Chemotherapy is NOT healing cancer
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Kayb, I think you hit the nail on the head---if we don't want research dominated by corporations, then we (in the U.S.) need to be willing to pony up our tax dollars for publicly funded research. Personally, I'd rather be funding more scientific research than buying F-35's at $100 million a pop (and $1 trillion over the life of the program). But now I'm talking politics!
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I also completely agree with fallleaves, and then kayb's statement saying "My objection is when the occasional alternative supporter rages against conventional approaches implying that "natural" alternatives are inherently safer." is interesting, but I don't believe it's accurate.
I've tried to shine a light on the other side of the coin...without 'rage', with as much careful consideration as possible. I do take umbrage at the aggressive attitudes posed against anything that isn't pharmaceutically based, as this is just as uninformed, as saying everything natural is inherently safer. And looking at the threads/forums to see how people who have posted aggressively here, have behaved there, is enlightening. 'There' these people post reasonable, compassionate and loving messages. You wouldn't know they are the same people when you read their posts 'here'. This is a true bias, true bullying, and shouldn't be allowed to continue. I will call out these people in future....ask them what their agenda is, in behaving one way 'there' and then letting their claws out 'here'.
I don't know of many 'natural' drugs that are meant to deal with cancer. Big pharma has had to discredit natural medicine to eliminate the competition. That's just a fact, and not a rage. Also, like I said earlier, when any really affordable drugs come to light in laboratories around the world, they fizzle out due to lack of big pharma funding the clinical trials because profits aren't significant enough. This is a crime against humanity, in the name of profit, in my opinion. Following is from http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/06/26/dichloroacetate-university-of-alberta-doctors-discover-a-cure-for-cancer/ on DCA. There are many other articles on this published by others you may trust more....I'm just trying to illustrate my point....
Why Is The Drug Not Being Used?
The University of Alberta team has conducted tests on humans, but the pharmaceutical sector of medicine is responsible for funding clinical trials that lead to the approval of medical treatments. It turns out that the rights to the DCA compound are not owned by any pharmaceutical company. This is a problem, as most of U of A's research on this issue has been publicly funded. They are currently working to secure more funding to continue their research and ongoing DCA clinical trials.
Without industry support, it's almost impossible to do anything with this research and infiltrate the health industry. It's no different from any other industry. It's not like you can take a water fuel cell car like Stan Meyer did, and introduce it to the energy industry. Doing so would wipe out the multi trillion dollar industry, it's no different from the medical industry, heavy suppression of known cancer treatments is likely to exist.
I am aware and familiar with 'natural' ways of supporting our immune systems, and these are certainly safer than pharmaceuticals. These natural ways of healing our immune systems include changing our diet, eliminating sugar, learning how to work through stress so it diminishes, rather than increases with the progression of the disease, holding onto a higher power, if that is part of your value system, learning how to humbly honor the time you have, rather than railing against dying, as we will all die one day............and who are we to demand we die when it's more convenient to us? None of us have a guarantee of tomorrow, and every time I hear a siren, I know someone's life has been irrevocably changed somehow....something they most likely didn't expect or plan for. Embracing a philosophy of living well is tantamount, in my opinion, to making every moment count, so our precious moments aren't washed away due to fear, anger or despair.
If you have problems with any of this, in this thread, you are welcome to leave....rather than dump negativity on a gentle fire, that should be allowed to burn, and it's light should be allowed to illuminate the 'other side of the coin'.
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My poor little immune system is still recovering. I've been pouring alcohol into it for decades and finally stopped before surgery. I allow myself a bottle of red wine each week, but I used to drink a bottle of champers every day. I haven't even begun to address the sugar, although my doctor has. That wasn't a fun conversation.
I have what feels like a pulled muscle in my forearm, always. I wonder if the cancer is depositing itself (metastasizing) in the nodes inside my arm near the elbow. Am I gonna get a lump in my forearm? I get lymph node massage for that but nothing helps. Just permanent inflammation. This strains my immune system and makes me tired.
For what ails me now there are no remedies. Only substances to mask the pains. Currently they are mild pains. The stress of this strains my immune system and makes me tired.
