Overview of Euphorbia Tirucalli

According to Stuart et.al. Bali-bali is from the family of euphorbiaceae, it is an erect.

smooth, somewhat fleshy shrub or small tree, 2 to 5 meters high, growing to 30 feet in the wild.
Branches are green, somewhat fleshy, cylindric, clustered or scattered, about 5 millimeters thick.
There are no leaves except for a few, small, linear-oblong ones which are about 1 centimeter long
or less, soon disappearing to leave the stems smooth and cylindrical, glossy green and pencilthick. Involucres are shortly-stalked, clustered in the forks of the smaller branches, small, and
turbinate. Each cell has a solitary seed. It is scattered from Luzon to Mindanao and usually found
as a garden hedge.
Uses of Euphorbia Tirucalli
1. In the Philippines, Father Sta. Maria used this as heated root scraping mixed with coconut oil
and then applied externally to the stomach to relieve pain. Poultices of stems used for
healing of fractures of bones the latex is used for wound healing. The milky juice, in small
doses, is purgative; in large doses, emetic. Milky juice also applied to itches and insect bites.
It is also used for ear aches, whooping cough, asthma. Also, used to remove warts. Latex
employed as a cure for wounds. Contact with eyes may cause blindness. Decoction of the
branches for colic and stomach pains. The latex may cause eye irritation or blindness.
Externally, a warm rubefacient remedy for toothaches, rheumatism, Milky juice used to raise
blisters, especially in syphilitic nodes. Juice, given with butter, said to cure affections of the
spleen and acts as a purgative in colic and bowel complaints. Juice used as drops for
earaches. Latex applied to various skin lesions: wounds, warts, swollen glands, earaches,
and tumors of the nose. Roots used for treatment of schistosomiasis and sexually transmitted
diseases. Latex used for sexual impotency and sterility. Latex used to promote breast
enlargement. Latex boiled in milk used as antidote for poisoning and snake bites. Decoction
of tender branches or roots used for colic and gastralgia. In Java bark is applied to fractures.
Fresh, acrid juice used as vesicatory; also used to remove warts. Infusion of roots given for
bone pains. Poultice of root or leaves used for ulcerations of the nose and for hemorrhoids.
Decoction of wood applied on skin in leprosy and paralysis of the hands and feet following
childbirth. Decoction of roots used to relieve pains in the abdomen; also used as purgative.
In Africa, root used for snakebites; the latex for skin tumors, syphilitic ulcers; seeds and

latex for intestinal parasites; decoctions of the wood for bacterial infections. In Malaysia,
stems are pounded and used for swellings. Also used for hemorrhoids. In the Amazon,
Madagascar and South Africa, latex used as application to warts, rheumatism, neuralgia and
toothaches. Bark of plant used to treat fractures. In Dutch Indies, poultice of pounded stems
are used to extract thorns. Root infusion for aching bones. In India, latex used for asthma,
cough, earache, neuralgia, rheumatism, toothache and warts. Paste of fresh leaves and latex
diluted with water used for cancer. In Peru, used for abscesses, asthma, cancer,
stomachaches and toothaches. In Brazil, latex is used as folk medicine against syphilis. It is
also used as a Repellent in Africa and in the Philippines the latex is used as a fish poison.
Toxic effects of Euphorbia Tirucalli:
2. According to Marcia CBN Varricchio et. Al. (2009) Euphorbia tirucalli is a plant knows as
Aveloz that the latex contains phorbol esters which has nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic,
immunosuppressive action and tumor co-promoting activity. Oral administration of this latex
has toxic effects in high dilutions in healthy mice over a period of 18 weeks.
Bleeding Time and Clotting Time:
3. Bleeding time is a laboratory test used to assess platelet function and the ability to form clot.
The normal bleeding time noted is within 1-9 minutes and in children it is usually longer 113minutes. It is also more prolonged in females than in males. So more than 9-15 minutes is
interpreted as platelet dysfunction and if it is more than 15 minutes it is usually critical and
the test should be discontinued and pressure must be applied. Activated clotting time is used
to measure the anticoagulant effect of unfractionated heparin and usually range from 80 to
160 seconds.
Wound Healing
4. Wound healing is the process by which skin or other body tissue repairs itself after
trauma.This process is divided into predictable phases: blood clotting (hemostasis),
inflammation, tissue growth (proliferation) and tissue remodeling (maturation). Blood
clotting may be considered to be part of the inflammation stage instead of a separate stage.

1. Godofredo U. Stuart Jr., M.D.(2016) http://www.stuartxchange.com/Bali-bali.html

2. Marcia CBN Varricchio et al (2009): Chronic toxicological effects of high diluted
solutions of Aveloz (Euphorbia tirucalli L.) on healthy mice: a preliminary study
3. Edward Charbek, MD(2016) http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2085022overview#a2
4. Vadim Kostousov, MD(2016) http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2084818-overview
5.