Supplement
Devil's claw is a plant from southern Africa whose dried root contains compounds, such as harpagoside, thought to calm inflammation in the body. People mostly look at it for chronic low back pain, and the evidence is moderate: three studies found osteoarthritis symptoms improved. Those studies were small, involving 167 people in total, and some were early pilot trials, so the findings are a promising starting point rather than a final answer.
Sources: PMID 15693701; PMID 12509627
- Updated
- How we grade
- 3 studies cited
- Best evidence
- Grade B
- Conditions studied
- 3
- Outcomes
- 3
- Graded outcomes
- 0100
Evidence by condition
- Strong
- Moderate
- Limited
- Very limited
| Grade | Outcome | Effect | Size | Studies | People | Studies list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osteoarthritis Symptoms Small Improvement | Improves (the measure goes down) | Small effect | 3 studies | 167 people | ||
Studies that measured osteoarthritis symptoms
| ||||||
| Grade | Outcome | Effect | Size | Studies | People | Studies list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osteoarthritis Symptoms | Improves (the measure goes down) | 3 studies | 227 people | |||
Studies that measured osteoarthritis symptoms
| ||||||
| Grade | Outcome | Effect | Size | Studies | People | Studies list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pain | Improves (the measure goes down) | 108 people |
Key findings
- Osteoarthritis SymptomsImproves (the measure goes down)
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Third-party tested Devil's Claw products, in the forms the graded studies used where we can match them.
- Grade B
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Studies cited
3 studies from PubMed
- A 1-year follow-up after a pilot study with Doloteffin for low back pain
- A randomized double-blind pilot study comparing Doloteffin and Vioxx in the treatment of low back pain
- Comparison of outcome measures during treatment with the proprietary Harpagophytum extract doloteffin in patients with pain in the lower back, knee or hip