This being a breast cancer forum, I haven't felt inclined to mention my thyroid cancer. It was years ago. But my endocrine system is tough to keep balanced. I often feel like a diabetic when they say they are "low". It's like your body is running out of gas. I've become very protective of the other hormone producing glands in my body, to no avail. I still have to have those ovaries out.
Personally, I'm tired all the time, don't get as much liquor as I like and am about to have a major supply of sugar cut from my world. Yes, I post aggressively. I like to think I'm consistent in that. I've only blocked one forum member so far. But I'll try to take it easy over here in Altville. You never know when a peaceful, balanced day might be someone's drug of choice.
cb
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For those interested in an overview of "natural products" from a medicinal chemistry perspective, here is an excellent review article. The figures can be found at the very end:
"Natural Products: A Continuing Source of Novel Drug Leads"
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3672862/pdf/nihms468935.pdf
Often the original natural product is not usable as a drug because of toxicities, poor pharmacokinetics, and other undesirable properties. However, natural products may provide a viable "lead" molecule, which can be optimized for human therapeutic use by synthetic, semi-synthetic, and medicinal chemistry methods.
The article lists a number of anti-cancer therapeutics based on natural products, such as vinblastine, vincristine, etoposide, teniposide, paclitaxel, docetaxel, cabazitaxel, topotecan, irinotecan (CPT-11), belotecan, DM-1 conjugates (e.g., KADCYLA (ado-trastuzumab emtansine), in which DM1 molecules are linked to Herceptin®), DM-4 conjugates, ecteinascidin 743 (Yondelis®), anthracyclines, bleomycin, mitomycin, daunomycin, doxorubicin, idarubicin, epirubicin, bleomycins A2 and B2 (blenoxane®), mitomycin C, and ixabepilone.
The article also discusses the so-called "Valley of Death" or "gap in availability / access to funding," which is multifactorial in nature.
BarredOwl
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thank you barrelowl.....
I should have mentioned I do know of a good natural 'cure' for cancer...I took medical marijuana for 2 years....halfway through that time, I no longer had symptoms of stage 4 metastatic disease.
I attributed this to losing the fear in my heart, on a spiritual level, and using the medical marijuana, on the physical level. I believe disease manifesting on the physical level is the last (grossest) clue we get to imbalance within.
Medical marijuana was also instrumental in resolving and/or curing a multitude of chronic health issues I had.
So many studies exist showing how medical marijuana causes cancer cell apoptosis (cell death) which is the problem with cancer cells....they are immortal and don't die naturally.
If considering this treatment for yourself, know that medical marijuana is very powerful, and you need to build up your dosage slowly, over a 4 to 6 week period.
Because I don't metabolize medication quickly, it stays in my system longer. Eventually, I titrated my dosage to equal 1/4 to 1/2 of a gram of medical marijuana per day....I used a little more if my liver was hurting. The recommended dosage for these 'phoenix tears' was one gram per day for 3 months. As I mentioned, I took 1/4 - 1/2 of a gram per day for over two years straight, which equals approximately 180 - 360 grams in total. Since one ounce of marijuana is needed to make approximately 3 grams of oil, my medicine required somewhere between 60 - 120 ounces (3.75 to 7.5 pounds) of marijuana to make. Since one gram of the oil costs $25 - $30, I spent somewhere between $4,500 and $10,800 for two years of medicine. If I had been using the medicine in a suppository, it would have cost half that much.....because you absorb much more of the medicine that way, than taking orally and digesting.
When I quit taking medical marijuana, I did so because I was starting to develop dizziness. This, I believe is because there was too great a concentration of it in my blood after taking it so long. This dizziness resolved within days of quitting.
The final cost is significantly lower than $100,000 per year for one patient, and could very well be more effective than any chemo out there....with no negative side effects...only healthy ones..
Something to think about.
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Brookside, "stimulating effect" refers to stimulating the bowel to produce a BM. It has nothing to do with the liver, cancer etc.
