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NOVEMBER 1999
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the healing barks Uņa de Gato The cat's claw comes from the Spanish Uņa de Gato. It has the scientific names Unicaria tomentosa and Unicaria guianensis; names that come from a plant specie of the Unicaria type of the Rubiaceous family, unique to South America. This plant specie grows in South America, particularly in the Iquitos region of Peru. This climbing plant or vine, hangs on the trees of the Amazonian forest, with the help of small claw's located at the base of it's leaves, similar to that of a cat, hence it's name: cat's claw. It is the combination of the barks of two species reproducing themselves in the jungle, and on the South American plateaus, that are harvested and used for therapeutic purposes. Living in a humid climate, at an altitude between 400 and 800 meters, the vines are grown and used mainly in Peru and in the South American continent's center. Mainly used in Peru local traditions, the natives associate multiple virtues to the Uņa de Gato. Indeed, they use the tree extracts to treat diverse health problems such as inflammatory states (arthritis and rheumatism), gastric or intestinal problems, and even problems related to the menstrual cycle which the extracts would normalize. Also, it's decoction (in topical and systemic uses), is frequently used to relieve many types of infections frequent in the jungle, since the Uņa de Gato has an excellent aptitude to strengthen the immune system. It possesses antiviral, immuno-stimulant, and regenerative proprieties of body cells. Even more spectacularly, according to several south-American medical sources, the Uņa de Gato would be one of the best remedy to prevent and fight cancer, due to it's capacity to dissolve cancerous tumors, even in the most advanced stages of the disease. Nowadays, scientists are studying the curative and anti-cancerous proprieties of the Uņa de Gato. The actual interest for this plant specie, still poorly known in northern countries, dates back to thirty years of scientific research, around the 1970's. At this time, a European physician by the name of Klaus Keplinger heard about the writings of a Peruvian man treated and healed from an extract of. Since that time, researchers began serious scientific research . Klaus Keplinger held the first patent for an extract of Uņa de Gato the plant in 1989. Other scientific proof have been reported and published by French researchers since 1982, in the journal Planta Medica. Published under the title Unicaria guianensis alkaloid, this scientific article elaborates on the Uņa de Gato com-position. This plant possesses composites of the rubaceous family such as the osindols tetracyclic and pentasoic alkaloids. The biochemical analysis of these bioactive alkaloids has indicated the presence of substances such as pteropodine, speciophylline, mitraphylline and diverse phytochemical elements. Those elements present interesting laboratory results for the treatment of cancer, confirming the benefits reported by the South American natives. In conclusion, since the Uņa de Gato toxicity seems very low (according to scientific literature), the secondary effects associated with the consumption of this plant's extract would be almost null. Nowadays, the Uņa de Gato remains one of the best stimulant of the immune system available in medicinal plants. As for its spectacular cancer curative proprieties, other scientific research have begun. They should provide satisfactory answers relating to the treatment of this disease, unfortunately still so widespread in Occident. Kathia Roy Bibliography:
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