New Research - Chinese Herb Kills Breast Cancer Cells

New research has discovered that a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal medicine prevents the proliferation of tumors and causes the elimination of tumors comprised of breast cancer cells. A chromatographically purified form of the herb Tian Hua Fen was injected into laboratory mice with tumors caused by estrogen dependent and non-estrogen dependent breast cancer cells. Sterilized Tian Hua Fen, Trichosanthes Kirilowii Maximowicz, was injected intraperitoneally and caused significant reductions in both tumor weight and volume within 16 days of treatment. Immunohistochemistry corroborated the findings

The dose had no detectable toxicity.  Analysis revealed that Tian Hua Fen effectively induces apoptosis, cell death, in both estrogen dependent and non-estrogen dependent breast cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. The researchers note that the herbal medicine’s ability to eradicate breast cancer cells without toxicity warrants further clinical trials. The researchers also note that Tian Hua Fen may possibly be developed for combination with other chemotherapeutic therapies.

The researchers note that mature Tian Hua Fen contains 247 amino acids and “shares remarkable sequence similarity with other antitumor proteins in plant genera Trichosanthes and Momordica….” The study cited prior research demonstrating Tian Hua Fen’s “ability to ablate the replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1).” They suggested that Tian Hua Fen is a “potential antidote against some tumors” because it interferes with tumor growth through varying molecular mechanisms. The pathways that block tumor growth were outlined in detail. Notably, the researchers cited that Tian Hua Fen has “specific tumor cell recognition as well as binding and cellular entry characteristics” and that Tian Hua Fen does so based on its “binging on different membrane proteins” including those of human carcinoma cells.

It is important to distinguish this herb’s common use in an acupuncture clinic versus its application in this research. A licensed acupuncturist uses Tian Hua Fen for a variety of treatment therapies in powders, tablets, capsules and decocted teas. In this investigation, Tian Hua Fen is sterilized and injected directly into the laboratory mice. As a result, the effective action and medicinal function varies greatly between the oral and injection applications of Tian Hua Fen. This herb lends great hope in the development of cures for breast cancer but this is not to suggest that the oral ingestion of this herb has the ability to eradicate breast cancer. That said, we can only hope that funding for future research will help develop the full potential of Tian Hua Fen in the fight against breast cancer.


Reference:
Fang, Evandro Fei, Chris Zhi Yi Zhang, Lin Zhang, Jack Ho Wong, Yau Sang Chan, Wen Liang Pan, Xiu Li Dan, Cui Ming Yin, Chi Hin Cho, and Tzi Bun Ng. "Trichosanthin inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation in both cell lines and nude mice by promotion of apoptosis." PloS One 7, no. 9 (2012): e41592.

- See more at: http://www.healthcmi.com/acupuncturist-news-online/765-tianhuafentcm#sthash.uVgAkPGp.dpuf

This Is Your Brain on Coffee

This column appears in the June 9 issue of The New York Times Magazine.

For hundreds of years, coffee has been one of the two or three most popular beverages on earth. But it’s only recently that scientists are figuring out that the drink has notable health benefits. In one large-scale epidemiological study from last year, researchers primarily at the National Cancer Institute parsed health information from more than 400,000 volunteers, ages 50 to 71, who were free of major diseases at the study’s start in 1995. By 2008, more than 50,000 of the participants had died. But men who reported drinking two or three cups of coffee a day were 10 percent less likely to have died than those who didn’t drink coffee, while women drinking the same amount had 13 percent less risk of dying during the study. It’s not clear exactly what coffee had to do with their longevity, but the correlation is striking.

Other recent studies have linked moderate coffee drinking — the equivalent of three or four 5-ounce cups of coffee a day or a single venti-size Starbucks — with more specific advantages: a reduction in the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, basal cell carcinoma (the most common skin cancer), prostate cancer, oral cancer and breast cancer recurrence.

