Cat’s Claw

Cat’s claw is a thick woody vine native to Peru, the Amazon rain forest and other tropical areas of South and Central America. Named for its hooked thorns, which resemble the claws of a cat, it can grow up to 98 feet (30 metres) tall. Cat’s claw has been used in traditional and cultural practices in South America for centuries. Indigenous to Peru, the Ashaninka Indians classified it as a 'powerful plant' and used it to restore health. The Ashaninka’s have used the root bark, and the stem bark as well, for generations. To the priests of this tribe cat’s claw is a sacred plant used to eliminate disturbance in the communication between body and spirit. 

Traditionally cat’s claw has been used in Peru in the form of aqueous or alcoholic infusions as an anti-inflammatory agent for arthritis, gastritis and other disturbances of the gastro-intestinal system, treatment of cancer and for different skin disorders. It is also used for diabetes, asthma, diseases of the urinary tract, wounds, premenstrual syndrome, menstrual irregularity and to recover from childbirth, as a tonic to ward off disease and as an abortifacient. 

A randomised clinical trial assessing the effectiveness of cat’s claw in reducing the adverse effects of chemotherapy concluded that it is an effective adjuvant treatment for breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most frequent tumour affecting women worldwide. Some of the recommended treatments involve chemotherapy which has toxic effects including leukopenia and neutropenia (similar blood conditions that both involve low white blood cell counts). Forty patients with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma-Stage II, who underwent a treatment regimen known as FAC (Fluorouracil, Doxorubicin, Cyclophosphamide), were divided into two groups: the cat’s claw group received chemotherapy plus 300mg of dry cat’s claw extract per day and the cancer group that only received chemotherapy and served as the control experiment. Blood samples were collected before each one of the six chemotherapy cycles and blood counts, immunological parameters, antioxidant enzymes and oxidative stress were analysed. Cat’s claw reduced the neutropenia (not enough neutrophils - a type of white blood cell that play a key role in the body's immune system) caused by chemotherapy and was also able to restore cellular DNA damage. Cat’s claw stimulates the immune system meaning increased resistance to immunosuppression which can be caused by chemotherapy, stress and malnutrition. Unfortunately the cytotoxic action of chemotherapy is not directed just at cancer cells, and so healthy cells are also damaged. This study demonstrates that cat’s claw can potentially strengthen the body’s innate defences and help improve the quality of life for patients overall.

References

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