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Cancer is caused by a cell that goes crazy . As far as we know , no one has found out why . Is it our immune system ? Is it stress ? Is it our DNA ? Is it caused by our ever increasing toxic environment ? Our processed food ? Some say is because of smoking ? There will not be a cure until the cause is known. Our medical community just treats cancer of what they are told by the pharmaceutical companies . All the research that has gone on since cancer was diagnosed and no cure ? There is so much money now being made by the medical community just on cancer alone. Is it greed ? I was diagnosed last year . Did have surgery that I am still paying for . Asked the oncologists would chemo cure my cancer and was told no . Would radiation cure my cancer ? No. Why should I put myself through this at 64 years old ? Living my life everyday to the fullest . Bucket list almost complete . Always healthy in the past. Counting my blessings .
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Twinkly, I'm doing the RSO and just worked myself up to a whole gram a day. Been about 2 weeks now. I usually take half in the morning and half at night. Or I do it in 1/3's. I was doing while taking Xeloda and ended up getting terribly sick. With research, we found it was the chemo and RSO that were conflicting with one another, therefore making me ill. Since not taking chemo (Xeloda) for almost 3 weeks, I'm feeling better, most SE's from the chemo are gone, and my TM's are still going down. I do think I still have the chemo in my body.
I will say, my husband has had skin cancer on his head for a few years and always new spots popping up. We always done the traditional surgery, topical chemo. Well, another spot popped up, I put some RSO on it every day, and in 4 days it was gone.
My husband also has high blood pressure. He has been taking very small amount of RSO, size of rice grain. His blood pressure has come down to normal and sometimes even low. He has not quit is blood pressure medicine, but cut out his afternoon dose.
Had a friend come over one day, she woke with a horrible migraine, took 4 Advil and came over my house. The headache never did go away. So I rubbed some RSO on her temples, and within a half hour her head ache was completely gone.
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Oh, I have the manager at our local dispensary working on getting me my RSO for free. I am picking some up today for $30 a gram. I have also been told you can turn it in on your taxes. Not sure about that yet, if it's true or not.
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If you don't mind, I'll start by pointing out that chemo is not supposed to heal cancer. It's supposed to kill cancer. The issue is that walks on a fine line where it might kill the patient too. And some chemo drugs are actually plant extracts - see the example of Taxotere that is an extract of the European yew tree (poisonous). So, logically, some of the chemo drugs are in fact natural. Ahem.
As a former alternative therapies medical practitioner in Eastern Europe (couldn't practice here as there's no legal frame) I am fully aware of both sides of the coin. This is why I went both ways. Not all the way, true, I refused radiation therapy and stopped AIs after only 3 years, but still had chemo. Then went low carb (20 g of net carbs a day), and supplements (DIM, melatonin, vit D3.) plus change of lifestyle by adding more exercise and some Yoga. I sure hope that the huge movement we have now in Oklahoma will end by getting medical marijuana approved here too. I'm a strong supporter of that.
The truth is, natural therapy does not always work. It has sometimes to be backed up by what is called "traditional" treatment. I guess how much of it we choose to go for is our own decision. It is a good thing to be informed though. Also, I am a skeptic by nature, and don't believe at first sight any "miracle" drug touting - be it "traditional" or "natural".
The other VERY IMPORTANT thing is that people seem to not understand that when it comes to treatment, there is never a "one size fits all". We all have different metabolisms, different strengths and weaknesses, different family history, different predispositions to be affected by stress and depression a.s.o. It takes a lot of fine tuning to find what is good and will work for each patient.
Why I can't understand is the squabbling. Seriously, we all face such a serious trauma in our life, why exactly are we adding extra stress to all that? It's not like arguing is going to change someone else's mind. On the contrary, from the psychological point of view it triggers an automatic rejection response. Just present the facts and let people study them and draw their own conclusions. Someone you know dying because they chose traditional or "natural" doesn't mean that that method is wrong - it just proves that something that would work on that special patient wasn't found. It's sad, not a reason to argue about. It's even more than sad, it's disrespectful.
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Hi Goldie, what amazing news!!! I'm so happy to hear how well the medical marijuana is working for you.