Perhaps most consequential, animal experiments show that caffeine may reshape the biochemical environment inside our brains in ways that could stave off dementia. In a 2012 experiment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, mice were briefly starved of oxygen, causing them to lose the ability to form memories. Half of the mice received a dose of caffeine that was the equivalent of several cups of coffee. After they were reoxygenated, the caffeinated mice regained their ability to form new memories 33 percent faster than the uncaffeinated. Close examination of the animals’ brain tissue showed that the caffeine disrupted the action of adenosine, a substance inside cells that usually provides energy, but can become destructive if it leaks out when the cells are injured or under stress. The escaped adenosine can jump-start a biochemical cascade leading to inflammation, which can disrupt the function of neurons, and potentially contribute to neurodegeneration or, in other words, dementia.

In a 2012 study of humans, researchers from the University of South Florida and the University of Miami tested the blood levels of caffeine in older adults with mild cognitive impairment, or the first glimmer of serious forgetfulness, a common precursor of Alzheimer’s disease, and then re-evaluated them two to four years later. Participants with little or no caffeine circulating in their bloodstreams were far more likely to have progressed to full-blown Alzheimer’s than those whose blood indicated they’d had about three cups’ worth of caffeine.

There’s still much to be learned about the effects of coffee. “We don’t know whether blocking the action of adenosine is sufficient” to prevent or lessen the effects of dementia, says Dr. Gregory G. Freund, a professor of pathology at the University of Illinois who led the 2012 study of mice. It is also unclear whether caffeine by itself provides the benefits associated with coffee drinking or if coffee contains other valuable ingredients. In a 2011 study by the same researchers at the University of South Florida, for instance, mice genetically bred to develop Alzheimer’s and then given caffeine alone did not fare as well on memory tests as those provided with actual coffee. Nor is there any evidence that mixing caffeine with large amounts of sugar, as in energy drinks, is healthful. But a cup or three of coffee “has been popular for a long, long time,” Dr. Freund says, “and there’s probably good reasons for that.”

7 Amazing Things To Know About Breasts

7 Amazing Things To Know About Breasts

Breasts want freedom.

Bras restrict the movement of lymphatic fluid through the breasts, underarm, and shoulders, thus causing toxins to build up in the breast tissue. Underwire bras are the worst culprit, as the metal also can disrupt the energy flow through the breast area. A recent French study has shown that women who don't wear bras actually have perkier breasts even as they age. Exercising, dance, and rebounding without a bra also allows the body's movements to support lymphatic flow and proper drainage of the breasts. The natural movement of the breasts as the body exercises and moves is another essential component to lymphatic health in the breasts. 

Breasts need massage. 

There is no muscle tissue in a women's breasts, so breasts need assistance to enhance circulation through the breast. A woman's breasts are mostly fat tissue along with milk ducts, connective tissue, nerves, and lymph glands. Self breast massage is an important regular practice for women to support their blood and lymph circulation and reduce build-up of toxins and hormones in the fatty tissue of the breasts. Massage your breasts daily with a natural cold-pressed vegetable oil, such as coconut, almond, or jojoba oil. You can also add pure essential oils such as rose, jasmine, or clary sage to your massage oil base. I'm not talking about "man-handling" here, I'm talking about gentle self massage in which you get to know what your breasts feel like, notice any changes, and use gentle lymphatic and circulatory movements to enhance health. 

Breasts are hot.

It has been well-documented that a woman's breasts will synchronize with her newborn baby to become the perfect temperature. When a mother and baby are skin-to-skin postpartum, her breasts will naturally adjust their temperature to regulate the baby's body temperature optimally. A mother of twins will have each of her breasts match the ideal temperature for each one of her twins. A women's breasts are more reliable and efficient than any baby warmer. So breasts are totally hot - just not in the way people usually talk about. 

Breastmilk has a gazillion medicinal uses. 

Breastmilk is pretty much the most amazing food substance available to mankind. Mother's milk is completely unique and not possible to replicate (despite what you may have heard from the formula companies). It actually changes minute by minute, day to day, to provide exactly the right nourishment and immunities that a baby needs as determined by the breast through receiving information from the baby's saliva on the areola. There are over 400+ identified nutrients in human breast milk, including probiotics and an abundant source of stem cells. The first milk that comes out is colostrum, which is rich with immune factors and is considered to be "liquid gold", and extremely important for the life-long health of the baby. Breastmilk is also used by wise mamas for many purposes including putting on diaper rash, earaches, pink eye, sore throats, and many other healing needs. When a women breastfeeds the breastmilk bathes her milk ducts as it passes through to her baby, thus providing increased breast health and preventing breast cancer in direct relation to how long she nurses. 

