Dioscorea villosa

Latin name: Dioscorea villosa

Short name: Diosc

Common name: Wild Yam | Colic Root | Rheumatism Root | Devil’s Bones | China Root [Clarke], [Hughes].

Primary miasm: Psoric   Secondary miasm(s): Sycotic, Syphilitic

Kingdom: Plants

Family: Dioscoreaceae

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  • Symptomatology
  • Remedy Information
  • Differentiation & Application

A twining North American yam of the family Dioscoreaceae; the remedy is prepared from the fresh root (rhizome), tinctured when recent and potentised by centesimal dilution [Clarke], [Allen]. Phytochemically rich in steroidal saponins (e.g., dioscin; aglycone diosgenin) and resinous principles historically credited with antispasmodic effects on gastrointestinal and biliary smooth muscle—an affinity that mirrors the homœopathic picture of colic and ductal spasm radiating in characteristic tracks [Hughes], [Clarke]. Toxicological notes are scant; pathogenesy arises chiefly from provings and abundant clinical confirmations in flatulent, biliary, and renal colics, pancreatic and duodenal neuralgias, and an anginoid chest pain with radiation, all governed by a keynote reversal of common colic posture: worse bent forward/doubled, better erect and bending backward [Hering], [Allen], [Boericke], [Farrington].

Used by Native American and eclectic traditions for “colic,” cramps, and rheumatic pains; later exploited industrially as a source of steroid precursors (diosgenin), though the folk use was chiefly antispasmodic and carminative [Hughes], [Clarke]. These uses concord with Dioscorea’s homœopathic sphere in spasm of ducts and hollow viscera [Clarke], [Boericke].

Early American provings and clinical observations recorded by Hering and Allen brought out the pathognomonic umbilical colic with radiating pains (to back, chest, arms), biliary/renal colic, and anginal pains extending to the left arm and even fingers, all worse lying or bending forward and better standing erect, walking about, or bending backward [Proving/Clinical—Hering], [Allen], [Clarke]. Frequent bedside confirmations followed in infantile colic (child insists on being carried upright), gall-stone attacks, and “stomach–heart” neuralgias [Farrington], [Boericke], [Nash].

Small intestine & mesenteric plexus — Griping, twisting umbilical colic with wave-like pains shooting in radiating lines to back, chest, arms; pains shift and travel [Hering], [Allen]; see Abdomen/Stomach/Generalities.
Hepatobiliary tractBiliary colic, pains from right hypochondrium to back/inferior angle of scapula, shoulder, and chest; distension and flatus; posture keynotes govern amelioration [Clarke], [Boericke]; see Abdomen/Chest.
Pancreas & duodenum — Epigastric neuralgia with boring pains backward, worse bending forward, better stretching back; flatulence marked [Hughes], [Farrington]; see Stomach/Abdomen.
Renal/ureteric tractRenal colic with radiation to groin and genitals; testes drawn up; spermatic neuralgia; posture modalities as in gut [Hering], [Allen]; see Urinary/Male.
Cardiac–diaphragmatic plexusPrecordial pains with extension to left arm/fingers; worse bending forward/lying; better erect/stretching back; “stomach–heart” axis [Clarke], [Boericke], [Nash]; see Heart/Chest/Respiration.
Spermatic cord & pelvis — Drawing, neuralgic pains from testes/spermatic cord into abdomen/thighs; emissions with pains; coitus or exertion may excite [Hering], [Allen]; see Male/Female.
Abdominal wall & diaphragm — Spasmodic contractions with cutting, twisting; diaphragm cramps push pain to chest and shoulder [Hughes], [Farrington]; see Chest/Stomach.
Nerves (radiation patterns)Wandering neuralgias: pains “fly about,” following nerve tracks; posture determines relief [Hering], [Boger]; see Generalities/Extremities.
Infancy & convalescenceInfantile colic needing upright carrying; adult “bilious” convalescents with gas and posture-fixed pain [Clarke], [Boericke]; see Sleep/Abdomen

