Herbs being studied for cancer.
Many people think of alternative medicine and conventional medicine as being poles apart. That is a medical or health care professional uses conventional medicine. An alt healer utilizes the alternative kind. In other words a physician with either a medical degree or MD or a DO doctor of osteopathy, many people presume, uses exclusively western medicine. That is they restrict their usage to drugs and or surgery. Many people presume health care practioners would never even consider dealing with any health care modality other then drugs and surgery. It would be like a kazoo player in a serious symphony orchester, In other words unheard of.
Yet the fact is there are being conducted worldwide, including the US, human clinical trials with various herbs dealing with major diseases. These include arthritis, cancer, depression, diabetes, heart disease, and more.
I will restrict my information on herbs for cancer.
These are studies being sponsored by universities and hospitals. There is even an branch of the US National Institute of Health on alternative medicines. It is a bonefide US governmental agency.
In the realm of cancer of the white blood cells, ie leukemia, there are at least three herbals being studied. One of the organizations is the National Cancer Institute. It is a US government agency.
The plant medicines are boswellia, indigo and Pokeroot.
These particular plants are being looked at, specifically for forms of leukemia.
There are acute and chronic leukemias. There are within the acute and chronic forms, two types, lymphatic and myeloid. Very basically myeloid is any acute leukemia that doesn't involve lymphocytes. ALL and AML.
Leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow, of the white blood cells aka leukocytes. There are five different types of white blood cells or WBCs. They are lymphocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes. Leukemia can either produce too many, or too little of these white blood cells. Leukemia's harm is the immature cancerous cells crowding out the normal cells. The result being the normal white blood cells can't function properly. In other words they are not capable of performing their functions of being part of the immune system. The person can't fight off infections as well as a non leukemic person.
The effect being , opportunistic infections and other conditions happen much more easily. Plus when they do occur, because of the low WBCs, the infections can become much more serious than with a normal number of WBCs. The minimum number of white blood cell counts is 5001. The neutrophils in order not to be neutropenic is 500. My source is the oncologists of Hospital of PA oncology.
My husband is currently a patient there. His diagnosis is acute myeloid leukemia. So this is a personal interest.
Acute means quick and chronic means slow growing. A person with either acute form if untreated can pass away at the most in three months. The chronic kind can be lived with for years, even decades. Unfortunately the chronic kind can turn acute. Therefore the chronic type should be periodically checked by one's oncologist.
For the record there is hairy cell leukemia. It is very rare. It is not relevant for my topic here. I only mentioned it to be complete in my basic leukemia info.
The three herbs, even though they are natural products, does not necessarily mean they are harmless. Just because something is found in nature means its effects are gentle.
Tobacco is natural and is linked to cancer, heart disease.
On a much less severe note, I'm certain there not that many people who want to come in contact with poison ivy.
Lastly some herbals should be shunned by certain people. For example pregnant women and children. Never give a child younger than two, an herbal. It is unsafe for them.
Indigo can cause severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Its effects can be quite similar to standard chemo. A phyto(plant) chemical of Indigo (Baptisia Tinctora) Indirubin is being successfully used in Chinese medicine for leukemia. The prescription medication idarubicin I am unsure if its related to Indirubin.
Boswellia is being clinically studied for leukemia as well. Specifically it is being tested for DNA, RNA and protein for leukemia HL60 Its oleoresin is now a source of help for people with osteoarthritis and ulcerative colitis. In the former its taken either externally or internally. For UCand other gastrointestional conditions it is ingested.
Lastly pokeweed is being studied for cancer too. It is particularly being researched as a anti-neoplastic for certain leukemias. Some of its other names are Pokeroot and Poke. It is quite toxic. It can cause severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, contact dermatitis. It is definitely harmful if not handled well.
There are only a few of the many plants being studied for cancer and other serious illnesses. Each of these plants are being studied in double blind human clinical trials. They are being seriously studied. Perhaps one day they will be prescribed by a medical professional.
Currently at least two antineoplastic drugs are derived from herbs. The anti-ovarian cancer drug Taxol is derived from the Yew tree. Vinca alkaloids are from Periwinkle. They are being used to fight various cancers.
So you see alternative health and conventional health are not so far apart after all. In fact there are quite a few prescription medicines whose sources are botanicals.
My main source for my writing is "Professional Handbook of Complementary and Alternative Medicines" Doctors of Pharmacy C.W. Feltrow and Juan R. Avila. Published by Lippencott Williams and Wilkensen. Healing Remedies by E.Norman Shealy, MD, Phd, Publisher Element, Prescription for Herbal Healing, Phyllis Balch, CNC (Certified Nutritional Consultant), Avery Publishing.