Breasts are energy centers.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a complete system of health that has been practiced for thousands of years, based upon the movement of energy through the body on the meridians (energy lines) and acupoints (nodes of energy on the meridians). There are six meridians that run through the breast area, and three of them are the Kidney, Liver, and Stomach meridians where most breast lumps and cancer develop. TCM treats breast cancer by addressing the energy stagnation and movement of qi. Acupuncture and TCM are holistic ways to promote breast health and can be used in combination with other health care treatments as well. Massaging the acupressure points along the meridians, or holding these energy points around the breasts, can help with promoting breast and whole body health and vitality. Underwire bras can also interfere with the energy moving through the meridians in the breasts, another reason to let your boobs go free, or invest in a soft supportive natural fiber bra. 

Breasts are a lot like canaries.

You've heard about the canary in the coal mine? Miners would take canaries down in the mines with them, because the birds were so sensitive that if the environment was toxic the canaries would die, and then the miners would know to get out of there immediately! Breasts are extremely sensitive, they receive information from the environment and their tissues collect toxins and hormones, like jet fuel and flame retardants. When breastfeeding, the saliva from the baby is absorbed into the areola and the breasts then immediately respond by providing the nutrients and immune factors that the baby needs based upon the breast's incredibly sensitive receptors. Breast cancer is now the most common form of cancer for women in the US, and it's not because breasts or our genes are the problem. Our breasts are the canaries letting us know that our environment is toxic and we must make changes in our health, diets, exposure, and detox. Due to the over 70,000 chemicals now used in the US over the last 100 years, we are living in a toxic soup and exposed to chemicals in our air, food, water, homes, cars, clothes, and more. Our breasts are letting us know that we need to create a healthy change for our longevity and the future generations. 

Breasts are beautiful. 

Your breasts are perfect for you. All kinds of breasts are beautiful. Breasts change in shape and size over life, and that's okay. Some men like large breasts, others prefer small breasts, and some like medium sized. Whatever shape or size of your boobs is just right. Love your breasts! They have superpowers, they are intelligent, and they are amazing! In Mongolia, when a baby fusses, everyone lifts up their shirt and shakes their breasts for the baby, and the baby calms down and looks around amazed. Everyone laughs and smiles shaking their boobs, including mom, grandma, and grandpa too! So smile and love your boobs, they are awesome. 

Turmeric Found to Be Beneficial for Lung, Liver and Colon Health

Turmeric, containing the active ingredient curcumin, is one of nature's most powerful healers. The medicinal properties of this spice have slowly revealed themselves over the centuries. Turmeric is documented as effective in conditions ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's disease. New research is now revealing its benefits as a preventative and treatment for lung, colon, and liver diseases.

Studies and Results – Lung Disease

In the 2007 Journal of Experimental Medicine and Biology researchers report that existing drugs have not been shown to be effective in the treatment of lung conditions resulting from occupational and environmental exposures to mineral dusts, airborne pollutants, cigarette smoke, chemotherapy, radiotherapy an other causes of acute and chronic inflammatory lung disease.

Several experimental animal models tested curcumin on lung fibrosis. Results demonstrated that curcumin attenuates lung injury and fibrosis caused by radiation, chemotherapeutic drugs, and toxicants. The researchers also note that studies support the conclusion that curcumin plays a protective role in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute lung injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and allergic asthma. Its therapeutic action is on the prevention or modulation of inflammation and oxidative stress.

Molecular Nutritional and Food Research, March 2008, reports that corticosteroids have been one of the major modes of therapy against various chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, these corticosteroids have failed to be effective against these disease conditions because they don't reduce the effects of oxidation.