  • Standing erect and walking about during colic; cannot sit or lie [Hering], [Allen].
    Bending backward/throwing shoulders and head back; stretching the body long (“uncurled”) [Clarke], [Boericke].
    Straightening up after passing flatus; belching and downward gas discharge relieve in part [Allen], [Boger].
    Loosening clothing over epigastrium/hypochondria during an attack [Clarke].
    Gentle motion in open air, pacing the room, slow walking at night [Hering], [Farrington].
    Warmth to surface with trunk kept erect in biliary/renal colic (comfort measure) [Clarke], [Hughes].
    Pressure with the flat hand while erect (support), though pressure bent double aggravates [Hering].
    Sipping hot water for wind and hiccough in some dyspeptic cases [Clarke].
    Eructations freely vented; avoiding suppression of wind [Allen].
    Being carried upright (infants with colic), not across the lap [Boericke].
  • Bending forward, doubling up, stooping—the contrary of Colocynth [Hering], [Allen], [Farrington].
    Lying down, especially on back after eating; first lying down at night brings pain [Clarke], [Boericke].
    Sitting or confinement in a chair/carriage; needs to be up and about [Hering].
    After eating (even a little); after tea/coffee/tobacco; rich/greasy foods provoke biliary colic [Clarke], [Allen], [Boericke].
    Night and early morning paroxysms; pains wake patient and force him to walk [Hering], [Nash].
    Touch/pressure if it forces flexion; tight waistbands [Clarke].
    Sudden cold on abdomen after heat; draughts across epigastrium [Boger].
    Exertion or sexual excess (spermatic pains; prostrates with abdominal neuralgia) [Allen], [Hering].
    Motion of trunk without erect extension (twisting), which renews shooting pains [Farrington].
    Hasty eating/drinking—traps wind; hiccough follows [Allen].

Aetiology/Colic (Gastro-biliary)
Colocynthis — Violent colic better bending double and hard pressure; anger aetiology. Diosc. is the opposite posture: worse doubled, better erect/backward; marked radiation to chest/arms [Farrington], [Nash].
Magnesia phosphorica — Spasmodic colic better heat and pressure; less radiation. Diosc.: posture law dominates; heat is secondary [Boger].
China — Tympany, relief from belching, weakness after loss of fluids; less shooting radiation and no posture inversion signature [Kent], [Clarke].
Lycopodium — Flatulence with evening (4–8 p.m.) aggravation, right-to-left and upward wind, worse tight clothing; wants to loosen belt; less dramatic posture keynotes than Diosc. [Boger], [Clarke].
Carbo vegetabilis — Extreme flatulence, desire to be fanned, collapse; no strong umbilical-to-arm radiation or erect/backward amelioration [Clarke].
Chelidonium — Biliary pains to right scapula, craves hot drinks, general right-sidedness; Diosc. adds umbilical spoke-radiation and posture law [Clarke], [Farrington].
Nux vomica — Spastic dyspepsia in type-A subjects; worse pressure and early morning; often chilly; lacks the strong erect/backward better of Diosc. [Kent], [Clarke].

Renal/Genital Neuralgia
Berberis vulgarisRadiating renal pains, stitching, changing location, worse jarring; posture less central than in Diosc. [Boger], [Clarke].
SarsaparillaUrethral colic at end of micturition; child must stand; less umbilical focus and chest radiation [Boericke].
Ruta/Lycopodium — Cord/testicular pains with dragging; posture relief not as paradigmatic as Diosc. [Farrington].

Anginal/Precordial pains
Cactus grandiflorusIron band constriction of heart; less gas-relief, posture plays smaller role; Diosc. shows gas–diaphragm–heart link with erect/backward amelioration [Clarke], [Nash].
Spigelia — Sharp precordial pains worse least motion, better rest; eye symptoms; no wind-relief or erect-backward amelioration [Kent].
Kalmia — Shooting cardiac pains down left arm with slow pulse; lacks gastric wind nexus and posture law of Diosc. [Farrington].

