Posted on 07/11/2005 1:19:41 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the epitome of the conventional cancer establishment, is reporting promising test results on an unconventional weapon: a common spice used in Indian cooking.
In a host of studies, M.D. Anderson researchers are showing that curcumin, the pungent yellow spice in both turmeric and curry powders, has potent anti-cancer properties. They say it may prove effective for both prevention and treatment.
"Curcumin's promise is enormous," said Bharat B. Aggarwal, a professor of cancer medicine in M.D. Anderson's department of experimental therapeutics.
"It appears to inhibit multiple pathways by which cancer grows, and we know it's nontoxic."
Aggarwal added that "in a day when Vioxx and Bextra are off the table, curcumin may be one of the best new hopes on the table" — a reference to popular painkillers (Cox-2 inhibitors) taken off the market after reports they increased the risk of heart disease. Cox-2 inhibitors were considered potential cancer prevention agents because they'd been shown to inhibit tumor growth.
The latest study on curcumin is available today on the journal Cancer's Web site.
In it, M.D. Anderson researchers demonstrate in the laboratory how curcumin stops melanoma cells from proliferating along two key pathways and induces them to essentially commit suicide. The cells were taken from patients.
A month ago, the same researchers reported that in mice, curcumin helped stop the spread of breast cancer to the lungs. It outperformed the cancer drug Taxol in the study, though the best results came with a combination of curcumin and Taxol.
Putting it to the test The results of those studies have led to ongoing Phase I human trials at M.D. Anderson testing curcumin's ability to stop the growth of pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma.
Still to come are a human trial for breast cancer and an animal trial for melanoma.
Elsewhere, researchers are studying curcumin with lung, colon, head and neck, oral and prostate cancers.
Aggarwal said the thing distinguishing curcumin from other natural products touted for their medicinal properties is the science behind it.
Herbs such as garlic, saw palmetto and gingko may receive more ink, but there have been about 2,000 studies on curcumin, says Aggarwal, easily more than any other natural product.
It is rich in antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic properties.
Most intriguing, the rate of colon, breast, prostate and lung cancer is 10 times lower in India than in the United States.
Financial obstacles In the melanoma study, the M.D. Anderson team found curcumin shut down nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB), a powerful protein known to promote an abnormal inflammatory response that leads to a variety of disorders, including arthritis and cancer; the protein known as IKK that switches NF-kB "on;" and STAT3, another pathway involved in the spread of tumors.
Aggarwal noted that the greatest obstacle to further study of curcumin is financial. No pharmaceutical company is likely to develop a natural product that can't be patented so the only sources of funding are government agencies.
Curcumin is available in capsule form at health food stores, though the purity of some brands may be in question because herbs aren't regulated. Aggarwal's team worked with a 96 percent pure product.
"Curcumin's efficacy for treating cancer is still to be proven," Aggarwal said. "But I would recommend it for prevention right now, based on animal studies. People have been eating it for thousands of years so we know it's safe."
• Ground from the root of the Curcuma longa plant, curcumin is a member of the ginger family.
• It has long had multiple uses in India and other Asian nations: food preservative, folk medicine, coloring agent, body cleanser and food flavorer (2 to 5 percent of turmeric is curcumin, for instance).
todd.ackerman@chron.com
Thanks!
"Most intriguing, the rate of colon,
breast, prostate and lung cancer is
10 times lower in India than in the
United States."
Yeah. Because nobodly lives long enough over there to get those. I'm betting our death rates from starvation, instestinal worms and honor killings are 1000 times lower.
Bookmark.
Do you recall if the name of the tree was mentioned?
Two which come to mind are:
the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia), from which the drug Paclitaxel (aka Taxol) is derived; and
Taheebo (Tabebuia Avellanedae or Tabebuia Impetiginosa) from which Pao d'Arco is obtained.
I still have the book in English and in Russian. I'll track it down and get back to you.
CANCER WARD is a great novel. On one level it is about socialized medicine in the Soviet Union, but on a deeper level it is about the Soviet Union, and on a still deeper level it is about life and its universal truths.
You have to wonder if they also drink a lot less soda, coffee, sugar and smoke less?
Is it a cultural reason or mostly a spice reason?
Ah - I kind of thought that's what it must mean, but being very literal minded, I sometimes need things explained.
As I noted up the thread, life expectancy figures are often misleading. Since in India the infant mortality is quite high, this brings down the life expectancy #s. There are plenty of old people in India.
"Honor" killings are a Muslim thing. India is primarily Hindu, about 15% Muslim. Pakistan is where the "honor" killins primarily happen.
I have had good iron levels almost my whole despite eating no meat for 35 yrs. With one pregnancy and one bad miscarriage, the levels got low. Eating iron rich foods like dried fruit, beans, whole wheat, sesame tahini, and a wonderful herbal supplement called "Floradix" brought it back in no time.
In case you're wondering, I'm Mrs LJ)
I'd rather be an average American with a lifespan of 75 and a much higher risk of cancer than an average Indian with a lifespan of less than 60 with a lower risk of cancer.
God graced my life with Arlene for a little more than twenty years and our sons help fill the hole left by her absence. Without her I doubt I would have done anything worthwhile except chase skirts and pleasure. But Love transforms even the meanest of creatures.
One of my greatest regrets is that she cannot see how well her boys turned out. At the time of her death the elder had just (somehow) graduated from high school. He went on to do an about-face, graduated from college and is now a Navy Nuke. The younger will be a college senior next year Dean's List last term. Both are fine handsome young gentlemen as well.
Cancer brought me to a firm conclusion Pray for a Heart Attack. Arlene was as gorgeous a woman as ever lived. At her death she had wasted away to concentration camp appearance. Thanks for your kind thoughts.
You're on the right track. I have read the info re: alkalinity, as well. "Curing" cancer isn't the avenue we should be pursuing, but rather preventing it in the first place. Diet is priority one!
I hope you take comfort in knowing that you will be with Arlene in eternity, and that as long as you and your sons live, she is alive in you.
The life expectancy in India for males is 58.5 years and only slightly greater for females.
One of these days, I'm going to read the whole thread before I sound off; I promise, really, sure, one of these days...
I see her in their handsome faces (and sometimes their hot tempers lol.)
I thank God for the time he gave mr with her.
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