Pausinystalia Yohimbe

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Pausinystalia Yohimbe

• Tony Jarchow

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Background

• Impotence (erectile dysfunction)
• Inability to get/maintain penile erection
  suitable for intercourse
• Effects about 20 million men in North America
  alone
• Common in around 25 of men over 50
• Physiological inability 85
• Psychological problem 15

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Background

• Previously thought of as taboo and shameful
• Sildenafil (Viagra) introduced in 1990s
• Prior to that, folk remedies relied upon to
  treat erectile dysfunction

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Pausinystalia Yohimbe

• Tropical evergreen tree
• Prefers rich soils
• Partly sunny to mostly shady areas
• Found in rainforests of Nigeria, Cameroon, and
  the Congo
• Can grow up to 90 feet in height
• Elliptical or oblong leaves that are glossy and
  dark green
• Produces tubular yellow, pink, or white flowers
  in winter season

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Pausinystalia Yohimbe

• However, the only secondary metabolite known to
  be medicinally useful found in bark of
  Pausinystalia Yohimbe

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Yohimbine

• Indole alkaloid
• Traditionally taken in a way similar to Cinchona
  (malaria)
• Bark was ground up and taken in tonic
• Presently, Yohimbine is isolated and taken in
  pill form
• Pausinystalia Yohimbe is still the only source of
  commercial yohimbine (not synthesized in labs)

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Yohimbine - C21H26N2O3
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Yohimbine

• How yohimbine does what it does
• Sympathetic nervous system
• Increase in noradrenalin and norepinephrine in
  blood
• Triggers faster heart rate, dilation of blood
  vessels and pupils in the eyes
• These chemicals bind to/dock with alpha-2
  adrenergic receptors and transfer blood from
  digestion and sex organs to other parts of the
  body
• Triggers fight or flight
• Parasympathetic nervous system
• Slower heart rate and more widespread blood flow,
  including to digestive and sex organs
• Triggers feed and breed

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Yohimbine

• Stimulant Like many other stimulants, increases
  noradrenalin and norepinephrine levels in the
  body, increasing heart rate and blood flow
• Blocks alpha-2 adrenergic receptors
• Prevents norepinephrine from binding and being
  taken up by receptors and out of blood stream
• Eliminates crucial step in switching to
  sympathetic nervous system
• Vasodilator Allows more blood to reach the
  extremities and appendages
• In essence, yohimbine provides all the effects of
  sympathetic nervous system MINUS the diversion of
  blood away from sex organs

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Yohimbine

• Dosage
• Preferred sexual response 10mg or less
• More powerful (and more dangerous), longer
  lasting effects 10-50mg
• Hallucinogenic - 50-100mg
• Serious health problems/death - 100mg

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History of Yohimbine Use

• Long history of use in West Africa
• Used, for the most part, as an aphrodisiac
• Chewed on by men before battle for alertness and
  stamina
• Eaten or smoked in high doses (50 -100mg)
• Hallucinogenic, used as visionary drug by shaman
  in rare rituals
• Coupled, in this context, with iboga
• Used in lower doses for coughs, fevers, heart
  disease and leprosy
• Also used for local anesthetic and as a mydriatic

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Yohimbine Uses Today

• Still used as mydriatic in eye examinations
• Still used as hallucinogen in some rituals of the
  Bwiti and other West African religions

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Yohimbine Uses Today

• Also used..
• In tantric sex rituals (doses 10-50mg) of some
  cults and/or religions
• To treat hypertension
• Dilation of blood vessels reduces vascular
  resistance
• As a weight loss supplement
• Due to increase in norepinephrine and fatty acid
  mobilization
• Includes a transdermal patch for local weight
  loss
• In veterinary medicine as a reverse anesthesia

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Yohimbine Uses Today

• Recent studies
• Could possibly be used to fight fatigue in HIV
  and AIDS patients
• Stimulant
• Might suppress symptoms of withdrawal from or
  dampen effects of addiction to opiates
• Receptors that yohimbine blocks are the same ones
  used with the intake of opiates
• By blocking, may prevent transformation of
  receptors to addictive state observed with
  chronic opiate abuse

