Yohimbe - Yohimbine: What's the Difference? Herbal yohimbe products generally consist of
yohimbe bark. These products are available in a varity of forms (capsules, tablets, tinctures and the whole herb) and are usually referred to simply as yohimbe. The isolated, active ingredient in yohimbe bark is an extract known as yohimbine.

Referred to as yohimbine hydrochloride by the pharmaceutical industry, yohimbine has been used to treat male and female sexual disorders for the last 80 years. In fact, before the introduction of Viagra®, yohimbine was the only FDA-approved medication for treating impotence. Yohimbine is available by prescription in 5.4 mg tablets, although most over-the-counter (OTC) yohimbe products contain significant concentrations.

One researcher examined a varity of OTC yohimbe products and found many of them to contain more yohimbe than the prescription variety. He also found that the cost of many yohimbe herbal products to be lower than the pharmaceutical products.

One advantage of using herbal yohimbe is that it contains a varity of complementary chemical compounds that may buffer the powerful effects of naturally occurring yohimbine. While we focus mainly on the herbal acpects of yohimbe the scientific literature primarily examines the effects of yohimbine. The herb and its extract have essentially the same sexual effect, the study results can be applied to yohimbe.

How Yohimbine Works - Reseach suggests that yohimbine works by duplicating a bio-chemical event involved in the production of an erection. The normal physiology of an erection involves a process known as alpha-2 adrenergic blockade. The system involves the inhibition of an adrenal mechanism that increases arterial blood flow to the penis, while at the same time decreasing blood flow from the penis, thus encouraging an erection.

Yohimbine mimics this system by blocking key receptor sites, which temporarily obstructs the alpha-2 adrenergic system. Its action can be compared to putting tape over a light switch to prevent the light from bieng turned off. Recent research indicates that this same mechanism may be responsible for the increased sex drive, as the adrenergic system is critical factor in both libido and sexual behavior.

Further explanations for yohimbine's sexual properties come from a recent human study that shows it can increase blood levels of the neurotransmitter, norepinephrine, by 66%. Norepinephrine is considered to be one of the body's most powerful sexual chemicals, as it directly stimulates the sex control center within the brain, the hypothalamus.

Yohimbine is also a mild serotonin inhibitor. It has been found that when larger than normal amounts of serotonin are produced in the body, blood pressure, nervousness, depression, and exhaustion are increased. There is also likely to be a loss of interest in sex. There is a possibility that some forms of impotence are not psychologically based or due to any waning of one's glandular manhood, but may simply be the result of increased serotonin levels in the brain. Conversely, substances which inhibit serotonin are likely to have an apparent aphrodisiacal influence.

After a long fight, it was approved by the F.D.A. as a treatment for male impotence. In 1990 there were two drugs available, Yohimex, made by Kramer Laboratories of Miami, FL. and Yocon, made by Palisades Pharmaceuticals of Tenafly, NJ. Both are used to treat males who have physical or psychological problems in achieving and maintaining erections. They must be sought after because in 1992, six US drug companies were offering to supply the world with yohimbine.

The active ingredient is yohimbine, an alkaloid extract from yohimbe bark.