Wild yam

Dong quai and several other herbal products, including evening primrose oil, passion flowers, sage, valerian root, flaxseed, and wild yam, have not demonstrated efficacy with regard to the relief of vasomotor symptoms, and the safety of these products is also questionable.4,33,35 Therefore, these products should not be recommended for the relief of vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women. 

Evening primrose oil, passion flowers, sage, valerian root, and wild yam No demonstrated efficacy Not recommended Caution with all plant products in women with hay fever and plant allergies... 

Wild yam (Dioscorea) Menopause symptoms does not supply progesterone... 

Powdered Dioscorea (wild yam) root or extract is also marketed to treat the symptoms of menopause as an alternative to hormone replacement therapy (see page 279). Although there is a belief that this increases levels of progesterone, which is then used as a biosynthetic precursor of other hormones, there is no evidence that diosgenin is metabolized in the human body to progesterone, and any beneficial effects may arise from diosgenin itself. 

It contains diosgenin and is analgesic in nature. Wild yam is also a source of synthetic DHEA, a hormone that inhibits the production of excess fatty acids and cholesterol. Antiseptic. It has antiviral properties. 

The success of the multinationals in exploiting alternative steroid sources exposed the limitations of the wild yam. Yams were laboriously dug from the ground exclusively for those involved in the manufacture of steroids. In contrast, all the other plant sources of steroids identified in Table 4 were harvested for other industries these industries generally regarded the steroid-containing waste as worthless to them. 

Wild yam has no effect as body cannot synthesise sex hormones from it. 6 What other information should Sally be given ... 

Dioscorea dregeana (Knnth) T. Durand Schinz [ndiyaza, wild yam] (Dioscoreaceae) bnlb decoction is used for psychosis (11). 

Derivation Isolatedfrommaleurine, synthesis from cholesterol or sitosterol, extracted from wild yams. 

Nkala, B. et al., Starch from wild yam from Zimbabwe, Starch/Staerke, 46, 85, 1994. 

Extracts of Mexican wild yam (Dioscorea) can also be used, or other estrogen precursors or dehydroepiandros-terone (DHEA). 

The chemist Russel Marker conducted an intense search in the 1940s in Mexico for a steroidal natural product that could be used to prepare some of the hormonal steroids. His research soon centered on the Mexican wild yam Dioscorea villosa as a potential source of those compounds. Treating the saponin dioscin (7-1) with mild acid, he found, gave the aglycone diosgenin (7-2) (Scheme 2.7). 

Dioscorea. Wild yam colic root rheumatism root. Dtied rhizome of Dioscorea villosa L.. Dioscoreaceae. Habit. North America. Cottslit. Saponin, acrid resin. Account of the nature, origins, cultivation and utilization of the useful members of the Dioscoreaceae D. G. Coutsey, Yams (Lon -don. Longmans. 1967) 230 pp. See also Yam. Mexican. 

DHEA is dehydroepiandrosterone. It is a plant derivative of a hormone from the Mexican wild yam. It is naturally produced by the adrenals and is one of the most abundant hormones in humans. It begins at age 7 and peaks around 30 years of age. As a supplement, it promises to enhance metabolic functions, increase energy, control stress, maintain proper mineral levels, balance the production of hormones, fight aging, improve memory, build body muscle, and reduce fat. It supposedly reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer s disease, and schizophrenia. Many scientists claim this supplement is useless. 

Precautions The long-term effects on the body are unknown. The many claims are unproven. The over-the-counter product is sometimes an extract of wild yams, which is supposed to convert to DHEA in the body. 

OCN China root colic root North American wild yam rheumatism root... 

Wild yam contains the compound diosgenin, commonly and mistakenly promoted as a natural source of progesterone. Diosgenin has been used as a precursor for the synthesis of progesterone, but the transformation required to form progesterone does not occur in the human body (Dentali 1996). 

An animal study indicated that inflammation of the liver and kidneys was observed in rats administered high doses (790 mg/kg daily) of a wild yam extract for 4 weeks. No inflammation was observed in rats administered the same dose for 2 weeks (Wojcikowski et al. 2008). 

No information on the safety of wild yam in pregnancy or lactation was identified in the scientific or traditional literature. Although this review did not identify any concerns for use while pregnant or nursing, safety has not been conclusively established. 

In rats orally administered 50, 150, or 500 mg/kg of wild yam oleyl alcohol eluant extract daily for 4 days, observation of uterine and vaginal parameters indicated no estrogenic effects of the extract (Zava et al. 1998). 

In a dermal irritation study in rabbits, no irritation was observed after topical application of a single dose of a 10% solution of wild yam oleyl alcohol eluant extract (Hooker 2004). 

No estrogenic activity of a hydroethanolic extract of wild yam was observed in estrogen receptor-positive (MCF-7) human breast cancer cells (Zava et al. 1998). 

In normal kidney cells (NRK49F) and tubular epithelial cells (NRK52E), ethyl acetate, methanol, and water-methanol extracts of wild yam exhibited some toxicity. At concentrations of 5 to 50 pg/ml, induction of epithelial to mesenchymal transdifferentiation was observed (Wojcikowski et al. 2009). 

No information on the safety of wild yam in pregnancy or lactation was identified. 

The LD50 of orally or dermally administered wild yam oleyl alcohol eluant extract in rats could not be determined at doses up to 2 g/kg (Hooker 2004). 

In rats orally administered 790 mg/kg wild yam hydroalcoholic extract daily for 28 days, an increase in fibrosis in the kidneys and inflammation in the liver was observed. No adverse effects on the kidneys or liver were observed in animals treated for 14 days (Wojcikowski et al. 2008). 

Hooker, E. 2004. Final report of the amended safety assessment of Dioscorea villosa (wild yam) root extract. Int.. Toxicol. 23(Suppl. 2) 49-54. 

In dermal toxicity testing, no adverse effects were observed in rats treated with 1 ml/kg of a 1, 3, or 10% concentration of wild yam oleyl alcohol eluant extract daily for 29 days (Hooker 2004). 

In the Ames mutagenicity test with Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98, TAIOO, TA1535, TA1537, and TA1538, no mutagenic activity of an oleyl alcohol eluant extract of wild yam was observed with or without metabolic activation (Hooker 2004). 

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