Yew

This Ingredient Helps With:

Description

Medicinal Parts

The medicinal parts are the fresh leaves, the branch twig tips, and the branches.

Flower and Fruit

The flowers are inconspicuous and dioecious. The male florets appear in autumn in yellowish catkins in the axils of the annual needle. The female florets, with only 1 pistil, are on short pedicles, which have scalelike high leaves. The hard, pea-sized, dark-brown seed is surrounded by a crimson, pulpy, beaker-shaped, sweet, and edible aril.

Leaves, Stem, and Root

The Yew may be a bush or small tree approximately 17 m high with a trunk diameter of over 1 m. The trunk has red-brown bark. The numerous branches are crowded and evergreen. The needles are 2 to 3 cm long, arranged in double rows, soft, and acute. They are glossy dark green above, have a distinct midrib, and are lighter green beneath, matte, with no resin.

Characteristics

Yew is poisonous.

Habitat

The plant is common in large areas of Europe as far as Anatolia and Sicily.

Production

Yew leaves are the needles of Taxus baccata.

Other Names

Chinwood, Common Yew, English Yew, European Yew

Actions & Pharmacology

Compounds

Diterpene esters of the taxane-type (mixture is known as taxine, 0.6-2.0%): including among others, taxine A, taxine B, taxol

Flavonoids: including among others, sciadopytisin, ginkgetin, sequoia flavone (biflavonoids)

Effects

In animal experiments, the taxin, a mixture of different ester alkaloids, leads to an improvement in cardiac metabolism. The motility-inhibiting effect may be attributable to the biflavonoid fraction. In higher doses the drug is cardiotoxic and can cause tachycardiac arrhythmia leading to diastolic cardiac arrest.

Indications & Usage

Unproven Uses

The cooked Yew leaves are used to promote menstruation; to treat diphtheria, epilepsy, worm infestation, and tonsillitis; and as an abortifacient. The plants are highly toxic and their use is not recommended.

Homeopathic Uses

The drug is used for poor digestion and skin pustules.

Contraindications

The drug is considered an abortifacient and therefore should not be used during pregnancy.

Precautions & Adverse Reactions

General

The drug is severely toxic: 50-100 g Yew needles (fresh weight) are fatal for an adult. The red seed coat of the berries, although not the green seed, is free of toxic taxane derivatives.

Use in Pregnancy

The drug is used as an abortifacient.

Overdosage

Symptoms of poisoning include queasiness, vomiting, severe abdominal pain, and feelings of vertigo, followed later by unconsciousness, mydriasis, reddening of the lips, tachycardia, and superficial breathing. Death results from asphyxiation and diastolic cardiac arrest.

Following gastrointestinal emptying (inducement of vomiting, gastric lavage with burgundy-colored potassium permanganate solution, sodium sulphate) and use of activated charcoal, treatment for poisonings consists of treating spasms with diazepam or barbital (IV). In case of shock, plasma volume expanders should be infused. The administration of lidocaine has proven effective in cardiac rhythm disorders. Monitoring of kidney function, blood coagulation and liver values is necessary. Intubation and oxygen respiration may also be necessary.

Dosage

Mode of Administration

Yew is used in homeopathic dilutions of the mother tincture.

Homeopathic Dosage

5 drops, 1 tablet, or 10 globules, every 30 to 60 minutes (acute) or 1 to 3 times daily (chronic); parenterally: 1 to 2 ml sc, acute: 3 times daily; chronic: once a day (HAB1).

Storage

The mother tincture should be protected from light.

Literature

Aljancic I, Popovic K, Stefanovic M. Biflavone from Taxus baccata L. J Serb Chem Soc. 60; 265-267. 1995Aljancic I, Popvic K, Gasic MJ, Stefanovic M. Investigation of the extract of the needles of the domestic Taxus baccata L. J Serb Chem Soc. 61 (11); 947-950 1996Breeden SW, Jordan AM, Lawrence NJ, McGown AT. 2′-Deacetoxyaustrospicatine from the Stem Bark of Taxus baccata. Planta Med. 62 (1); 94-95. 1996Chattopadhyay SK, Saha GC, Sharma RP, Kumar S, Roy R. A Rearranged Taxane from the Himalayan Yew Taxus wallichiana. Phytochemistry 42 (3); 787-788. 1996Das B, Padma Rao S, Srinivas KV, Yadav JS, Das R. A Taxoid from Needles of Himalayan Taxus baccata. Phytochemistry 38; 671-674. 1995Das B, Padma Rao S, Srinivas KV, Yadav JS. Lignans, Bioflavones and Taxoids from Himalayan Taxus baccata. Phytochemistry 38; 715-717. 1995Denis JN, Greene AE. Preparation of a Novel Paclitaxel / Docetaxel Derivative from Taxagifine. Nat Prod Lett. 8; 27-32. 1996Gabetta B, Orsini P, Peterlongo F, Appendino G. Paclitaxel Analogues from Taxus baccata. Phytochemistry 47 (7); 1325-1329 (1998)Guo Y, Vanhaelen-Fastre R, Diallo B, Vanhaelen M. Immunoenzymatic Methods Applied to the Search for Bioactive Taxoids from Taxus baccata. J Nat Prod. 58 (7); 1015-1023. 1995Guo Y, Daillo B, Jaziri M, Vanhaelen-Fastre R, Vanhaelen M. Two New Taxoids from the Stem Bark of Taxus baccata. J Nat Prod. 58 (12); 1906-1912. 1995Guo Y, Diallo B, Jazir M, Vanhaelen-Fastre R, Vanhaelen M. Immunological Detection and Isolation of a New Taxoid from the Stem Bark of Taxus baccata. J Nat Prod. 59 (2); 169-172. 1996Jenniskens LHD, Identification of six taxine alkaloids from Taxus baccata needles. In: JNP 59(2):117-123. 1996.Kelsey RG, Vance NC, Taxol and cephalomannine concentrations in the foliage and bark of shade-grown and sun-exposed Taxus baccata trees. In: JNP 55:912-917. 1992.Kingston DGI, Sorties and surprises: unexpected reactions of taxol. In: PM 62, Abstracts of the 44th Ann Congress of GA, 5. 1996.Kongreβbericht, Taxol in der onkologischen Therapie. In: ZPT 15(2):114. 1994.Kubitschek J, Eibenwirkstoff gegen Malaria. In: PZ 140(8):684. 1995.Ma W et al., New bioactive taxoids from cell cultures of Taxus baccata. In: JNP 57(1):116. 1994.Poupat Ch et al., Noveau taxoide basique isolé des feuilles D'if, Taxus baccata: La 2-désacétyltaxine A. In: JNP 57(10):1468-1469. 1994.Schneider B, Taxol, ein Arzneistoff der Eibe. In: DAZ 134(36):3389. 1994.Vanek T et al., Study of the influence of year season on taxanes content in Taxus baccata bark. In: PM 59(7):A699. 1993.Vidensek N, Lim P, Campbell A, Carlson C, Taxol content in bark, wood, root, leaf, twig and seedling from several Taxus species. In: JNP 53:1609-1610. 1994.
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This information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments.
Talk to your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you. Please read this important disclaimer about the information within our guide.

Coenzyme Q1-

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