Cancer, The Immune System, and Nutritional Supplements

Although cat’s claw is one of the most confusing nutritional supplements, it is also one of the most effective. Of the 16 plants in the world named cat’s claw, or “Una de Gato”, Uncaria tomentosa is the plant most frequently sold as cat’s claw supplements. Although all cat’s claw supplements are made from Uncaria tomentosa, some are made from the bark, or stems, while others are made from the leaves. Even though all of these supplements claim to help the immune system, the root of Uncaria tomentosa is the one that actually contains health benefits. After extensive studying of each part of the plant, scientists have discovered that only the root possesses the power to treat and prevent disease.

However, not all Uncaria tomentosa roots, which are grown in the rainforests of Peru, actually contain healing properties. There are no visible differences in the plants or the roots, but Ashaninka tribal healers, who have used the plant for thousands of years to cure illness, are able to see the good spirits within the plants that contain healing properties. By using high performance liquid chromatography, scientists are able to “see” the good spirits too. These good spirits are actually important medicinal compounds called pentacyclic oxindole alkaloids (POAs). Scientists are also able to “see” the non-healing properties, or tetracyclic oxindole alkaloids (TOAs). As the POAs have very supportive effects in the immune system, the TOAs have different effects, none of which help the immune system cells at all. If these two compounds are mixed together, which is the case in most cat’s claw plants, the plant is useless to healing and health. Therefore, cat’s claw supplements that are 100% TOA-free from the root of the Uncaria tomentosa, is the only supplement that provides powerful and helpful effects in the immune system.

One helpful effect provided by the POAs is keeping us healthy by interacting with the disease fighting cells in our body, the white blood cells. Another effect on our health is helping macrophages, or white blood cells that engulf and digest foreign material, work faster. A third effect caused by the POAs found in cat’s claw is the increase in the production of interleukin, which is a chemical protein that is secreted by macrophages that has important immune enhancing properties. These properties include: alerting resting white blood cells and spurting them into action, as well has helping to make other biochemicals that are essential to the immune system. POAs also help increase the supply of B cells in the body, which are white blood cells that make antibodies which kill germs. The most important effect is that the POAs found in cat’s claw root help to increase the number of T-cells, which destroy cancer and are also important in diseases like AIDS.

Maitake mushrooms, found in the forests of Japan, are large mushrooms recognized by their rippling caps. They are associated with good health in those who eat them and are known by many names, including: “Grifola frondosa”, “Hen-of-the-Woods”, and dancing mushrooms. Because they are known as healthy food, they have been studied extensively by researchers. Many maitake compounds have major health-promoting potential, specifically maitake D-fraction, which has powerful anti-cancer effects. D-fraction stops the growth of cancer cells and cancerous tumors, as well as, stimulates the activity of macrophages and natural killer cells, which triggers the production of interleukins. Maitake can also inhibit some of the devices that promote the spread of cancer cells in the lymph system and bloodstream. Thanks to this, maitake D-fraction is used to help with breast cancer in addition to chemotherapy.

After being studied for over twenty years, scientists found that IP-6, a substance found in the bran of brown rice, combined with inositol has extremely powerful effects on the immune system. IP-6 with inositol is able to affect cancer cells by causing them to lose their aggressive nature, stop dividing uncontrollably, and eventually die, and yet the combination does not affect normal cells. This combination also increases the activity of natural killer cells, which naturally kill cancer cells and those infected by viruses, as well as acts like an antioxidant to help prevent cellular damage.

When combining both IP-6 and inositol together, very powerful cancer preventative effects and good cancer killing effects happened. If only one substance is taken on its own, you will still get the good cancer preventative effects as well as the good cancer killing effects, however, they will be much less powerful. IP-6 is broken down into IP-3 once it enters the human body, which is more active than IP-6, but also very unstable.

One of the most amazing aspects of all three of these products, POA cat’s claw root extract, maitake d-fraction, and IP-6 with inositol is their ability to modulate the immune system. The POAs in cat’s claw root extract strengthen the body’s immune system, while maitake d-fraction encourages the body’s own immune system regulators to act on cancer cells. Along with this, IP-6 with inositol increases NK cell activity. The combination works synergistically to strengthen and balance the immune system without the fear of over-stimulation.

