae].
MEDICINAL USES Wild Yam is considered to be anti-inflammatory, cholagogue, antispasmodic, and a mild diaphoretic. Some believe it to be "the best relief and promptest cure for bilious colic." It may act as an expectorant and diuretic in large doses. The root has been employed for hundreds of years to treat rheumatism and joint inflammations. It is said to be able to relax the abdominal region of the body. In Central America it has traditionally been taken to relieve menstrual, ovarian and labour pains. Studies have shown that yams can induce decreases in blood pressure and increases in coronary blood flow. The good therapeutic effect of Dioscorea saponins on patients with atherosclerosis combined with hypertension was confirmed in clinical practice. Large doses of the tincture produce nausea and vomiting.
USES Wild Yam is a component of 'workout formulas' and 'female supplements' because of its reported potential to 'boost crucial hormone levels for athletes and people with active lifestyles.' For this and for menopausal problems the plant is, deceptively, advertised as a good source of 'natural progesterone'. Plants do not make progesterone, people do. The human body cannot convert diosgenin to progesterone; it takes many synthetic steps to get from one to the other. If yam has steroidal effects on the body, it is not because it contains steroidal hormones, but because the steroidal precursors have similar effects. The body uses them in a similar way.
PROVINGS •• [1] Burt - self-experimentation, 1864; method: fluid extract, repeated doses of 30 to 200 drops, for three days.
•• [2] Nichol - self-experimentation, 1865; method: 1x dil. first and second days; 1x trit. of dioscorein sixth to eighth day.
•• [3] Drake - self-experimentation, 1867; method: daily doses of 1st trit., increasing from 1 grain to 14 grains, for 8 days.
•• [4] Woods - self-experimentation; method: single 10-drop doses of 6th and 15th dils.
•• [5] Cushing - self-experimentation, 1867; method: increasing doses and increasing potencies of 'dioscorein', starting with 1x trit. and ending with 8x dil.; followed by increasing doses and increasing potencies of Dioscorea, beginning with tincture and ending with 30x dil.; 2nd proving with 10x, 15x and 30x dils. Cushing alone is responsible for some 90% of the symptoms mentioned in Allen's Encyclopedia. Where the other provers confined themselves to one week, at most, Cushing continued his proving for 81 days, taking nearly every day one or more doses Dioscorea. Half a year later he repeats the experiment, this time for 38 days.
Affinity
NERVES [cord; abdominal; sciatic]. Umbilicus. Gall bladder. *Right side.
Modalities
Worse: Doubling up. Lying. Tea. Eating. Early morning from 2 a.m. onwards. On waking. Sitting. Evening. Seminal emissions.
Better: Stretching out or bending backwards. Motion; in open air. Hard pressure. Standing erect. Riding. Belching.
Comparisons
Homoeopathy utilizes three species of the Yam family: Dioscorea villosa, Tamus communis, and Rajania subsamarata. Interestingly, all three belong to the unisexual genera. Not much is known of Tamus; Boericke gives as indication "chilblains and freckles". Clarke says that "the fruits steeped in gin are a popular remedy for chilblains, and the only use that Tamus has been made of by homoeopaths is as a paint for chilblains." Both the rubefacient slime from the rhizome and the juice from the berry of Tamus contain calcium oxalate raphides which are sharply pointed at both ends. They are responsible for mechanical irritation when rubbed into the skin. The colourless mucilaginous sap from the rhizome has been used as a rubefacient and counter-irritant application in lumbago, rheumatism, and similar disorders.
The drug picture of Rajania can be found in Julian's Dictionary of Homoeopathic Materia Medica. The proving by Legarreta brought out a couple of interesting symptoms, such as: "If he is questioned, he takes long time to get to himself; he trembles and falls into stupor or pronounces some words of insult, sings some obscene songs, or some religious songs, according to his education and culture." Julian mentions further: Loss of sense of personality. Attacks of exaltation, of fury, of lasciviousness. Sounds seem to come from far away. Sensitiveness to shrill sounds. Menses blackish, irritating, and offensive. General condition > menses. The Repertory has 32 entries for Rajania.