Infantile Colic
Chamomilla — Must be carried constantly, cross, one cheek red; knees drawn up (better doubled). Diosc.: child wants to be carried upright, not flexed [Hering], [Boericke].
Colocynthis — Knees to chest relieve; opposite of Diosc. [Farrington].
Carbo veg. — Much wind, collapse tendency; no erect/backward keynote [Clarke].

  • Complementary: Chelidonium — Biliary states; Chel. covers hepatic parenchyma/right scapula; Diosc. controls ductal spasm with erect/backward law [Clarke], [Farrington].
    Complementary: China — Flatulent debility after losses; China rebuilds; Diosc. governs posture-dependent colic [Kent], [Boger].
    Complementary: Berberis — Renal colic with radiations; Diosc. when posture law and umbilical nexus dominate [Clarke].
    Follows well: Nux vomica — After drug/stimulant gastralgia (tea/coffee/tobacco) when posture signs point to Diosc. [Kent], [Clarke].
    Follows well: Lycopodium — When evening flatulence settles but umbilical-radiating pains persist with erect/backward relief [Boger].
    Precedes well: Carbo vegetabilis — If collapse and air-hunger supervene after gas storms [Clarke].
    Antidotes (functional): Nux vomica for medicinal over-irritation from stimulants; Chamomilla in infants where irritability predominates and Diosc. picture blurs [Kent], [Hering].
    Compare: Colocynthis — Posture opposite; both colicky [Farrington], [Nash].
    Compare: Cactus, Spigelia — For chest pains radiating left; posture/wind differentiate Diosc. [Clarke].
    Inimical — None recorded in classical sources [Clarke].

Dioscorea is the geometry of pain: a centre at the umbilicus with spokes of radiation to back, chest, shoulders, arms, groins, and even fingers, under the iron law that flexion enslaves and extension frees. The patient is a living diagram—better standing erect, walking, and bending backward; worse bending forward, doubling up, sitting, or lying. This inversion of the “colic instinct” (which seeks to curl) is the master-key and distinguishes Dioscorea from Colocynth and Mag-phos. The mechanism is a neuralgic spasm of gut and ducts with a diaphragmatic–precordial link: wind and twist at the epigastrium mount to the sternum and shoot to the left arm/fingers, frightening the sufferer with a borrowed mimicry of angina; yet the same pains retreat when the trunk is straightened and chest thrown out, especially if belching or discharge of flatus is allowed—mind settling as the body obeys the law [Clarke], [Farrington], [Nash]. The affinity to hepatobiliary and pancreatic regions explains the right scapular stitches and boring to the spine; the urinary tract shows the same pattern as ureteric pain draws testis upward and compels the man to pace erect, never to crouch [Hering], [Boericke]. In infants, the entire doctrine is enacted wordlessly: laid across the lap they scream; carried upright they are instantly comforted [Boericke].

Miasmatically the picture is psoric–sycotic: functional spasm, gas, and repetition of ductal crises; only in rare anginoid storms does a syphilitic shadow appear. The pace is paroxysmal, with night and early morning aggravation, often after tea, coffee, tobacco, or rich fatty foods; the reactivity is mechanical—posture, loosened clothing, and venting are therapeutic acts as important as the dose [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Core polarities: extension ↔ flexion, erect ↔ recumbent, free venting ↔ suppressed wind, wandering radiation ↔ central twist, and diaphragmatic cramp ↔ precordial fear. Micro-comparisons sharpen the choice: Coloc. doubles and presses; Diosc. straightens and walks. Mag-phos craves heat and pressure; Diosc. craves space and extension. Chelidonium drinks hot, keeps to the right; Diosc. belches wind and draws spokes from the navel. Cactus and Spigelia own the heart; Diosc. borrows it via the diaphragm and returns it unrent when the wind is freed.