You may want to look into taking your evening dosage of medical marijuana via suppository. These are easy to make, you just need a carrier oil that is safe, like coconut oil. I purchased my suppositories pre-made, but I also purchased an ice cube tray with suppository-ish shaped rounded cubes so I could make them on my own (I can send you the link for this tray if you like). You could melt the coconut oil and pour into the tray until 2/3 full, then squeeze in the amount of medical marijuana you would normally take at night. Then freeze. I don't think they need to be thoroughly mixed together, but once you know how much your tray holds, you can probably mix them together first, before pouring into the tray, if you prefer. You would only take this dosage in the evening before you go to bed (and wear a panty liner, because your panties may have a little green staining when you wake up in the morning). So you can ingest during the day, and use the suppository at night, if you like.
Also, it's best to take your medicine in 3-4 smaller doses throughout the day, rather than larger doses less frequently, just as you are doing
This allows a steady delivery of the cannabinoids into your system.I suggested using a suppository to make your medicine more effective. When you take your medical marijuana via a suppository, you get up to 70% of the medicine into your system, because the lining of your sigmoid colon is very capillary rich (ask any nurse, when they deliver morphine via suppository, much more is delivered into the system, and many don't have the constipation associated with ingesting the painkiller orally). Whereas when you ingest your medical marijuana, you get about 30-35% of the medicine into your system. So, using a suppository (if you don't mind doing so) is helping you even more.
I've asked both my daughters to take medical marijuana each day, to help ensure they never get breast cancer (just the amount you mentioned...that is equivalent to the size of a grain of rice). I actually don't know anyone in my life who wouldn't benefit from taking this preventative dosage each and every day.
And it's impressive how your friends migraine was also helped. And I really love hearing the success your husband has had with it as well.
Again, thanks so much for sharing
Big hugs
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The list of symptoms medical marijuana is known to help with and/or outright heal, is so impressive. It truly is one of the most amazing forms of medicine humankind has used and evolved with for thousands of years....until it represented too much competition for the budding pharmaceutical industry (enough said).who eventually were so successful, marijuana was classified as a schedule 1 drug (which means it has no known benefit to humankind). Yet, science clearly explains how the cannabinoids in medical marijuana bond with all of the cannabinoid receptors in our bodies and brains, and clearly shows how particular cannabinoids, when working together, cause cell apoptosis in cancer cells. Of course, with our bodies full of millions and millions of cannabinoid receptors, science is able to show why this medicine is so effective for every human on the planet. It won't be classified as a Schedule 1 drug for much longer....the perpetuation of this lie is quickly coming to an end.
AND, If we're brave enough to look passed the prejudice we've been taught (by mainstream media) and let ourselves absorb the evidence-based science surrounding medical marijuana, we open ourselves to a world of healing and wellness. There isn't one cancer patient who wouldn't benefit from medical marijuana. And I'm so glad you are no longer taking chemo, which just makes it that much harder for your body (immune system) to get back to the point it needs to be where you can be truly healed.
I believe with all my heart cancer can be healed, when you work at bringing back into balance every aspect of your life....physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
Yes, this takes much more work than the physical only approach.
Like I said in an earlier post, the physical manifestation of disease is the LAST indicator our body gives us of something wrong. We need to learn how to listen, and truly look at all aspects of our being, and sincerely begin to face up to all of our imbalances. I don't think my cancer would have disappeared unless I'd dug out the fear that was a disease in my heart long before the cancer manifested. The medical marijuana was then instrumental in helping my body to eventually heal, once I faced up to the fear, and other associated imbalances, that caused the cancer (imho) in the first place.
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Seachain, thank you for your post. I believe we can all agree to disagree on some points, and use this as a place to share what may be working for us, without having to defend it.
And you hit the nail on the head, and I too believe the road to healing is an intensely personal journey. We need to address all of the imbalance in our system. Some of us may be more harmed by stress, or we could have traumatic emotional injuries from our childhood, or growing up. We could be mental powerhouses, ignoring our emotional well being, or too emotional, or oscillating between the two, and never finding ourselves spending time in the 'centre' which represents the present moment (thinking takes us out of the present moment)..... or a million other intensely personal reasons why we aren't the best 'us' we can be.
