Natural Cures Not Medicine: alternative cancer therapy

Showing posts with label alternative cancer therapy. Show all posts

Little Known Chinese Herb & Iron Kill 98% of Cancer Cells in 16 Hours

According to studies that were published in an issue of Life Sciences, artemesinin – a derivative of the wormwood plant used in Chinese Medicine - can kill 98% of breast cancer cells in less than 16 hours. The herb used alone caused a 28% reduction in breast cancer cells, but when paired with iron, sweet wormwood was able to eradicate cancer almost entirely. What’s more, normal human breast cancer cells were not affected in the experiment by this treatment.

Artemisinin has been used in the past as a powerful anti-malarial herb, but it now has been proven to be a cancer-fighter, too. When subjects in the published study were given an iron supplement, which often accumulates in the breast tissue but especially so in cancerous cells, the artemisinin was able to selectively target ‘bad’ cells and leave ‘good’ cells alone.

“Taken together, our results demonstrate that the artemisinin disruption of E2F1 transcription factor expression mediates the cell cycle arrest of human breast cancer cells and represents a critical transcriptional pathway by which artemisinin controls human reproductive cancer cell growth.”

Read: Watercress Found to Block Breast Cancer Cell Growth

Iron accumulates in cancerous cells due to special receptors that help them in cell division, called transferrin receptors. Normal cells likely have these receptors as well, but cancerous cells have them in greater abundance, and thus can be targeted by the iron-artemisinin combination, like a 1-2 punch.

There have been many experiments now that prove this sweet wormwood derivative can effectively eradicate disease in the presence of iron. The extract has been used for thousand of years in China to treat malaria. The malaria parasite cannot live in the presence of artemisinin because they are iron-rich, but the treatment works just as well for cancerous cells, too. Bioengineers Henry Lai and Narendra Singh of the University of Washington, Seattle were the scientists who initially made this discovery. This is yet another example of a natural herb causing cancerous cell apoptosis.

While the sweet wormwood extract has been somewhat difficult to obtain for a fair price for countless years, it is now on its way to being mass-produced by biotech. Will the result be positive and promising?

Read: Study Shows How Radiation Treatment Makes Breast Cancer Worse

“It’s the volatility that really makes the supply chain for this life-saving drug just a complete train wreck,” says Jack Newman, chief scientific officer of the California-based biotech firm Amyris. ”When we first started talking about this,” Newman says, “we gave it 1,000 to 1 odds of ever working. “

French drugmaker Sanofi is expected to make 50 to 60 tons of artemisinin each year, striving to supply enough demand for the global market.

Source: NaturalSociety

Spirulina Enhances Anti-Cancer ‘Natural Killer Cell’ Abilities

“Natural killer cells” sound like cells you don’t want to run into in a dark alley. Well, if you’re a tumor cell or a virus, that’s true. These cells have unique abilities to recognize foreign invaders in the body and eradicate them. Recent research indicates spirulina, an algae found largely in fresh water, is able to activate these cells and use them to target tumors.

Spirulina is an ancient super-food, used for centuries as a natural medicine. It’s good for your eyes, skin, blood sugar, and it’s a cancer-fighter. A recent study from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan indicates spirulina’s tumor fighting abilities may come from its ability to boost “natural killer cells”.

“Oral administration of hot-water extract of Spirulina, cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis, leads to augmentation of NK cytotoxicity in humans. Here, we applied to syngeneic tumor-implant mice (C57BL/6 versus B16 melanoma) Spirulina to elucidate the mechanism of raising antitumor NK activation…Spirulina and BCG-cell wall skeleton synergistically augmented IFN-gamma production and antitumor potential in the B16D8 versus C57BL/6 system. We infer from these results that NK activation by Spirulina has some advantage in combinational use with BCG-cell wall skeleton for developing adjuvant-based antitumor immunotherapy.”

The researchers implanted tumors into mice. They then administered spirulina orally and watched the mice for molecular signals. As they watched, the mice went through changes indicating killer cell activation. The implanted melanoma cells slowly regressed under the fire of these killers, until they annihilated the entire tumor.

As NaturalNews reports:

“Molecular communications with in vitro bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells showed further natural killer cell activation properties that were derived from the oral spirulina treatments. Furthermore, through studies of cellular communication, the researchers noted that spirulina enhances NK activation against tumors through one specific pathway in the mice. A specific immune cell also worked in coordination with spirulina to exert synergistic antitumor activity. This BCG cell wall skeleton worked with spirulina to boost IFN gamma production, strengthening antitumor potential. When the two are used simultaneously, natural killer cells increase down the specific MYD88 pathway, creating an antitumor immunotherapy advantage.”

In addition to being a cancer-fighter, this deep sea superfood has numerous other benefits. It’s rich in protein and nutrients, and it’s a good source of antioxidants. It helps purify the blood and can aid in detoxing heavy metals like mercury and arsenic.

Source: NaturalSociety

Tis the Season: Mistletoe Extract Doubles Survival Rates of Cancer Patients

Several studies have focused on mistletoe and its potential, positive effect on cancer. Though research is inconclusive, many of the studies show that mistletoe’s anti-cancer properties work to kill various cancer cells. Further, the Christmas decor could be an alternative to toxic chemotherapy.