Practically, two rules: (1) Enforce the posture law—have the patient stand, arch backward, loosen belt, and walk slowly in open air; coach belching and avoid positions that bend the trunk. (2) Enforce the diet law—ban hasty eating, and curb tea/coffee/tobacco and grease. In acute colic, low to medium potencies repeated at short intervals as pain dictates, then pause the instant the curve turns; in recurrent biliary/ureteric and stomach–heart neuralgias, a judicious 30C (or higher in clear cases) can break the posture-pain reflex and restore ordinary sitting and sleep [Boericke], [Nash], [Farrington]. When Dioscorea is right, the sign is immediate and unmistakable: the sufferer straightens, walks, belches, and smiles.

  • Biliary/duodenal colic with right scapular pains, umbilical twist, radiation to chest/arm, worse bending forward, better erect/backwardDiosc. before morphia in many cases [Clarke], [Farrington].
    Infantile colic where carrying upright instantly soothes; lying across the lap aggravates (opposite of Cham./Coloc.) [Boericke], [Hering].
    Stomach–heart neuralgia: precordial pain to left arm/fingers after meals, better walking erect and throwing chest out [Nash], [Clarke].
    Renal/ureteric colic: pain to genitals with retracted testis, cannot sit/lie; walks and arches for relief [Hering], [Allen].
    • Potency: 3x–6x–12x/6C–30C in acute; repeat every 10–30 minutes until relief, then stop; in recurrent states 30C once daily or every few days according to relapse rhythm [Boericke], [Nash].
    • Adjuncts: Loosen belt, stand/walk, arch back, coach belching, avoid tea/coffee/tobacco/fats, warmth to surface without forcing flexion (e.g., a shawl while standing) [Clarke], [Hughes].
    • Pearls:
    – “Colic that travels and changes place; patient walks and bends backward—Diosc. every time” [Farrington].
    – “Anginoid pain after meals to left arm—relief by erect posture and belching—Diosc. 30” [Nash], [Clarke].
    – “Infant screams on being laid down; carried upright is quiet—Diosc. 6” [Boericke].
    – “Gallstone night attack after pork; could not lie—Diosc. 12x; pain ceased with copious eructations” [Clarke].

Mind
• Anxiety—during colic; must walk about. Restless from visceral pain [Hering].
• Fear—of heart disease during chest pains. Anginoid imitation [Clarke].
• Irritability—cannot sit or be confined. Posture-driven temper [Hering].
• Aversion—sitting; desires to stand/walk. Behavioural key [Allen].
• Consolation—indifferent; mechanical relief rules mood. Gut leads mind [Farrington].
• Better—belching and walking in open air. Wind–mind link [Clarke].

Stomach
• Eructations—relieve; want to belch constantly. Pivotal rubric [Allen].
• Hiccough—after hasty eating. Tea/coffee aggravate [Allen], [Clarke].
• Pain—epigastrium; twisting; radiating to chest/arms; worse bending forward; better bending backward. Keynote [Hering], [Clarke].
• Flatulence—excessive; distension after least food. Diosc. signature [Allen].
• Nausea—slight, with much wind. Neuralgic rather than gastric [Hughes].
• Clothing—tight; aggravates epigastrium. Loosen belt [Clarke].

Abdomen
• Colic—umbilicus; pains radiate and change place. “Spokes from a hub” [Hering], [Allen].
• Colic—worse bending double; better standing erect. Diosc. v. Coloc. [Farrington].
• Flatus—imprisoned; passes with relief. Mechanical law [Allen].
• Biliary colic—pains to right scapula; after fats. Hepatic affinity [Clarke].
• Pancreatic neuralgia—boring to spine; better extension. Duodeno-pancreatic link [Hughes].
• Infants—must be carried upright; lying aggravates. Paediatric keynote [Boericke].

Heart/Chest
• Angina—pains to left arm/fingers; worse bending forward/lying; better erect/bending backward. Hallmark chest rubric [Clarke], [Nash].
• Diaphragm—spasm with precordial pain. Stomach–heart axis [Hughes].
• Oppression—sternum; wind at chest; relieved by belching. Mechanical relief [Allen].
• Clothing—loosen; ameliorates. Practical measure [Clarke].
• Palpitation—during flatulent distension. Reflex [Allen].
• Breathless—after meals; must stand erect. Postural dyspnœa [Clarke].

