Damiana
by John Henry Clarke — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica
Historical reference for practitioners and students. The statements below reflect the named author’s homeopathic teaching and do not establish treatment effectiveness. This text is not medical advice and must not replace appropriate diagnosis or care.
Damiana. N. O. Turneraceæ. Tincture of fresh plant.
Clinical
Amenorrhœa / Dysmenorrhœa / Fatigue / Impotence / Leucorrhœa / Migraine / Prostate, affections of / Spermatorrhœa / Sterility / Urine, incontinence of
Characteristics
Hale has collected from old-school sources much experience respecting this drug, showing its power over the genito-urinary system. The herb Damiana (the local name of Turn. a.), has long been a domestic medicine in Mexico, where it is used to "invigorate the system." Indian hunters discovered that a decoction of it was a great invigorator after wearisome journeys; and they also found in it a cure for inability to exercise the reproductive functions in both sexes. Hale gives many cases illustrating the latter. Among the causes of the defect in the cured cases are injury to spine from a fall; sexual excess; syphilis or gonorrhœa, in the men; and amenorrhœa, dysmenorrhœa, and leucorrhœa in the women. Douglass (Hahn Ad., xxxix. 660) reports three cases of incontinence of urine: Man, 63, for four years has had dribbling of urine day and night. Turn. 2x, in water, four times a day, cured in two months. Another use of Turn. is recorded (H. R. xii., 410) in severe migraine, "One or two doses given within an hour causes the headache to cease and induces sleep, from which the patient wakens free from headache and with good appetite." This is perhaps analogous to the power of Turn. to dispel fatigue.
Relations
Compare: Impotence, injuries, over-exertion, fatigue, Bellis, Arn. Prostatic affections, Sabal., Solid. Migraine, Epipheg.