Researchers reported that naturally occurring polyphenols in curcumin offer a safer alternative treatment. Curcumin can directly scavenge free radicals such as superoxide anion and nitric oxide, and modulate important signaling pathways. These polyphenols also down-regulate expression of pro-inflammatory mediators, and up-regulate desirable gene expression in the lungs. Researchers concluded that curcumin is a potential therapeutic agent against chronic lung diseases.

Colon disease

In the March edition of Molecular Nutritional Research, mice given an inflammatory agent that normally induces colitis were protected when curcumin was added to their diet five days beforehand. The mice receiving curcumin lost less weight than the control animals. When researchers checked their intestinal cell function, all the typical signs of colitis were greatly reduced. While the researchers are not yet sure exactly how curcumin achieves its protective effects, they think its benefits result from its antioxidant activity as well as its power to inhibit a major cellular inflammatory agent, NF kappa-B.

Another interesting feature of these results is that although curcumin has been found to be safe at very large doses, it was effective in this study at a concentration as low as 0.25 percent, an amount easily supplied by simply enjoying turmeric in your favorite dishes.

Liver disease

In the May 2008 edition of Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery, researchers studied the effects of erythropoietin (a hormone that promotes formation of red blood cells) and granulocyte colony stimulating factor alone or in combination with curcumin, a liver protective antioxidant, in a model of delayed liver regeneration. Rats underwent a 70% liver resection and were grouped according to treatment following surgery.

Twenty four hours after surgery, blood and tissue samples were collected. Markers of liver regeneration, function, and hepatocellular damage were determined. Researchers concluded that erythropoietin alone did not improve liver regeneration. However, the combination of erythropoietin and curcumin resulted in highly significant stimulation of liver regeneration, which was accompanied by reduced oxidative stress.

What is turmeric?

Turmeric (curcuma longa) is the bright yellow of the spice rainbow, and is what gives curry its color. It was traditionally known as Indian saffron. Turmeric is also a powerful medicine that is one of the staples in Chinese and Indian healing. Oil of turmeric has demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory activity in a variety of experimental models. The yellow or orange pigment of turmeric, called curcumin, is more potent than the oil, and is believed to be the primary pharmacological agent in turmeric.

Numerous studies have shown curcumin to be as potent against inflammation as hydrocortisone, phenylbutazone, and over the counter NSAID drugs like Motrin. Unlike these drugs, which are all associated with significant toxic effects, curcumin produces no toxicity.

Additional benefits of turmeric

Curcumin's powerful antioxidant effects make it a popular, natural, therapeutic agent for diseases such as arthritis, where free radicals cause joint inflammation and eventual damage to the joints.

Epidemiological studies have linked frequent use of turmeric to lower rates of breast, prostate, lung, and colon cancer. Curcumin can prevent tumors from forming, and a recent study suggests that even when breast cancer is already present, curcumin can help slow the spread of breast cancer cells to the lungs.

Curcumin is able to do this by acting as a transcription factor, or a master switch. Transcription factors regulate all the genes needed for tumor formation. When they are switched off, the growth and invasion of cancer cells is halted.

Turmeric may prevent the oxidation of cholesterol in the body. It is oxidized cholesterol that damages blood vessels and builds up in the plaque that can lead to heart attack or stroke. Turmeric also contains vitamin B6 which is needed to keep homocysteine levels from getting too high. High homocysteine levels damage blood vessel walls and are considered a significant risk factor for blood vessel damage, atherosclerotic plaque build-up, and heart disease.

Evidence is mounting that turmeric may afford protection against neurodegenerative diseases through its ability to cross the blood brain barrier. Alzheimer's disease is thought to occur when a fragmented protein accumulates in brain cells producing oxidative stress and inflammation, and forming plaque between nerve cells in the brain that disrupt function. Curcumin may prevent this oxidation and inflammation.

Using turmeric

Dried turmeric is widely available, but the best sources may be local spice stores or ethnic markets. Try to select organically grown turmeric since you will then know that it has not been irradiated. Color is not a criterion of quality. Turmeric has a much higher content of curcumin than does curry powder and can often successfully replace curry powder in recipes. Turmeric should be stored in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dark, dry place.

