Posted on 06/11/2006 9:39:08 PM PDT by Moonman62
Folic acid supplements may prevent cancer progression and promote regression of disease, according to a new study. Published in the July 15, 2006 issue of CANCER (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer-newsroom), a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the small study found that 31 of 43 patients with the precancerous laryngeal lesion called leucoplakia demonstrated 50 percent or greater reduction in the lesion size after six months of taking folate supplements. In 12 of 31 responders, there was no evidence of the original lesion. Folate levels in the patients' blood also increased significantly from baseline while homocysteine levels decreased significantly. This study provides data to support the hypothesis that folate insufficiency is a risk factor for cancer progression.
Folate deficiency is the most common vitamin deficiency in the United States. Folate is a naturally occurring B vitamin (B-9) found abundantly in fresh vegetables and fruits. Folic acid is its more stable synthetic form found in dietary supplements and fortified foods. At the biochemical level, folate is incorporated into coenzymes that are essential in facilitating a variety of reactions in nucleic acid and amino acids metabolism. Some of which are critical to healthy life, such as DNA synthesis, DNA repair, and converting homocysteine to methionine. The latter is particularly important because excess homocysteine is linked to chronic health problems, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Animal and human studies have increasingly demonstrated associations between folate deficiency, serum homocysteine elevations, and a variety of cancers. Some studies have suggested folate supplementation or at least a high folate dietary intake may protect against some cancers. This body of evidence suggests folate to be an effective chemopreventive drug. Other chemopreventive drugs are being tested, and while the retinoids demonstrate the most promise, they are highly toxic. Giovanni Almadori, M.D. of the Institute of Otolaryngology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Policlinico A. Gemelli in Rome, Italy and colleagues investigated the efficacy of folic acid dietary supplementation to treat precancerous lesion and prevent cancer.
The investigators enrolled 43 patients with untreated laryngeal leucoplakia and treated them with folic acid (5mg three times a day) and evaluated the progression of leucoplakia every 30 days for six months.
Over six months of treatment, 12 patients (28 percent) had complete resolution of their leucoplakia lesions; 19 patients (44 percent) had reduction of 50 percent or more in the size of their lesions and 12 patients (28 percent) had no response. Mean folate levels increased and mean homocysteine levels decreased significantly. There were no moderate or severe adverse events reported.
Comparison to another promising chemopreventive drug regimen that includes a retinoid, "our complete response rate is lower than the one reported in a smaller population," the authors write. Nevertheless, folate "is characterized by a lower grade of toxicity," and there was no progression of disease.
These results suggest, according to the researchers, "folate supplementation, alone or in combination with other chemopreventive drugs, could effectively reduce the risk of progression in an already genetically altered mucosa, especially in patients with hypofolatemia."
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Article: "Pilot Phase IIA Study for Evaluation of the Efficacy of Folic Acid in the Treatment of Laryngeal Leucoplakia," Giovanni Almadori, Francesco Bussu, Pierluigi Navarra, Jacopo Galli, Gaetano Paludetti, Bruno Giardina, Maurizio Maurizi, CANCER; Published Online: June 12, 2006 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.22003); Print Issue Date: July 15, 2006.
I take three things by prescription.
Niaspan = niacin
Omacor = fish oil
Folic acid = folic acid (but you need a scrip to get it 1000 mg)
You prove my point.
The moment a vitamin is proved by their own "medical" research to help a disease,
they scamper to term it a drug.
Neither niacin nor folic acid is a drug.
Both are members of the B-Complex group.
Folic acid has something to do with the function of the nervous system. DNA has nothing to do with guiding the cell in its daily activities and especially not in red blood cells.
Just curious, how do you define a drug?
IOW, eat more green vegetables, especially the leafy kind.
Kale - yum!
A drug is a substance FOREIGN to the human system (does NOT occur naturally in the human system)
and is used to treat a medical condition.
Ritalin (methylphenidate hydrochloride) is a DRUG.
Ritalin is a synthetic chemical substance invented in a laboratory at Johns Hopkins in 1950.
It DOES NOT occur naturally in the human system.
In fact, it was never put into the human the system until after 1950, when it was invented.
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Insulin is a substance that occurs naturally in the human sytem. Insulin is necessary for the survival of the human system.
Insulin is NOT a drug.
________________________________________________________
A standard false ploy of the medical industry is to say
"You wouldn't deny a diabetic insulin, would you?
"So why would you say Ritalin should not be given to children?"
ANSWER--because insulin is a substance occurring naturally in the human system and is necessary for the survival of any human being.
Ritalin (methlphenidate hydrochloride) is a synthetic substance invented in a laboratory at John Hopkins University in 1950
and DOES NOT occur naturally in the human system,
In fact, human beings got along without it for millions of years.
______________________________________________________
The sales pitches for the medical industry appearing in the "news" media are as easily recognizable as the sales pitches for everything leftwing occurring constantly in the "news" media.
Calling folic acid a "drug" is an easily recognizable example.
The "news" media is a stooge operation.
One of its uses is to sell whatever the massive drug and medical industry directs to be sold.
The drug companies and their medical industry have huge power and use of the "news" media is one of their standard tools.
So niacin and folic acid and fish oil occur naturally in the human system?
I'm going to leave you on your own from here.
Do your own homework.
LOL, I see. Translation===== "oops, my definition doesn't work". LOL
Believe every word the "news" media arm of the drug and medical industry sends out.
Good luck.
Your instincts are correct. The one instance where folic acid is used therapeutically in fairly high doses is in high risk pregnancies for neural tube defects which are serious birth defects that can be prevented with folic acid. The dose usually prescribed is 4000 mcg per day which is about 1/4 the dose in the current study. There has not been any reported toxicity with high dose folic acid, but it may mask a Vit. B12 deficiency by correcting the anemia, without impacting the underlying B12 deficiency which can lead to permanent nerve damage if the B12 deficiency is not corrected.
It's a knee slapper, thanks for the laughs.
What is your definition of a poster who FIXATES on another poster and HAS NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH HIS TIME than to send petty, carping posts that are of no interest to the object of his fixation?
Sorry to disappoint you, I have only answered your posts. Don't want to read the replies? Don't post to me anymore, it's simple.
Never had it. If they're like turnip greens :((
This is very encouraging!!!
I wonder if grape seed extract is as beneficial?
bump
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