ancient native american Remedy

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Ancient Native American

Remedy 'Shrinks Cancer'

BBC News

8-13-4

 

 

 

An ancient native American treatment for cancer has been shown to have a

beneficial effect despite scepticism from the medical establishment. Chaparral,

an

evergreen desert shrub, has long been used by native Americans to treat

cancer, colds, wounds, bronchitis, warts, and ringworm. But experts dismissed

its

worth, and warned it could be dangerous. Now researchers at the Medical

University of South Carolina have shown an extract may shrink some tumours.

Chaparral

tea was widely used in the US as an alternative anti-cancer agent from the

late 1950s to the 1970s. However, the American Cancer Society said there was no

proof that it was an effective treatment for cancer - or any other disease.

And the US Food and Drug Administration warned against its use after research

showed it could damage the liver and the kidneys. However, initial results from

the latest study show that an extract of the shrub appears not only to be

safe, but to have a positive effect. The researchers tested a refined extract

taken from chaparral called M4N. They injected it into the tumours of eight

patients with advanced head and neck cancer that had not responded to other

forms of

treatment. The trial was primarily designed to test whether the extract was

safe. The results were encouraging - patients seemed to tolerate it well, and

there was no evidence of the serious liver damage previously associated with

chaparral use. However, the study also produced some evidence that the extract

had begun to shrink the tumours. The researchers now plan a larger study aimed

at showing whether the drug really does work. Trials important Henry

Scowcroft, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "Chaparral

does not

have a good track record as an anti-cancer treatment, but this finding is

interesting and suggests that the active ingredients of the plant should be

investigated further. "Plants are an extremely useful source of anticancer

drugs.

For example the drugs vinblastine and vincristine from the periwinkle plant are

used to treat many different cancers. "And Taxol, which is obtained from the

bark of yew trees, is used to treat ovarian and breast cancer. "It is

extremely important to test plant extracts thoroughly before they are routinely

used

in people, to make sure they have no harmful side effects. "This is why

clinical trials of the M4N chaparral extract will be so important." Head and

neck

cancer is usually treated with surgery and radiation, although a few drugs have

shown some promise. But because patients usually do not realise they have

cancer until it has spread, it is very hard to treat. © BBC MMIV

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3555566.stm