Herbs & Supplements

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Uses

In the United States, sarsaparilla is sold primarily as an oral remedy for skin conditions such as psoriasis. Chemicals in sarsaparilla may attach to endotoxins (the remnants of bacterial cells) that are common in individuals with psoriasis and certain other conditions. By eliminating or reducing the amounts of endotoxins in the body, sarsaparilla may help to relieve the condition.

Orally, sarsaparilla also has weak diuretic and laxative effects, which may make it useful in promoting the loss of excess water from the body and also in treating mild constipation. It may also promote sweating, which may help to reduce fever. Additionally, sarsaparilla contains chemicals that may act as a mild expectorant?a substance that may loosen mucus in the lungs and promote coughing. However, these effects are based mainly in traditional use. None has been verified through clinical studies and they may vary greatly depending on the amounts and type of sarsaparilla that is used.

Some anti-inflammatory and pain-reliving effects associated with sarsaparilla made it useful in early medicine for treating arthritis and related conditions. Inflammation is a response to irritation, injury, or infection. It usually includes pain, redness, and swelling in the area of the damage and it can occur within body tissues as well as on the surface of the skin. In recent studies, the inflammation of artificially produced arthritis was blocked in a significant number of laboratory animals that were given oral sarsaparilla. Chemicals in sarsaparilla are believed to affect parts of the immune system that decrease inflammation. No human studies have been conducted to test this possible use of sarsaparilla, however.

Laboratory studies mainly using breast cancer, leukemia, melanoma, or liver cancer cells have shown possible anticancer effects for chemicals in sarsaparilla. From very early results, sarsaparilla appears to stop the division of some cancer cells and it may also cause cancer cells to break up faster than they would normally. Also only in laboratory and animal studies, sarsaparilla has blocked nerve cell damage caused by amyloids, protein fibers that form in various organs, including the brain. Normally, amyloids are broken up and reabsorbed by the body. In Alzheimer?s disease, one type--beta amyloids--accumulate in clumps known as neurofibrillary tangles (if they are inside brain cells) or amyloid plaques (if they are between brain cells). The damage they cause eventually results in dementia, an increasing deficiency in thought processes.

Recently, slightly antifungal effects have been found in laboratory studies of sarsaparilla. Some additional laboratory research seems to show that oral sarsaparilla extract may be effective against a type of parasitic worm that is common in Asia. Human clinical studies are needed to verify these possible anti-infective effects, however.