I believe that's why cancer can be a blessing, a wake-up call, so to speak, for so many. Nothing can be all bad, and nothing can be all good....that's the law of the universe we live in. When striving for balance, it helps to uncover the yin to the yang, or the yang to the yin, of whatever issue we're faced with 'today'.
I used meditation as the tool to heal my imbalances (I've taught meditation for over 30 years for free) but to travel this road means I believe the truth about myself is that I'm not this body, I'm not these emotions, or these thoughts. I believe the truth about me is that I'm my Spirit, which is pure love and compassion. In order to heal my imbalances, I have really had to challenge everything within me that 'doubts' this (which means I've had to bring love and compassion to so many aspects of my life, to balance the negative behaviour, or thought, or action I'm engaging in - or have engaged in since before I can remember). For instance, how can I feel guilty if I'm my spirit??? better to face up to my mistake and simply not continue to make it over and over again....or, if I am my spirit, how can I not forgive myself and others for everything that has happened 'wrong' in my life?? if I deny others the compassion of my forgiveness, then I deny it to myself also, and why would I carry this kind of burden? when I forgive, nothing happens outside of me....but profound healing can happen within.
But this isn't the road for everyone. And understanding how difficult it has been to find an immutable light to shine on my personal path, means that I have had to embrace zero judgement when it comes to both myself, and others. How to judge someone else's steps, when I could never walk a minute in their shoes? We share a life threatening disease, but for many many different reasons.
I pray we all find the road, or series of paths we need to walk, in order to achieve overall health and wellness.
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Beautifully said, twinkly.
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Twinkly, I will take your advice and take smaller amounts throughout the day, as opposed to half in the morning and half before bed. The ice tray, is it one to make cubes for water bottles? Why couldn't one just shoot the syringe up there? Whatever was left over from the days dosage? I did almost 2 years of chemo. It was just really beating my down. So I need to try this.
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twinkly, I forgot. You said you had a link to get the ice-trays to make suppositories. I have a good friend who has been diagnosed at 38 y.o. with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer last year in June and at the time they gave him 3 months to live (brain tumor too). He's been using the FECO oil (sent by kind-hearted people from Colorado) and right now he's NED and very much alive. We were talking yesterday and I mentioned the suppository thing, he said he would like to try that, could you pm me the link where to get them? I'd like to order some for him.
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Sea, FECO (Full Extract Cannabis Oil) is this the same as RSO? A different form? And you have a friend that got a company in CO to send it in the mail? That's a risk, one that I will take next week. But for a business to do it is pretty risky. As it is Federally illegal. Which pisses me off. This could be potentially something that saves my life, and I need to take it daily. How am I suppose to travel?
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I'm sorry but I don't know the details on how he got it, I do know he's been to Colorado three times in the past 6 months and I know he said he didn't have to pay for it, that some local people had covered the expenses. I can ask him for more details.
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Also, he's part Native American, has Tribal insurance and I think he did see a dr. there.
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Sea, thanks for the offer. I'm good for now, especially if my local dispensary will get it for me for free. Otherwise, would have to make a camping trip to CO! Would love to hear more about your friend.
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Goldie and Seachain, thanks so much for your posts! It makes my heart smile to hear how others are benefiting from medical marijuana. The science is in for anyone who cares to look it up. Medical marijuana actually kills cancer cells, in such a natural way, with no side effects.