Urinary/Male
• Renal colic—radiating to groin/testes; testis retracted; cannot lie; must walk. Classic Diosc. [Hering], [Allen].
• Spermatic cord—neuralgia to abdomen/thighs; better extension. Male affinity [Clarke].
• Coitus—after; pains in testes/spermatic cord. Exciting cause [Allen].
• Urging—scant urine during colic; freer after. Reflex pattern [Clarke].
• Position—sitting aggravates genital pains. Posture law [Hering].
• Tenderness—slight; pain is drawing, radiating. Neuralgic quality [Hering].

Extremities
• Pain—left arm/fingers with chest pain. Anginoid radiation [Clarke].
• Neuralgia—wandering; changes place rapidly. General trait [Hering].
• Weakness—legs during colic; better gentle walking. Motion ameliorates [Allen].
• Numbness—left hand with precordial pain. Reflex limb sign [Clarke].
• Shoulder—pain on throwing back relieves chest. Postural test [Clarke].
• Jarring—aggravates wandering twinges. Mechanical sensitivity [Boger].

Generalities
Postureworse bending forward/doubling; better erect/bending backward. Master rubric [Hering], [Farrington].
Radiation—pains fly about; from umbilicus to distant parts. Signature [Allen].
After eating/tea/coffee/tobacco—aggravation. Aetiology [Clarke].
Night/early morning—paroxysms. Time modality [Hering], [Nash].
Belching/passing flatus—relieve. Mechanical law [Allen].
Loosen clothing—ameliorates. Management rubric [Clarke].

Sleep/Fever/Chill
• Sleep—first sleep broken by colic; must rise and walk. Nocturnal enactment [Hering].
• Position—cannot lie; must be propped or stand. Posture repeats [Clarke].
• Dreams—of suffocation/being bent; relieved by extension in dream. Mind–posture echo [Tyler].
• Sweat—cold, clammy, with paroxysms. Intensity marker [Allen].
• Chill—during severe pains; heat follows relief. Vasomotor swing [Hughes].
• Morning—worse on waking if meal was late. Dietary link [Allen].

Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): proving/clinical confirmations—umbilical colic with radiations; posture inversion (worse doubled, better erect/backward); infantile colic; renal/testicular neuralgia.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): proving details—flatulence, eructations relieving, hiccough after hasty meals; wandering pains; spermatic and umbilical symptoms.
Hughes, R. — A Cyclopædia of Drug Pathogenesy (1895): physiological notes on saponins; clinical synthesis of duodeno-pancreatic and hepatobiliary neuralgias; diaphragm linkage.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): full remedy portrait—biliary/renal colic, “stomach–heart” neuralgia, left-arm radiation, management (loosen clothing, posture).
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homœopathic Materia Medica (1927): concise keynotes—opposite of Coloc.; infant carried upright; biliary/renal colic; anginoid pains.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): comparisons (Coloc., Chel., Cactus); organ affinities—diaphragm, pancreas, ducts; posture as therapeutic law.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): modalities and generalities—worse flexion, better extension; cold on abdomen aggravates; flatulent mechanics.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homœopathic Materia Medica (1905): miasmatic colouring; posture-behavioural analysis; differential with Nux, China, Lycopodium.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homœopathic Therapeutics (1898): leaders for Dioscorea—anginoid left-arm pains after eating; rapid relief by erect posture and belching.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homœopathic Therapeutics (1901): therapeutic hints—colics, infantile and biliary; repetition guidance; adjunctive posture.
Lippe, A. — Text-Book of Materia Medica (1866): early American notes—umbilical colic radiating; opposite posture to Colocynth.
Tyler, M. L. — Homœopathic Drug Pictures (1942): essence—“spokes from the navel”; dream motifs; mechanical relief by extension and wind.

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