Ancient Chinese Herbal Recipe Eases Side Effects of Chemotherapy

A combination of Chinese herbs in use for more than 1,800 years reduced the gastrointestinal side effects of chemotherapy in mice, while actually enhancing the effects of the cancer treatment, Yale University researchers report.

The formula used in the experiment consists of four herbs, called PHY906, and is based on a herbal recipe called Huang Qin Tang, used historically to treat nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The study, published August 18 in the journal Science Translational Medicine, asked whether the use of the formula could reduce gastrointestinal effects of a common chemotherapy drug without affecting its ability to kill cancerous cells.

Video: Yung-Chi “Tommy” Cheng, Henry Bronson professor of pharmacology, co-director of the Yale Cancer Center’s Developmental Therapeutics program and senior author of the paper. Watch »

Chemotherapy causes a number of toxic side effects, which are usually treated with several different drugs with mixed success.

“Chemotherapy causes great distress for millions of patients, but PHY906 has multiple biologically active compounds which can act on multiple sources of discomfort,” said Yung-Chi “Tommy” Cheng, Henry Bronson professor of pharmacology, co-director of the Yale Cancer Center’s Developmental Therapeutics program and senior author of the paper.

Mice undergoing chemotherapy that were given PHY906 lost less weight and experienced more anti-tumor activity than mice not given the formula, the team reported.

The herbal formula reduced toxicity of the chemotherapy by multiple mechanisms, including the inhibiting inflammation and promoting the creation of new intestinal cells, the team reported. This cannot be accomplished by current drugs, which usually target only one mechanism.

“This combination of chemotherapy and herbs represents a marriage of Western and Eastern approaches to the treatment of cancer,” Cheng said.

Cheng is the co-discover of PHY906 and, with Yale, has a financial interest in PhytoCeutica Inc., a New Haven company developing the formula.

The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Wing Lam of Yale was lead author of the paper. Other Yale authors include Scott Bussom, Fulan Guan, Zaoli Jiang, Wei Zhang, Elizabeth A. Gullen, Shwu-Huey Li

The powers of Curcumin by Natural Society

Curcumin by "Natural Society"

Curcumin comes from the Turmeric plant and has been in India as a spice for centuries.

Traditionally, people used curcumin to add flavour to their dishes, with many cultures recognizing the spice for its many medicinal properties.

As the use of curcumin continues to grow in popularity, so does the acknowledgement of its many benefits.

The world of modern medicine has discovered that curcumin is effective in the treatment of diseases and in the prevention of cancer.

In one study, it was found that curcumin reduced brain tumor size by 81%. Another study found just 1,000 milligrams of curcumin can help stop the growth of cancer.

However the benefits of curcumin do not end there.

Amazingly, curcumin has been found to benefit over 560 negative conditions including: Alzheimer’s disease, oxidative stress, DNA damage, inflammation, HIV infections, and cancer.

Studies performed on lab mice showed that curcumin also effectively treated kidney problems and restored kidney functions.

The rise in Alzheimer’s disease cases has opened the eyes of the modern world to the gravity of this disease, with curcumin showing extreme promise in the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s.

Studies have shown that curcumin can be instrumental in the treatment of this disease.

Curcumin is even effective in lowering bad cholesterol levels naturally. Curcumin is effective in lowering LDL (bad cholesterol) and increasing HDL, or good cholesterol. When taken on a daily basis, curcumin may significantly decrease LDL levels.

Preliminary findings on studies in the use of curcumin in the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) have shown that the virus does react to curcumin treatment.

As more health professionals become aware of this information, we could possibly see curcumin being formally used in the treatment of HIV in the future.

Curcumin is also used in the treatment of arthritis and cataracts.

As studies on the health benefits of curcumin are being performed routinely, more and more health benefits are expected to be seen in the future.