And for me, many other little chronic health issues cleared up at the same time. Now, instead of leaking a little bit every time I need to go pee (my doctor attributed to age and having 3 kids) I literally hold it without any problems, and pee such copious amounts, at such regular intervals, I'm a little embarrassed for my husband to hear me peeing like a race horse. (My water intake is simplified now...I drink every time I go pee....simple replacement logic). I haven't had this healthy of a bladder since I was 15. I had a problem for 20+ years, where I developed large cysts wherever the elastic of my panties rubbed too much. Since mm, it's almost completely disappeared (a persistent one has come back since I stopped taking mm - although this one never completely disappeared). In August 2013, it was my liver hurting that sent me to emergency one day...I was sure cancer had taken up residence in my liver. They did a CT scan with the contrast agent, but found nothing in my liver, although they did see something suspicious in my lower right lung, and asked me to come back in four months so they could track this. When I went back for my CT scan in December 2013, they called me later that day to ask me to come in for a PET scan the very next day. A week later I got the news that I had stage 4 metatstatic breast cancer in my sternum, T1 vertebrae, lymph node, and 2 other areas of concern. Within 2 months I started taking my medical marijuana, and this is the only thing that dealt with the pain in my liver. In fact, over the next few months, the pain diminished so much, it was no longer a major concern. (It wasn't until I took coffee enemas, and lost over 200 liver stones, that my liver truly stopped aching, even periodically). In October 2014 I had another CT scan. Although it showed my sternum had even more cancer, it also showed no involvement of my T1 vertebrae, or the lymph node, or the 2 other areas of concern. By that time, I'd taken mm for 8 months.
Medical marijuana also cleared up the eczema I had broken out with due to stress after my diagnosis. My entire face and eyelids was covered with it. I used a salve made with medical marijuana (in whatever form, medical marijuana is the fresh buds of the female plant, cooked down with an alcohol component, and once strained, the dark, thick viscous resin left is the actual medicine (also known as hash oil, Rick Simpson Oil (RSO), Full Extract Cannabis Oil (FECO), Phoenix Tears, etc.). The heat used in the manufacturing process activates the cannabinoid THC (it's this heating that gives THC the ability to make you 'high' - THC is the only cannabinoid in the plant capable of doing this) and combines with the additional 50+ different cannabinoids also present, to make a very potent cocktail of medicine. CBD, for instance, has a lot of science behind it on it's own [anti anxiety, anti seizure, anti pain, etc.) and when CBD combines with THC, together they cause cancer cell apoptosis....and unlike chemo, these cannabinoids don't harm in any way, and accomplish a lot of other healing, like I've mentioned. And please don't think 'Marinol', the pharmaceutical drug which is pure THC, can even come close to the real thing. Isolating the THC only, without the supporting cannabinoids, makes for a drug that can kill, and Marinol has killed. Yet, the pharmaceutical agency had marijuana classified as a schedule 1 drug (which means it has no benefit to humankind) but now they have a patent on Marinol....somehow they have their cake and eat it too, which is nice for big pharma, but rather hypocritical, if you ask me.
I urge everyone with cancer to look into medical marijuana. The science is so compelling, so straight forward. If it's not legal where you live, drive to another state where it is approved, and find a dispensary with a sterling reputation. Store your medicine in the fridge.
I live in Canada, and am happy to share the name of my dispensary with anyone who would like. They mail across Canada, and after a careful review of your health records, you can become a member. The lady they have making their "Phoenix Tears" is like a medicine woman, and her medicine has so much integrity, you can feel it the instant you take it.
But be careful too....all medical marijuana is not made equally. There are unscrupulous people wanting to make money, just like in the pharmaceutical industry. It takes an entire ounce of these buds to make 3 grams of medicine. You want medicine made with buds, not with shake (the detritus left behind once the buds have been harvested and packaged for sale). Money, profit and greed corrupts absolutely, whether it's natural medicine or a faked clinical trial(s) and/or doctors 'ghost writing' research papers.
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There seem to be so many supplements that have potential to counteract the negative effects of chemotherapy. Wouldn't it be cool if some researchers did a comprehensive literature search to identify the top five candidates among supplements for anti-metastatic and antiproliferative potential, and actually did some trials in humans in combination with chemotherapy?
Here's one I'd nominate for further study (COX-2 expression is elevated in breast cancer cells and may be involved with metastasis to the bone, and NF-kappa beta and MMP9 drive metastasis):
Pycnogenol
(pine bark extract)Inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 activity by plasma of human volunteers after ingestion of French maritime pine bark extract (Pycnogenol).
