“Soursop, 10,000 times stronger than chemo”?

As my father was battling with cancer a year ago, something caught my attention and I wanted to research about the topic. I remember someone sending an email to my mother saying that soursop is "10,000 times stronger than chemo" and that it is a “cancer cure”. I thought this is a very strong statement, so I decided to go after the truth about it. Chemotherapy is a widely known form of cancer treatment and is effective at destroying cancer cells however, as commonly known it may come with numerous side effects. Some of those side effects that are more than likely inevitable, are those of hair loss, nausea, loose of weight and strength. This is because while chemo is destroying those harmful cancer cells in the body it is also causing harm to the normal healthy cells.

Soursop is the fruit of Annona muricata, a broadleaf, flowering, evergreen tree native to Mexico, Cuba, Central America, the Caribbean and northern southern America. As I went doing some research I found many articles calling this fruit the miraculous “cure for cancer”, but what does science have to say about it? Last year the Department of Food Science and Technology of Virginia Tech published an article where they report that that a soursop fruit extract significantly downregulated the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) which is an oncogene frequently overexpressed in breast cancer gene expression and inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells. In 2002 the Institute of Natural Products in Taiwan, also published an article where they state that new compounds from Soursop exhibited significant activity in cytotoxic (toxic cells) assays against two human hepatoma (liver cancer) cell lines. According to Cancer Research UK, Annona muricata is an active principle in an unlicensed herbal remedy marketed under the brand name Triamazon. But, Triamazon is not licensed for medicinal use and the sale of the product resulted in a conviction on four counts of selling unlicensed medical products, and other charges. However, I did not find any large scale studies in humans, so I believe to say it is “the cancer cure” is rushing things a little too much. I couldn’t find any studies either to support the idea that this fruit is 10,000 times stronger than chemo, so I think for the moment we can enjoy the freshness of a tropical juice with very promising anticancer effects and let science do its job before jumping into any conclusion.

Cranberries: a fruity option for UTIs?

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections in adults today, affecting 150 million people worldwide. Gram-negative bacteria are responsible for most community-acquired and hospital-acquired UTIs. Strains of Escherichia coli that are harmful for the urinary tract account for 85–95% of cystitis cases and 90% of acute pyelonephritis infections, according to a study performed by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute published in 2010. However, resistance to the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole antibiotic treatment has been seen in 25% of UTI cases in the US and in up to 60% of UTI cases in Asia. Alternative strategies toward prevention of UTIs can be helpful in this regard. The American red cranberry has been traditionally recognized for its benefits to the urinary tract. Their study was the first to directly show that Cranberry juice decreases the “sticking” of E. coli to cells on the urinary tract. To test the strength of the cranberry juice "shield," the team of researchers used a tiny probe on the tip of an atomic force microscope, which has the ability to sense the smallest of interactions between cells. They measured the strength of the bond between the bacteria and urinary tract cells in the presence of different concentrations of juice. The microscope’s measurements showed that as the concentration of cranberry juice cocktail increased, the force holding a single bacterium to a urinary tract cell decreased.  The researchers concluded that the more cranberry juice cocktail present, the less ability the E. coli had to grab onto the cell.

However, another study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine Journal in 2011 suggests this widely used natural remedy is considerably less effective than low-dose antibiotics to treat recurrent UTIs. In this study, 221 premenopausal women with recurrent UTIs were received 480 milligrams a day of the standard antibiotic treatment for the condition or 500 milligrams twice a day of some cranberry capsules. Seventy eight percent of those women taking cranberry capsules had at least one UTI during the study, versus 71% in the drug group. UTI recurrence also tended to happen sooner in the cranberry group. The average time to recurrence in the antibiotic group was about eight months, compared with four months in the cranberry group. In the other hand, women in the antibiotic group developed antibiotic resistance. So this is a tough subject, and raises a lot more questions, is cranberry Juice really effective? And in the other hand, is it more convenient than antibiotics? Knowing that Antibiotic resistance is a major public health concern and, most people do not like to take antibiotics for a long period. I am sure drinking prudent amounts of cranberry juice will not hurt anyone, so maybe we can come up with a good balance, consuming this juice as prevention and going to our doctor when we encounter a major infection.