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Male impotence

• Only FDA approved remedy for erectile dysfunction
• Component of the only allopathic medicines known
  to cause erection in impotent males
• Used in Europe for over 70 years
• Increased heart rate, blood flow, and dilation of
  blood vessels while still in parasympathetic
  nervous system (breed and feed) fuels this
  response
• NOT an aphrodisiac
• Has not been shown to improve or increase sex
  drive of takers, only provides erection suitable
  for intercourse

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Dangers

• Dilation of blood vessels can lead to dangerously
  low blood pressure/fainting
• Increased heart rate, despite dilation of blood
  vessels, can lead to high blood pressure, heart
  problems, overstimulation, and anxiety
• Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor
• Can react badly with hard cheese, homemade bread,
  liver, red wine, and other foods that contain
  tyramine
• Can also react badly with antidepressants
  (another MAOI)

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Studies

• Two double-blind, crossover studies comparing
  yohimbine to placebo
• 25 days of placebo or yohimbine, 14 day wash out
  period, followed by 25 days of either placebo or
  yohimbine (whichever was not taken before)
• 39mg doses
• Of 29 subjects, 12 (44) saw improvement under
  yohimbine, 13 (48) saw more improvement under
  the placebo, and 2 had to drop out due to adverse
  effects of the drug

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Studies

• 11 men with erectile dysfunction and a comparison
  group of men without any sexual problems
• All given either increasing dosages of yohimbine
  (up to 30mg a day) or the placebo for 4 weeks
• Then given the opposite (either placebo or
  yohimbine) for next 4 weeks
• No sign of improvement in sexually healthy men,
  and only 3 of 11 ED subjects reported major,
  noticeable improvements

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Studies

• Despite these two and other studies showing
  yohimbine to be inactive, there were many more
  supporting yohimbine
• These supporting studies were only abstracts and
  harder to find, showing that maybe negative
  studies get more attention because of support for
  Viagra, or because yohimbine is generally
  accepted in the scientific community, so support
  for the drug is old news

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Studies

• Other studies showed that yohimbine can reduce
  opiate withdrawal symptoms by 30, and prevent
  transformation of receptors to addictive forms in
  lab rats exposed to morphine

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Save Pausinystalia Yohimbe!

• It is the only source of commercial yohimbine in
  a market where the drug is increasing in demand
• Takes at least 10 years for the tree to become
  harvestable
• Once stripped of bark, the tree dies
• Only one government has started a Pausinystalia
  Yohimbe plantation program

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Thank you for your time and attention
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Sources Cited

• yohimbe
• last updated January 8th, 2007
• 
  
• last updated May 26th 2003
• http//images.google.com/imgres?imgurlhttp//www.
  physiciansselect.com/images/herbal2520library/her
  bal2520dictionary/Yohimbe-Pausinystalia-yohim.jpg
  imgrefurlhttp//www.physiciansselect.com/yohimbe
  -bark-information.htmh157w143sz5hlenstart
  5tbnid73o3-krTe9jqiMtbnh97tbnw88prev/ima
  ges3Fq3Dpausinystalia2Byohimbe26svnum3D1026h
  l3Den26lr3D26sa3DG
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• Hameei, F.A., S.W. Woods and M.I Rosen. 1997.
  Dose dependant effects of yohimbine on methadone
  maintenance patients. American Journal of Drug
  and Alcohol Abuse. 23 327-334
• Rowland, D.L., K. Kallan and A.K. Slob. 1997.
  Yohimbine, erectile capacity, and sexual response
  in men. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 26 49-63
• Alonso, E., E. Garrido and C. Diez Fernandez.
  2007. Yohimbine prevents morphine-induced
  changes of glial fibrillary acidic protein in
  brainstem and adrenoceptor gene expression in
  hippocampus. Neuroscience Letters. 412 163-167
• Kunelius, P., J. Hakkinen and O. Lukkarinen.
  1997. Is high-dose yohimbine hydrochloride
  effective in the treatment of mixed-type
  impotence? A prospective, randomized, controlled
  double-blind crossover study. Urology. 49
  441-444