"we obtained blood samples before and after 5 days administration of 200 mgPycnogenol to five healthy humans. The plasma moderately inhibited both COX-1 and COX-2 activities ex vivo. In a second approach, 10 volunteers received a single dose of 300 mg Pycnogenol. Only 30 min after ingestion of the pine bark extract the serum samples induced a statistically significant increase in the inhibition of both COX-1 (P < 0.02) and COX-2 (P < 0.002). This suggests a strikingly rapid bioavailability of bioeffective compounds after oral intake of the extract. Thus, we provide evidence that Pycnogenol exerts effects by inhibition of eicosanoid generating enzymes which is consistent with reported clinical anti-inflammatory and platelet inhibitory effects in vivo."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16330178
(Schafer, 2006)
Inhibition of NF-kappaB activation and MMP-9 secretion by plasma of human volunteers after ingestion of maritime pine bark extract
(Pycnogenol).
"Blood samples from seven healthy volunteers were obtained before and after five days administration of 200 mg Pycnogenol per day. Plasma samples statistically significantly inhibited matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) release from human monocytes and NF-kappaB activation. Thus, we provide evidence that bioavailable active principles of Pycnogenol exert anti-inflammatory effects by inhibition of proinflammatory gene expression which is consistent with documented clinical observations. "
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16441890 (Grimm, 2006)Pycnogenol treatment inhibits bone mineral density loss and trabecular deterioration in ovariectomized rats.
"Pycnogenol(®) (40 mg/kg) can inhibit aggravated bone resorption, prevent BMD loss, and restore the impaired trabecular microarchitecture in OVX rats after 9-week-intervention."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26379883 (Huang, 2015)Selective induction of apoptosis in human mammary cancer cells (MCF-7) by pycnogenol " These results suggest that pycnogenol selectively induced death in human mammary cancer cells (MCF-7) and not in normal human mammary MCF-10 cells." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10953304 (Huynh, 2000)
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Yes Fallleaves, that would be very cool. So many potential natural therapies aren't funded due to there not being enough profit to balance the research....and/or no patent possibilities.
I find it interesting that many people sick with disease, and especially cancer, who are using medical marijuana (for instance) have themselves become the 'bodies of evidence'.....the actual research statistics (whether they are healed outright, or if the mm is managing the symptoms of their disease more effectively and compassionately than pharmaceuticals). Thank God medical marijuana is so safe, when used with basic common sense. There are many statistics that exist showing how the proper use of pharmaceuticals kills hundreds of thousands of people per year, but no evidence showing mm kills people.
Here is a quote from Harvard University's Center for Ethics (http://ethics.harvard.edu/blog/new-prescription-dr...)
Few people know that new prescription drugs have a 1 in 5 chance of causing serious reactions after they have been approved. That is why expert physicians recommend not taking new drugs for at least five years unless patients have first tried better-established options, and have the need to do so.
Few know that systematic reviews of hospital charts found that even properly prescribed drugs (aside from misprescribing, overdosing, or self-prescribing) cause about 1.9 million hospitalizations a year. Another 840,000 hospitalized patients are given drugs that cause serious adverse reactions for a total of 2.74 million serious adverse drug reactions. About 128,000 people die from drugs prescribed to them. This makes prescription drugs a major health risk, ranking 4th with stroke as a leading cause of death. The European Commission estimates that adverse reactions from prescription drugs cause 200,000 deaths; so together, about 328,000 patients in the U.S. and Europe die from prescription drugs each year. The FDA does not acknowledge these facts and instead gathers a small fraction of the cases.
Doesn't this information alone make you question pharmaceuticals??
Luckily, the profits posted by state governments who have tackled legalization issues, are meaningful enough that the greedy are pushing legalization on an international scale. As far as I know, medical marijuana is the first naturally derived drug that isn't pharmaceutically managed/driven, which allows profits to be realized by other industries. Medical marijuana is breaking the monopoly on our health that big pharma has held for over a century now.
