Recent research has demonstrated that Chrysanthemum indicum possesses antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, immunomodulatory, and neuroprotective effects. The anticancer activity of Chrysanthemum indicum, especially in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), appears quite promising.
An article published on September 28, 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology reported findings by a research team led by Prof. Zong-fang Li from the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University. The team investigated the effects of Chrysanthemum indicum extract (CIE) on inhibition of proliferation and on apoptosis, and the underlying mechanisms, in a human HCC MHCC97H cell line. The article may be viewed online.
The results showed CIE inhibited proliferation of MHCC97H cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner without cytotoxicity to normal cells. CIE induced apoptosis of MHCC97H cells in a concentration-dependent manner, as determined by flow cytometry. The apoptosis was accompanied by a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential, release of cytochrome C and activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3. CIE arrested the cell cycle in the S phase by increasing P21 and decreasing CDK4 protein expression.
The researchers drew a conclusion that CIE exerted a significant apoptotic effect through a mitochondrial pathway and arrested the cell cycle by regulation of cell cycle-related proteins in MHCC97H cells without an effect on normal cells. The cancer-specific selectivity shown in their study suggests that the plant extract could be a promising novel treatment for human cancer without side effects.
The researchers noted that “Ethnopharmacology used in folk medicine continues to be an important source of discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents in cancer. The flowers of Chrysanthemum indicum, a Compositae plant, is common in ethnopharmacology, and has long had wide spread use in the treatment of hypertension, colitis, pneumonia and carbuncles by traditional Chinese practitioners.” It is refreshing to see such open acknowledgement by modern medical researchers of the importance of traditional herbal medicine. It is interesting to note that effective treatment in this study came from a naturally occurring substance and that it caused no damage to normal cells, and hence no unwanted side effects. This is in marked contrast to the outcomes when using artificial or human-made pharmacological agents, where, even when they do work, they always cause unwanted, and frequently lethal, side effects.
Tags: cancer, herbal medicine
Ethical members of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) may want to review their membership or challenge the organization’s judgement after learning that prominent health experts have written to the association urging it to return a grant from Coca-Cola that is to pay for education about the dietary role of beverages and sweeteners. One has to wonder about the thinking that informs a decision to accept funds from such a source. Are American family physicians really so greedy or are they just plain stupid? Perhaps they are both.
Coca-Cola is reported to have granted the AAFP a “six-figure payment” two weeks ago, which the organization said would help fund nutritional education content on its website. Specifically, it would allow the AAFP “to educate consumers about the role their products can play in a healthy, active lifestyle”. Can you believe that?
Executive vice president of the AAFP Douglas Henley said in a statement that: “Our alliance with The Coca-Cola Company gives the AAFP the opportunity to provide consumers with fact-based information on beverages and how to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle via our website FamilyDoctor.org. The AAFP and The Coca-Cola Company share a commitment to inform consumers, as well as medical professionals, about best practices for good health. And we will move forward with this commitment together by providing educational materials on sweeteners and how to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle while still enjoying many of the foods and beverages consumers love.” Such a statement reflects breathtaking arrogance and a very dim view of both consumers and medical professionals. Naivety is no defence as there can be no excuse for the level of ignorance portrayed if Henley were to claim that he didn’t realize there could be a conflict of interest.
The choice of a partnership with the Coca-Cola Company, in particular, has caused concern. Academics and nutritionists who are worried that the AAFP could lose its independence and integrity have written to the association urging it to return the grant. A copy of the letter may be accessed here. The health and nutrition experts wrote: “Because of the kinds of products it markets, Coca-Cola Co. is desperate to burnish its soiled reputation…which is why it is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to have a relationship with your organization.”
It appears that “Big Food” (which includes what we may think of as Big Beverages) is simply copying Big Pharma. We should not be surprised. The medical profession has a long track record of being easily corrupted into the role of promoting, pushing and pedaling things that will undermine health. After all, it supports their very survival. Cigarettes, pharmaceuticals and now Coca-Cola. And Americans are complaining about the prospect of universal health care on the grounds that they want to make their own health choices. The typical American doesn’t know what health is! With American family physicians promoting Coca-Cola, who can wonder?
Tags: Big Food, medical bias, medical ethics
A good diet is your best friend. A new study by Almudena Sanchez-Villegas et al found that those eating a Mediterranean-style diet were 30 per cent less likely to suffer from depression, compared to those who had the lowest Mediterranean diet scores. That seems to be a substantial benefit.
The so-called Mediterranean diet is rich in cereals, wine, fruits, nuts, legumes and whole grains, fish and olive oil, and low in dairy, meat, junk food and fat. Other resaerch has already linked the dietary pattern to longer life, less heart disease, and protection against some cancers. The diet’s main nutritional components include beta-carotene, vitamin C, tocopherols, polyphenols, and essential minerals.
The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of Navarra, Pamplona in Spain. The results were published in Archives of General Psychiatry, Volume 66, Number 10, Pages 1090-1098.
The researchers analysed dietary information from 10,094 healthy Spanish participants and calculated their adherence to the Mediterranean diet based on nine components, including the ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids, moderate alcohol and dairy product intakes, low meat intake, and high intake of legumes, fruit, nuts, cereals, vegetables and fish. After an average of 4.4 years of follow-up, depression had been documented in 156 men and 324 women. Close adherence to the Mediterranean diet, indicated by higher Mediterranean diet scores, was associated with a 30 percent reduction in the risk of depression, compared to people with the lowest scores.
The researchers claimed that the specific mechanisms by which following the dietary pattern worked are not well understood. They acknowledged that “the role of the overall dietary pattern may be more important than the effect of single components” adding that “It is plausible that the synergistic combination of a sufficient provision of omega-three fatty acids together with other natural unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants from olive oil and nuts, flavonoids and other phytochemicals from fruit and other plant foods and large amounts of natural folates and other B vitamins in the overall Mediterranean dietary pattern may exert a fair degree of protection against depression.” It is good to see some less particularistic and more holistic thinking.
Tags: depression, mediterranean diet, Nutrition
John A. Astin, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine’s Complementary Medicine Program, analyzed 23 clinical studies involving prayer, a technique called non-contact therapeutic touch, as well as other unconventional forms of spiritual intervention in which there is no physical contact between the practitioner and the patient. His findings were published in the June 6th, 2000 edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Astin says 57 percent of the studies showed a positive impact on the patients, such as less pain or a faster than expected recovery time. “Statistically speaking, the figure of 57 percent is highly significant,” says Astin, who considers himself an “open-minded skeptic.” “This is far more than one would expect to see by chance alone.”
Of the 23 studies analyzed, 11 examined therapeutic touch, 5 studied the effectiveness of prayer, and seven tested a variety of other unconventional treatments. Dr. Astin says all of the studies included placebo controls and were chosen for the scientific quality of the research.
The highest number of positive results was found in the studies involving therapeutic touch, a practice founded on the belief that the human body has an energy field. The practitioner moves his or her hands over the patient’s body to modify the field and promote healing. Notwithstanding the name, this technique does not involve physical contact. Of the 11 studies involving therapeutic touch, seven showed at least one positive treatment effect.
Dr. Astin also reviewed studies that tested the power of intercessory prayer (prayer on another’s behalf). In one study of nearly 1,000 heart patients, those who were being prayed for without their knowledge suffered 10 percent fewer complications. That study was published last year in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Although Dr. Astin calls the evidence compelling, he says the results are not conclusive and should be interpreted with caution. He points out that nine of the studies showed no treatment effects, and in one study, the control group got better more quickly.
“On the other hand,” says Dr. Astin, “there is certainly no evidence that attempts to heal from a distance cause any harm.”