HERBS: Cat’s Claw

Many people, including me, harbour a fanciful yet plausible belief that nature has indeed created a botanical cure-all buried in the depths of some rain forest and still untouched by civilization. One day, perhaps, we will discover this mythical plant. Until then we have cat’s claw, touted by many as the closest thing yet to an herbal panacea.

Harvested in the Peruvian rain forest, cat’s claw is one of my most widely prescribed herbs. South American herbalists have dispensed it for centuries, and I use it to treat many of the same ailments: digestive problems, ulcers, arthritis and inflammatory ailments. Since the 1970s European researchers have been establishing a sound scientific foundation for these applications and others. The herb can lower blood pressure and cholesterol and, as animal studies suggest, may help to deter blood from clotting. It also contains a number of compounds that, among other effects, may enhance the immune system and inhibit cancer.

Not all varieties of cat’s claw offer the same therapeutic benefit. The Uncarta tomentosa type possesses the most health- promoting qualities. A similar variety, Uttcaria guianesis, is helpful but lacks tomentosa’s most medically important compound, called isopterodine. Brewed teas and diluted extracts, known as tinctures, are probably the best ways to absorb the active ingredients in cat’s claw, although capsules seem to work just as well if they contain a standardized extract. Avoid supplements of ground cat’s claw bark. The bark is indigestible and, therefore, probably of no benefit.

I have found an unacceptably wide variety of potencies between one distributor’s products and another. This makes dosage recommendations difficult. For instance, the cat’s claw I prescribe for my patients is effective in three to six capsules of 500 mg each. An experienced herbal practitioner should be able to advise you.

ALOE VERA
This popular plant represents true home-grown health care. If aloe vera didn’t require light, I’d recommend potting it right inside your medicine cabinet. A living, growing plant (kern a sunny windowsill, of course) is the best source of aloe vera’s healing energy. Commercial ointments are beneficial and convenient, but nothing beats the effectiveness or the economy of fresh aloe resin from a just broken leaf.

Most people use the ‘the plant of immortality’, as the Egyptians called it, to speed the healing of minor burns, cuts and scrapes, but it’s also a soothing salve for sunburn, cellulitis minor electrical shocks and frostbite. Apply the gel as soon as possible, and try to keep the wound covered for at least twenty, four hours, which, at least when treating a burn, will minimize scarring. Although animal studies hint at aloe vera’s role in treating diabetic skin ulcers, don’t rely on it to mend deep wounds or more serious skin injuries. In these cases it can actually impede healing.

Some of the more recent aloe research points to the plant’s additional capabilities against immune weakness, viral infections and, perhaps, cancer. Stronger preparations are necessary here, but they may not always be practical because of the high dosages involved. Oral supplements are frequently prescribed against intestinal toxins, and research shows they can contribute to ulcer therapy. Other research holds out some hope for people with asthma and Type II diabetes.

Don’t eat aloe leaves in an attempt to tap their therapeutic potential, and don’t let the plant’s reputation sway you to use any aloe products billed as ‘natural laxatives’. While the plant’s skin contains a bitter substance that does exert a laxative effect, relief comes at the cost of gripping intestinal pains. Fortunately most commercial manufacturers remove the noxious compound from their products.

Other active ingredients in aloe might reinforce the immune system enough to affect the course of viral infections and cancer, but not enough research has been done to prove this definitively. We do know, however that the best known of these compounds, acemannan, is an approved veterinary treatment for feline leukaemia, believed to be caused by a virus similar in action to HIV. Acemannan’s benefits can be quite dramatic, according to reports I’ve heard from colleagues. In a few small clinical trials, the supplement improved certain indicators of immune system activity in people with AIDS.

Acemannan’s availability and high cost present two major practical obstacles to further clinical and personal experimentation. The effective daily dosage is at least 800 mg – the equivalent of drinking 1.75 litres of aloe juice every day. While that may be feasible for some people, especially when cancer or AIDS is the motivation, we can’t be sure that the juice contains acemannan, which is chemically unstable. The alternative is to convince a veterinarian that you are indeed the family cat. For skin conditions, simply apply the leaf’s contents over the affected area. For intestinal conditions, the effective daily dosage is 1 tablespoon three times a day.