Wonderful recipes using turmeric can be found online. If you're not into cooking, you can easily mix turmeric into rice. It is also a tasty addition to egg salad and brightens its color. If you are doing a cancer preventative version of the Budwig diet, see (http://www.naturalnews.com/022418.html) , you can mix a spoonful into your morning cottage cheese/flax oil combo, and maybe add in some cayenne too.

If you want to take the really easy way, you can buy Turmeric in capsule form, although this is the expensive way to do it. Nature's Way makes the only readily available turmeric extract capsule that is free of magnesium stearate. Although the directions say 1 capsule up to 3 times per day, many natural healers recommend 3 capsules, 3 times a day when you begin, and then reducing the amount as your inflammation decreases.

Additional Sources:

(www.healthdiaries.com)

(www.ezinesarticles.com)

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/023287_turmeric_curcumin_disease.html#ixzz2UTHhI0ki

More research verifies powerful anti-cancer properties of turmeric

A growing body of research continues to pile up, showing that turmeric and its naturally occurring compounds have potent anti-cancer properties.

Turmeric root is one of the most important spices and traditional medicines across vast sections of Asia, and has been for hundreds of years. Scientists attribute many of turmeric's health benefits to the trio of naturally occurring chemicals known as curcuminoids, which give the root its characteristic yellow-orange color. The name curcumin, which technically refers to only one of the curcuminoids, is sometimes also used to refer to the entire group.

Although many studies have been performed on curcumin rather than on turmeric root itself, it is important to note that the body absorbs curcumin much more effectively from the root than from supplements.

Reviewing the data
As early as 1996, enough research had been conducted on the cancer-fighting benefits of turmeric and curcumin that scientists were able to conduct a comprehensive review of these studies in the journal Nutritional Reviews. The authors noted that studies had shown that even at low doses, turmeric inhibits the accumulation of mutations in DNA. Turmeric tablets were also found to lower the concentration of mutagenic chemicals in the urine of smokers. These tablets also reduced DNA damage and helped repair precancerous lesions. In addition, the reviewers found that turmeric inhibits tumor formation in the skin, breast, mouth and gut.

Since the publication of this review, new research has only strengthened the evidence for turmeric's anti-cancer prowess. For example, one study conducted by researchers from Siebold University of Nagasaki, Japan, and published in the Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition in 2010, found that healthy people who took turmeric tablets had higher blood concentrations of the cancer-fighting chemical geranylgeranoic acid (GGA) four hours later.

Turmeric targets cancer cells
In another study, published the same year in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, researchers from the University of Michigan found that a solution of curcumin and piperine (the chemical that makes black pepper spicy) stopped the propagation of breast cancer stem cells while leaving healthy breast cells unaffected. The piperine appeared to boost the natural tumor-suppressing powers of the curcumin. Notably, even the typically hard-to-treat hormone-receptor negative tumors were suppressed by curcumin.

A 2011 study conducted by researchers from Zheijian Provincial People's Hospital in China backed this up, finding that curcumin actually induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) in triple negative breast cancer cells - the most lethal form of breast cancer. Another 2011 study, by researchers from the University of Texas, noted that curcumin is remarkable for its effectiveness at inducing apoptosis while not just leaving non-cancerous cells alone, but actually improving their health.

The benefits of turmeric don't stop there. Curcumin is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, and therefore can help fight a number of chronic health conditions from heart disease and diabetes to dementia. In fact, studies have shown that curcumin actually suppresses the formation of the amyloid plaques linked with Alzheimer's disease. It has also been proven useful at relieving arthritis and improving the health of the liver and gall bladder.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.vitasearch.com/get-clp-summary/39183

http://www.vitasearch.com/get-clp-summary/17965

http://www.naturalnews.com/039718_turmeric_exercise_aging.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/028763_cancer_tumors_curcumin.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/028556_turmeric_anti-inflammatory.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/037879_curcumin_cancer_cells_turmeric.html

http://www.naturalnews.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/040177_turmeric_curcuminoids_cancer_cells.html#ixzz2UTAv4mxs