Spicy solution for back pain

Most people struggle with back pain at some point in their lives. According to the National Institutes of Health, back pain is the second most common neurological disorder in the United States only headache is more common. There are many popular natural remedies for this problem such as acupuncture, massages and chiropractic, but one of them specially caught my attention: Creams made from capsaicin (the active ingredient in chili peppers that give peppers their heat) have been used to relieve back pain, muscle pain, nerve pain, and joint pain from arthritis, bursitis, fibromyalgia, diabetic neuropathy, and many others. Many people would find this remedy as ironic, given the fact that when we consume chili peppers what we get immediately is a burning feeling. So how exactly is it that this works to relieve pain? In 1997 scientists from the University of California published an article that might help us to solve this enigma.

In their study they explain how pain is initiated when the peripheral terminals of a subgroup of sensory brain cells called neurons are activated by a harmful chemical or sometimes a hot stimulus. These neurons, called nociceptors, transmit information regarding tissue damage to pain-processing centres in the spinal cord and brain, and then we get the pain sensation. Nociceptors are characterized, in part, by their sensitivity to capsaicin. Exposure of the nociceptor terminals to capsaicin leads initially to excitation of the brain cell. However with prolonged exposure, nociceptor terminals become insensitive to capsaicin, as well as to other harmful stimulus. This means that what capsaicin does is exciting these receptors so much that they would not feel pain anymore, as if they would go numb.

Capsaicin cream, also called capsicum cream, is available in many drug stores, health food stores, and even online. The most common side effect is a stinging or burning sensation in the area, as if you were applying Icy hot. I personally think this is good news. It seems like we have available a low-cost spicy remedy for our back pain issues.

CURRY AND BREAST CANCER

Recently I read a story about Vicky Sewart, a breast cancer patient who refused to take drugs prescribed to prevent her cancer from returning.  She chose instead to depend on a spicy low-fat diet because she was worried about the side effects she might have from taking medication. She did her own research and decided that eating curry would be beneficial for her recovery. What is the scientific evidence behind this woman’s risky decision? Is it enough to bet her life on it after going through cancer? I went into doing research myself, and found several articles, news and reviews about this subject.

Curry and some other spices like mustard contain a yellow spice called Turmeric or curcumin (Curcuma longa). This spice has been studied in multiple human cancers including, head and neck, breast, colon, pancreatic, prostate and ovarian. Some studies even say that the low incidence of colon cancer in India is due to the chemo-preventive and antioxidant properties of diets rich in curcumin.  Curcumin’s has potent anti-oxidant effect, which means that it has  substances that may protect cells against the effects of free radicals, and they play an important role in prevention in the initial stages of cancer. Curcumin’s inhibitory effect on cancer has been demonstrated in several animal models of various tumor types including oral cancer, mammary carcinoma and intestinal tumors with very good effects. A very recent study from Zheijian Provincial People's Hospital in Zheijiang, China indicates that the compound is capable of inducing programmed cell death (apoptosis) within triple negative breast cancer cells.  (Triple negative breast cancer, so named because the cells do not have the characteristic receptors for estrogen, progesterone and Her2/neu) According to UCLA Curcumin was selected for further development, put through extensive toxicology testing and has successively made it through the first stages (Phase I) of clinical testing abroad and is currently in clinical trials at several sites in the U.S.

Overall, turmeric appears to have significant cancer-protective effects according to scientific evidence, although It is still in Phase I of clinical testing which means that it has not been tested in humans yet. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine it is considered safe for most adults. So if you enjoy Indian cosine you might take advantage of the antioxidant properties of this spice while enjoying a delicious plate. Go to your doctor for your medication and, let’s just wait until we come to the point where we are sure it is safe enough to consume as medicine.