Condurango

(Marsdenia cundurango)

Family: Apocynaceae & Asclepiadaceae
Taxon: Marsdenia cundurango Rchb. F
Synonyms: Marsdenia reichenbachii, Gonolobus condurango, Echites acuminata
Common names: bejuco de condor, bejuco de sapo, condor plant, common condorvine, condurango, condurango blanco, eagle vine, tucacsillu
Parts Used: Vine bark

HERBAL PROPERTIES AND ACTIONS

Main Actions: calms stomach reduces nausea stimulates appetite aids digestion increases bile relieves stomach pain expels gas

Other Actions: supports gallbladder stops bleeding kills cancer cells astringent

Standard Dosage Vine bark Infusion: 1 cup 3 times daily Extract: 3ml twice daily Capsules: 2g twice daily

Condurango is a tropical woody vine that can be found in the high mountain jungles and cloud forests between 2,000 and 3,000 m in elevation. It is indigenous to the lower slopes of the Andes in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. Condurango gets its local name, condor vine or eagle vine, from the large and weighty condor eagles that often use this sturdy vine as roosts and perches.

Condurango contains a group of novel glycosides and steroids. After more than 100 years since it was introduced to the West as a plant active against cancer, a group of Japanese scientists published several studies and filed several Japanese and U.S., patents on these novel compounds as anti-tumor substances in the 1980s. The vine bark is reported to contain an average of 1 to 3% of these various glycosides. However, since filing these patents, research has not progressed past animal studies and into human studies and the true anti-tumor effect in humans still remains unknown today.

Other constituents in condurango include hydroxylated pregnane derivatives, chlorogenic and caffeic acids, as well as various cyclitols, flavonoids, and coumarin derivatives.

Condurango has been reported with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant actions. In test tube studies, it was shown to be highly active against the mycobacterium that causes tuberculosis but inactive against any of the viral strains they tested it against. Its use as a digestive aid was studied and validated in the mid-1980s when scientists reported that it increased various digestive enzymes and juices in the stomach.

Condurango has long been used for a variety of digestive and stomach problems by the local people where this tropical vine grows. It aids digestion by being a bitter stimulant to increase digestive juices. It is also used to relieve nausea and vomiting, to calm nervous stomachs, to relieve stomach pain and cramps, for gastric ulcers, and to increase bile in the gallbladder, liver and pancreas.

In herbal medicine systems today in Peru condurango is considered an analgesic, appetite stimulant, carminative (expels intestinal gas), chologogue (increases gallbladder bile), hemostat (stops bleeding), stomachic (aids digestion), and tonic. It is often used for a variety of digestive disorders and is especially recommended for bleeding gastric ulcers. In Brazil, condurango is used for appetite loss, dyspepsia, gastralgia, gastritis, neuralgia, stomachaches, stomach cancer, stomach ulcers, and rheumatism.

Following up a brief summary other ethnomedical uses of condurango:

Region	Uses
Brazil	as a bitter tonic, depurative, and stomachic; for appetite loss, dyspepsia, digestive disorders, gastralgia, gastritis, neuralgia, stomachaches, stomach cancer, stomach ulcers, and rheumatism
Colombia	as a stomachic; for cancer
Ecuador	for cancer, inflammation, snakebite, stomach cancer, and syphilis
Germany	for dyspeptic complaints and loss of appetite
Latin America	for syphilis and venereal diseases
Peru	as an analgesic, appetite stimulant, carminative, chologogue, hemostat, and tonic; for anemia, anorexia, bleeding ulcers, cancer, dyspepsia, digestive disorders, gastralgia, gastritis, snakebite
United Kingdom	as a adaptogenic, alterative, anti-emetic, appetite stimulant, bitter, circulatory stimulant, and stomach relaxant; for anorexia nervosa, gastric ulcers, nausea, nervous indigestion, and stomach cancer
United States	as an alterative, analgesic, antiseptic, appetite stimulant, bitter tonic, circulatory stimulant, cystostatic, digestive stimulant, diuretic, emmenagogue, hemostat, nervine, restorative, stomachic, stomach sedative, and tonic; for anorexia nervosa, beri-beri, cancer, catarrhal gastritis, digestive disorders, duodenal ulcers, gastric debility, gastric ulcers, gastritis, loss of appetite, nausea, rheumastism, snakebite, stomachaches, stomach cancer, stomach ulcers, syphilis, and ventricular ulcers

CONDURANGO PLANT SUMMARY

Main Preparation Method:	infusion or fluid extract
Main Actions (in order):	stomachic, anti-emetic, chologogue, anti-ulcerous, pain reliever (stomach)
Main Uses:	for indigestion, nausea, vomiting and stomach pain as a bitter stomach tonic to increase appetite for gastric ulcers as a digestive aid to increase and stimulate digestive juices and bile for nervous eating disorders (anorexia, etc.)
Properties/Actions Documented by Research:	antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-leukemic, antioxidant, antitumorous, stomach stimulant
Properties/Actions Documented by Traditional Use:	adaptogenic, alterative, analgesic, anti-emetic, appetite stimulant, bitter, chologogue, circulatory stimulant, emmenagogue, hemostat, nervine, stomach relaxant, tonic
Contraindications:	One case report was published that a patient with a known latex allergy had an allergic reaction to a condurango tea. If you are allergic to latex, it is best to avoid using this plant.
Drug Interactions:	None reported.

 








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