What is Wild Yam used for?
Traditional/Ethnobotanical uses Wild yam was popularized by the Eclectic medical movement in the 19th century for its supposed antispasmodic properties and prescribed for biliary colic and spasm of the bowel. More recently, it has been promoted for the relief of nausea in pregnancy, and for amenorrhoea and dysmenorrhea. Further indications have been reported for urinary tract infections, rheumatoid arthritis, cholera, nervous excitement, and gas expulsion. Hormone replacement Much of the current herbal use of wild yam is predicated on the misconception that the diosgenin contained in the product can be converted by the human body into steroid hormones, particularly progesterone, through the intermediate dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). This notion appears to be based on diosgenin’s use as a synthetic precursor of cortisone and of the steroids found in birth control pills. There is no scientific evidence to support the notion that diosgenin or dioscin can be converted by the body into hum
