| Drugs and Herbs... |
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| Anti-Cancer Herbs & Herbal Formulae Many chemotherapeutic drugs are derivatives, usually synthetic, of plants. For example, vincristine and vinblastine are derivative of the Madagascar periwinkle whose vinca alkaloids have significant anticancer actions. Taxol, an alkaloid that inhibits cell division, comes from the Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia). There are more varieties of cytotoxic herbs than there are chemotherapeutic drugs. Hartwell researched all references to cancer herbs spanning 5000 years and 2,500,000 herbs. Of these, at least 3000 possess some anti-cancer activity. This is the same figure used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Exactly how and why an herb addresses cancer differs enormously from plant to plant, but we will never learn as much as we need to know unless the companies performing the research can isolate an active ingredient that they can develop into a patentable drug. I personally oppose these efforts because in their whole forms and working in synergy with other herbs, the cytotoxic actions are often buffered by the protective actions. Thus, while interested in what science finds and how it comes to explain traditional ethnobotanical uses, I am cautious because profit motivation and tunnel vision can sometimes operate against the wisdom of the ages. |
| 3000 Anti-Cancer Herbs In any event, our starting point is that we have at least 3000 herbs with proven anti-cancer actions. Some arrest the fermentation process upon which the cancer cells depend for survival; some are directly toxic, more to the tumor than healthy tissue; some inhibit cell division; some affect the pH in such a way as to reduce the risks of metastasis. Finding the particular combination that works best for any particular individual and situation is a matter of using the available information and making an educated guess. This is not trial and error, but applied empiricism. |
| Cancer Salves by: Ingrid Naiman People always ask me what I would do if I had cancer. It's a very fair question, but I have been in the holistic world for many decades now so my confidence level and powers of observation are tuned differently than most others. There is no part of me that is anxious over health nor in doubt as to the healing powers of Nature. My shoes fit and I walk my talk, but I believe it is for others also to find the shoes that fit and the path that takes you where you need to go. |