One study focuses on mistletoe and pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer, with a mortality rate of around 80% during the first years after diagnosis. It strikes 44,000 Americans each and every year and conventional treatments haven’t been able to do much to prolong their lives.

This latest research, however, indicates it could offer assistance to those diagnosed with a deadly disease.

Carried out in Serbia and published in the European Journal of Cancer, the study began with 220 patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. All participants received supportive care. The treatment group also received subcutaneous injections of mistletoe extract three times each week, with doses starting at 0.01 mg and increasing to 10 mg.

Those patients who started the study with a “good” prognosis and received no mistletoe extract lived 3.2 months, on average. Those with a good prognosis and mistletoe extract had twice the life expectancy, 6.6 months. Study participants who received a “poor” diagnosis averaged 2 months without mistletoe extract and 3.4 months with the treatment. Further, the participants treated with mistletoe extracts had feweradverse events than the others. They had only 16 events where those not treated with the plant had an average of 53!

This is far from the first study implicating mistletoe as a potential cancer treatment. It has also been linked to improvement in cancers of the breast, cervix, uterus, ovaries, stomach, colon, lung, and skin.

In addition to these cancer studies of modern time, folk medicine applications have indicated mistletoe in the use of treating strained muscles, toothaches, sores, itching, impetigo, ulcers, animal bites, and intestinal parasites.

One research with another study points out how the most effective extract comes from a species called Fraxini, which was extremely potent and safer than chemotherapy. Researcher Zahra Lotfollahi said:

“This is an important result because we know that chemotherapy is effective at killing healthy cells as well as cancer cells. This can result in severe side effects for the patient, such as oral mucositis (ulcers in the mouth) and hair loss. Our laboratory studies have shown Fraxini mistletoe extract by itself to be highly effective at reducing the viability of colon cancer cells. At certain concentrations,Fraxini also increased the potency of chemotherapy against the cancer cells.”

This initial study mentioned is important, though, as it is specific to this particularly deadly form of cancer. The researchers conclude:

“VaL (Ciscum album, mistletoe) therapy showed a significant and clinically relevant prolongation of OS. The study findings suggest VaL to be a non-toxic and effective second-line therapy that offers a prolongation of OS (overall survival) as well as less disease-related symptoms for patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer.”

Source: NaturalSociety

Can we Eat to Starve Cancer?

William Li presents a new way to think about cancer treatment: angiogenesis, targeting the blood vessels that feed a tumor. The crucial first (and best) step: Eating cancer-fighting foods that beat cancer at its own game.

It is very inspiring to see that there are people out there who are striving to find cures and answers through nature, as well as through modern medicine. Enjoy!

Source: TED

Study Shows Nuts Decrease Cancer Risk By More Than 33%

Writing in Nature's British Journal of Cancer, the team behind the new analysis reported that consumption of nuts - including tree nuts such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts - was found to be inversely associated with risk of pancreatic cancer, independent of other potential risk factors for pancreatic cancer.

The data, from a large-scale prospective study, investigated the association between nut consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer in more than 75,000 women who took part in the Nurses' Health Study, and had no previous history of cancer.

"Frequent nut consumption is inversely associated with risk of pancreatic cancer in this large prospective cohort of women, independent of other potential risk factors for pancreatic cancer," explained the research team - led by Dr Ying Bao of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

The body uses selenium to make "selenoproteins", which work like antioxidants preventing damage to cells. There is a growing body of evidence to show it has a key role in health.

Bao and colleagues found that women who consumed a one-ounce serving of nuts two or more times per week had a 35% lower risk of pancreatic cancer when compared to those who largely abstained from nuts.

"This reduction in risk was independent of established or suspected risk factors for pancreatic cancer including age, height, obesity, physical activity, smoking, diabetes and dietary factors," said Bao.

Soil Degradation A Problem

"Selenium levels in our blood plummeted after the time the government began measuring them in 1974," says Margaret Rayman, professor of nutritional medicine at the University of Surrey and a leading researcher in selenium’s effects.

"They stabilised at this sub-optimal level in the mid-Nineties as our diets haven’t changed much since."

The problem is compounded by the fact that we import less foods from selenium-rich soils than ever before.

Soil in the U.S. has higher levels of selenium due both to different geological conditions and the fact that it’s generally more alkaline, allowing better uptake of nutrients by plants.

Earlier this year, in a paper published in The Lancet, she detailed selenium’s links to everything from enhanced fertility and thyroid function to preventing plaque build-up in the arteries, regulating blood pressure and reducing cancer risk.

Study Details

Bao and colleagues analysed data from 75,680 women in the Nurses' Health Study, and examined the association between nut consumption and pancreatic cancer risk. Nut consumption was assessed at baseline and updated every 2 to 4 years.

During the follow up, the team documented 466 incident cases of pancreatic cancer.

After adjusting for age, height, smoking, physical activity, and total energy intake, women who consumed a 28-g (1oz) serving size of nuts twice per week experienced a significantly lower risk of pancreatic cancer, said Bao and colleagues - noting a relative risk of 0.65 compared to those who did not eat nuts.

"The results did not appreciably change after further adjustment for body mass index (BMI) and history of diabetes mellitus," the team added - noting that the inverse association persisted within strata defined by BMI, physical activity, smoking, and intakes of red meat, fruits, and vegetables.

Source: PreventDisease