Sukie said: "there is no real study on this herbal use that I have heard of in the past (no time to look today)" and someone else said they didn't know the scientific name. Therefore: Common name: devil's club, devilsclub. Family: Araliaceae Species: Oplopanax horridus Miq., Bot. syn.: Echinopanax horridus; Fatsia horrida; Riconophyllum horridum A good scholarly page from the American Botanical Council: http://www.herbalgram.org/herbalgram/articleview.asp?a=2697 They say this regarding the use of Devil's Club to regulate blood sugar: (my editing) "... a pancreatic tonic that is purported to help lower blood sugar levels by increasing the efficiency of insulin production in the pancreas .... exhibited a hypoglycemic effect in lab hares.... Subsequently, in experiments involving two human subjects... presented some additional evidence to support the hypoglycemic activity of devil's club's root and stem bark. However, additional ... data that do not substantiate the hypoglycemic activity reported previously. ... additional research and more rigorous clinical trials are required to validate and characterize or to disprove hypoglycemic properties in devil's club." The bibliography on this page is extensive. Another page with somewhat less scholoarly info is the Plants for a Future database: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Oplopanax+horridus There are conflicting reports as to whether devil's club is helpful. Here are some factors that would affect the pharmacological effect of the herb in a given case: (1) wrong part of plant: the native American source is typically the inner bark from the plant itself; the herb-store source is typically the root. These may contain different chemicals or different concentrations of the relevant chemicals (there also may be differences in chemical concentrations due to growing conditions). (2) wrong or different species: There are two other species of the same genus (from Russia and Japan) that are sometimes lumped with the North American plant, which have different chemical constituents (or at least proportions). Herb stores may not distinguish them. (3) herb addresses the wrong problem: the mechanism in affecting blood sugar seems to be some regulation of the effect of insulin. This is a complex interaction, and whether the drug has the appropriate effect (or any effect at all) in a given case may well depend on exactly what the problem is. For instance, blood sugar can be high because no insulin is being produced, or it can be high because the insulin, while present, is being blocked and isn't working to lower blood sugar. If the problem is that the insulin is not working, then making more insulin won't help. I'm also not sure if the purported effect on insulin production is direct or whether it is possibly related to the herb's "significant antibacterial, antimycobacterial (active against bacteria in the genus Mycobacterium), antifungal, and antiviral properties". That possibility introduces another layer of complexity. I'm a great advocate of herbal medicine, but it's important to realize that herbs are just drugs in raw form. They are not necessarily safer or easier to use than modern medicines; on the contrary. They usually present drugs in combinations that have not been rigorously tested. It may be a 'natural' combination, but that's not the same as being safe. Nor is traditional use the same as scientific testing, which is needed to determine if a particular drug (or herb!) should be used for a particular case of a disease. In the cultural tradition, the use of the herb for spiritual cleansing or to combat witchcraft is as important (or more so) as any medical effect, and while there is traditional evidence that the herb works as medicine, there is also traditional evidence that the herb works against witchcraft. The support for one is as good as for the other. So anecdotal (traditional) evidence should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt, and if this is the treatment route you wish to pursue, it's important that your vet be aware of the relevant studies and possible effects. Better yet, get your vet to document the particulars of the disease and how it responded to whatever treatment is given. Perhaps we can gather the data needed to unravel the particulars of how the herb works, or doesn't. and under what conditions. Hope this helps. --Claire [Posted in FML issue 5063]