The materia medica of Dioscorea contains very few 'female' symptoms; too little, one would say, for a plant that from a pharmacological point of view should strongly affect females. The reason is simple: the plant was proved by males only. Hering fills the lack somewhat by including the symptoms of 7 women cured with Dioscorea in his Guiding Symptoms. Of these 7 women, 4 had gastrointestinal complaints, 2 suffered from sciatica [one of them during pregnancy], and one had constipation and dysmenorrhoea. Hering gives two indications: dysmenorrhoea with pains flying suddenly to distant parts, and vomiting, pyrosis and gastralgia during menses or pregnancy.
Main symptoms
M Aversion to company, esp. of female company.
• "Desire to be alone; do not enjoy company; am usually quite fond of the company of ladies, but they seem now repulsive."
• "Feel dull; desire to be alone; conversation is troublesome." [Allen]
M Mistakes, from confusion.
• "Call things by wrong names; when I mean left leg or arm, I write it right arm or leg, and have to change it." [Allen]
G Suitability.
• "Persons of feeble digestive powers, old or young." [Allen]
G Pains darting about or radiating; to distant parts, arms, etc.
Pains UNBEARABLY SHARP, CUTTING, TWISTING, GRIPING or GRINDING.
G Paroxysmal PAINS extend to DISTANT parts [Caps.; Elat.];
stop suddenly, then start in a different place.
G Colicky pains.
> STRETCHING OUT, standing erect, bending backwards.
< Bending forward, lying [reverse of Coloc.]. • "Colics start in the umbilical region, and radiate all over the abdomen. ... The fact is that Dioscorea may cure any kind of colic, provided its symptoms have any similarity to its pathogenetic symptoms. If you find in any painful affection of the abdomen, stomach, uterus, or even the heart or head, that the pain, though constant, is aggravated in paroxysms; is attended by spasmodic symptoms [vomiting, cramps], or sympathetic pains in distant parts of the body, you can prescribe Dioscorea with advantage." [Hale] G < Tea. • "Flatulence after meals, or after eating, esp. of tea-drinkers." [Allen] P Offensive smells remain a long time in the nose. P Severe gastralgia, cramping pain extending along sternum into both arms. And Cold clammy sweat. > Eructations and standing erect.
P Gallstone colic, radiating pains.
> Belching.
P Dysmenorrhoea with shooting pains in DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS.
P Renal colic, pains shooting down into testicles or legs.
And Cold clammy sweat.
> Standing erect.
P Heart.
• "Angina pectoris and flatulence." [Mathur]
P Sciatica [right-sided] shooting down thigh.
< Motion. > Standing still on toes.
P Whitlow: early stage, with sharp pricking and agonizing pains.
• "When pricking is first felt." [Hering]
Rubrics
Mind
Fear, in a crowd [1]. Mistakes, in speaking, uses wrong words, calls things by wrong names [2], putting right for left side or vice versa [2]. Wants to be quiet [1]. Restlessness, from pain [1], > while walking [1].
Vertigo
While eating [1]. Swaying to right, while walking [1].
Head
Constriction, band or hoop [1], after eating [1]. As if vertex were lifted off [1].
Eye
Sensation of heat steaming out of eyes [1].
Ear
Noises, buzzing, during headache [1], ringing, during headache [1].
Stomach
Nausea, on swallowing saliva [1], yet constant inclination to swallow [1*]. Pain, radiating [1], > sitting erect [1], > standing [1]. Pulsation, while lying on back [2; Alum.; Op.]. Thirstless [2].
Abdomen
Pain, > bending backward [2], > pressure [1], > stretching out [1], > walking [1], wandering, shift suddenly to distant parts [3/1]; liver, gallstone colic [2]; radiating from umbilicus [2]; twisting [2].
Rectum
Diarrhoea, > wine [1; Chel.]. Pain, stitching, extending to liver [2/1].
Kidneys
Pain, extending to arms [1/1], to chest [1/1], to extremities [1/1], to testes [1/1].
Male
Perspiration, pungent smell [2].
Chest
Palpitation, on waking suddenly [1].
Back
Pain, lameness, lumbar region, turning in bed almost impossible [1/1].
Limbs
Itching, lower limbs, on becoming cold [1], when undressing [1]. Twisting sensation, knees [1]. Weakness, knees, after coition [1/1].
Dreams
Of women [2].
Generals
Pain, appears suddenly [2], disappears suddenly [2]; in small spots [1].
* Repertory addition [Hughes].
Food
Aversion: [1]: Tea [1].
Worse: [1]: Cheese, old [C]; errors in diet; fruit, uncooked [C]; pastry; tea.
Better: [1]: Wine.
* Repertory additions [Clarke].
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