By Robert Palmer

Natural Cancer Cures

As our lives become more and more stressful, and our food less and less nutritious, cancer seems to be increasing and many people are suffering as a result. Traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy can be very harsh and often tend to make people even sicker, so what can be done to help cure cancer?

Ozone Therapy

A number of cancer patients have had successful results using ozone therapy. Ozone is a pure form of oxygen and can be used in a number of different forms including bubbling ozone into your bath water and absorbing it through the skin, using ozone capsules or droplets, breathing in ozonated air, drinking ozonated water, etc.

Glyconutrients

Glyconutrients have only recently started being taught by the medical profession and included in medical literature and they can be useful in helping to relieve symptoms of chemotherapy and radiation therapy and in making these treatments more effective. They assist improved communication between the cells which also benefits the immune system.

Diet Therapy

Our diets play a huge role in the development of cancer and much of our food today contains carcinogenic substances. By eliminating junk and sugary foods from our diet and focusing on raw foods and juices we can help to prevent and cure cancer naturally.

Green Tea

A number of research studies have been done into the use of green tea and its use for cancer and researchers have found that some of the compounds in green tea help to reduce the growth of cancer cells.

It is important that you seek professional medical advice if you are suffering from cancer and follow the program that they develop for you and speak to them about these alternate treatments. All of these traditional treatments however can be used in addition to traditional methods and may even help to make them more effective.

By Mandy Buchanan

Are You Worried About An Enlarged Prostate Or Other Prostate Problem?

In older men, the inner part of the prostate around the urethra may continue to grow, a condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) - also referred to as an enlarged or swollen prostate. Perhaps a fourth of men have some degree of hyperplasia by the time they reach their fifties. By the eighth decade, over 90% of males will have prostatic hyperplasia (according to the American Urological Association).

However, in only a small number of cases (about 10%) will this hyperplasia be symptomatic and severe enough to require any surgical or medical therapy. The mechanism for hyperplasia may be related to an accumulation of dihydrotestosterone in the prostate, which then binds to nuclear hormone receptors which then trigger the growth. The normal prostate gland weighs 20 to 30 gm, but most with nodular hyperplasia can weigh as much as 50 to 100 gm. And nodular hyperplasia is NOT a precursor to cancer. A mildly increased PSA (4 to 10 ng/mL) in a patient with a very large prostate can be due to either nodular hyperplasia, or to prostatitis, rather than cancer.

It's good to know that BPH is a non-cancerous enlargement that is very common in men as they age. While this can cause problems with urinating because it can press on the urethra (the tube that carries the urine), BPH is not cancer.

The class of drugs usually used to conventionally treat BPH are the alpha 1-adrenoreceptors, including prazosin, alfuzosin, indoramin, terazosin, doxazosin, and tamsulosin.

Both BPH and prostate cancer, however, can cause similar problems in older men. The "free PSA test" may help determine the difference between BPH and prostate cancer. Prostatitis, BPH, prostate cancer and metastasis are all very common ailments. Many of these symptoms, however, can also be caused by other conditions, such as a urinary tract infection (UTI), acute prostatitis, or even a sexually transmitted disease.

Doctors must determine if a patient's symptoms are due to prostate cancer, BPH, or to a number of other non-cancer-related conditions. Your doctor conducts a digital rectal exam in order to diagnose BPH. Treatment choices for BPH also include an ever watchful waiting.

Also regular checkups are important even for men who have had surgery for BPH. Learn all you can about the treatment options for these disorders if you're having symptoms that are keeping you up at night or keeping you up at night with worry. To understand your symptoms more take one of the free self tests for symptoms that are found online.

However, with so many treatment choices now available, men with BPH or prostate cancer sometimes have difficulty deciding on which is the right treatment, and the long-term lifestyle effects that each of the disease treatments may cause, especially if conventional or standard treatment is chosen where there is more risk. Other ways to relieve the symptoms of BPH use radiowaves, microwaves, or electrical current.

Also there is always the natural approach to consider. A natural diet may be an alternative chosen by some men rather than risk chemo drugs or radiation. Many men live well into a much older age with various prostate conditions and suffer no ill consequences. Prostate cancer, an enlarged prostate and BPH used to be diseases of old age but not anymore.

By Helen Hecker