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Schwabe News Volume 4 | Issue 7 | July 2013

Okoubaka aubrevillei

Okoubaka aubrevillei belongs to the family of Octonematacae.  It grows in Africa, Ghana and in Nigeria.  It was introduced in homoeopathy by Dr. Willmar Schwabe.  The tree is 25m. high and about 3m. wide.  This species is rather remarkable by the legends which surround it.  The Ivoirians (Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, a country in West Africa) consider this as powerful protector and hence refuse to cut it.  They believed that a piece of the bark worn on oneself will prevent from accidents.  Folk uses cover antidote to poison (as lotion),  tachycardia (as drink), curing headache as nasal instillations, the generalised oedemas (as vapour bath), hematoma (as compressor), etc. Preliminary researches indicate the presence of saponosides in the leaves.  The bark of the trunk or the roots of Okoubaka aubrevillei contain some traces of alkaloids.¹

Bark and leaves of the stout tree are used in the preparation of Okoubaka mother tincture.  The tree is found in Africa, West of Ghana, Nigeria and other parts as cultivated trees.

Made from the bark, the tincture contains about 60% alcohol.² A report on clinical experiences with the drug on 700 cases was published by Von E. Schluren in 1991.  It claims purifying effect in different intoxications, confirms usefulness on hey fever, liver, gall-bladder and pancreas illnesses as well as in headache, hypertension, insomnia and lethargy.³

Julian had worked on it and describes a clinical pathogenesis and clinical uses based on the cases he had worked on.  It is indicated for troubles due to food poisoning, allergic troubles, pancreatic reflexes following intoxication by insecticides, troubles of intoxication following different infections and nicotine intoxication with gastric uneasiness.  There could be many sources for insecticides, infections and nicotine (by passive intake) of tobacco rich fumes.  It is used in cases of repeated headache, vertigo, weakness of memory, difficulty to concentrate, anorexia, distension and fullness of the stomach, erutations, nausea, sometimes vomiting often accompanied by colic and or diarrhoea; flatulent dyspepsia, heaviness and tension in the gastric region, aerocolia, unstability of glycemia, cardiospasm and venous troubles of the lower limbs.   It is useful in residual symptoms of enterocolitis, infectious of influenza, and tropical diseases.¹

Recommended dose: 10 to 20 drops 2-3 times a day

References:

1. O. A. Julian, Materia Medica of New Homoeopathic Remedies, RadarOpus 1.33, Archibel S.A. Rue Fontaine St. Pierre 1E, Zoning Industriel de la Fagne, 5330 Assesse, Belgium.
2. P. N. Varma, Indu Vaid, Encyclopaedia of Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia, Updated edition 2007, B. Jain Publishers, New Delhi.
3. Allergemeine Homoeopathische Zeitung 6/1991