To me, the definition of pharmaceutical drugs is this......big pharma's pharmaceutical drugs are manufactured in a lab using by-products of petroleum refining, such as coal tar. The compounds designed using the petroleum by-products then undergo extensive clinical trials to ensure this man-made chemical compound will mimic the natural plant, root, fungus, etc. that it's modeled after, to ensure the drug can be tolerated by our body and exhibit a bandaid effect that is able to suppress symptoms (but never cure) for a limited period of time. Pharmaceutical drugs are profitable, and therefore a cure to any disease wouldn't be in the best interests of the industry's responsibility to stakeholders.
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Twinkly, I'm lucky to be living in a state where marijuana is legal. I'm looking forward to a time when it is legal all across the U.S. It's crazy that something that causes cancer (tobacco) is still legal, while something that could possibly help cure cancer (marijuana) is not. I hope legalization will open the floodgates of research on marijuana.
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You nailed it Fallleaves. I'm so happy you have access to more compassionate medicine.
And yes, it will be wonderful when medical marijuana, or other natural therapies that show promise (like pycnogel, which you mentioned in your previous post) are available -- so we actually have a 'choice'. Legally, our doctors can't give us any choice, other than pharmaceuticals (poisoning) surgery (cutting) or radiation (burning), because big pharma holds a monopoly on the world's health care system, based on the model disease = profit. And our doctors aren't receiving an education on anything else...so how can we expect them to guide us where natural therapies are concerned?? Some take time to learn about alternative therapies, but they can't legally suggest them to us out of the blue...they can only respond to our questions as best they can, and allow us to take a walk on the 'wild side'....with the understanding that this is our choice, and nothing they can legally advocate.
The thing is, we have no other studies or data (of the calibre equal to the billions spent in research and clinical trials by big pharma) to support any other choices that may exist.
Unfortunately (for us, the patient) yet Fortunately (for the stakeholders) the billions spent by big pharma are to increase profits for their shareholders. Increasing profits is their mandate, not healing. Healing, thus ending the sale of a drug or therapy, would be in direct opposition to increasing profits for their shareholders.
Today, scientific and research studies ARE being funded to support medical marijuana's claims - for the same reason big pharma spends billions....because enough potential profit exists from the sale of medical marijuana.
Medical marijuana also represents profits to the state governments, in the form of taxes, and is being legalized state-wide, even though the federal laws still stand. So greed will ultimately be responsible for bringing medical marijuana back from the stix, where it was exiled by big pharma decades ago.
When you look closely, on the surface, there is little difference between funding medical marijuana or pharmaceuticals....they are both funded in the name of profit.
Yet when you look more closely, medical marijuana is natural, something our bodies have evolved with over millennia (hence the cannabinoid receptors throughout our bodies and brains) and is compassionate because it has net gain where side effects are concerned, AND (this is the kicker) it actually heals and puts some cancer patients into complete remission. Whereas, we've not evolved with petroleum based pharmaceuticals, they are proven to manage symptoms (and not heal) hence the belief cancer can't be cured, and represent net loss side effects across the board.
But it does illustrate that nothing is all good, or all bad
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pygnogenol is a pine needle based remedy, I've always thought a tea of fresh pine=needle twigs would do well though I;ve not tried to do it myself, would be pretty easy to do though esp for us country residents
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Hi, Deanna. Nice to see you again. I am with you on the importance of getting a second opinion, though I am still conflicted on chemo being useful.
Yes, indeed, chemo helps extend life, but I have come to realize that what doctors mean when they say "we can help you live longer" is often measured in months....After all these years of research and pinking, this is rather disappointing...
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It sure is discouraging that more progress had not been made.
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goldie0827, you wrote: ".....Oh, I have the manager at our local dispensary working on getting me my RSO for free. I am picking some up today for $30 a gram. ..."
WOW! Now I am jealeous (my State is not MMJ)
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Yaz, not sure what your closest state would be for MMJ. Not sure what all states allow it. It's a shame that we can 't get something that might potentially help us. When a person gets a MMJ card, you are only allowed to purchase so much per week, or month. But I don't know what that is. I have bought as many as 10 syringes at my last purchase, which was just a couple of days ago. I'm going tomorrow for 10 more. I'm going out of state and have to risk mailing some to my destination!!
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