Herbal sex remedy linked to cancer

Reuters, CanWest – Two men seeking to boost sexual performance and grow bigger muscles instead ended up with advanced prostate cancer after taking “herbal” supplements, US doctors said.

They said many supplements marketed as “safe” and “natural” could contain unknown and potentially dangerous ingredients, and noted that the US Food and Drug Administration has little authority to regulate them.

“Physicians need to ask their patients not only about the prescription drugs they may be taking, but — perhaps even more importantly — about the over-the-counter drugs andsupplements, which may have a profound impact on certain health conditions,” Claus Roehrborn, chairman of urology at the University of Texas Southwestern medical school, said yesterday.

Dr Roehrborn’s team became concerned about what it calls herbal/hormonal dietary supplements, or HHDSs, after two men developed aggressive prostate cancer within months of taking the same supplement.

For legal reasons the researchers won’t name the supplement, which was removed from the market, and say they have no direct proof that the product caused the highly suspiciousprostate cancers.

The team analysed the product and found it contained two hormones — testosterone and estradiol. When the product was tested on tumour cells in the lab, it fuelled the growth ofprostate cancer cells more potently than testosterone alone, the team reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.”We filed an adverse event report with the FDA, who issued a warning letter. The manufacturer responded by removing this HHDS product from the market,” the researchers wrote.

“Individuals use HHDS for self-improvement, failure or distrust of conventional medicine, and because they believe that these natural products are safe and drug-free.”

The researchers searched websites promoting such products and found they promised maintenance of a “youthful” heart, relief of stress, and improvements in stamina, energy, strength and virility.

The patients, a 67-year-old and a 51-year-old, have both survived but cancer has spread throughout their bodies.

“Unlike prescription and over-the-counter drugs, the law does not require nutritional supplements to undergo pre-market approval for safety and efficacy,” the researchers wrote, with manufacturers allowed to assume the sole responsibility.

“Thus, the current Food and Drug Administration regulatory system provides little oversight or assurance that HHDS will have predictable pharmacological effects or even that product labels provide accurate information to consumers.”

A leading Canadian urologist warns that men who take nutritional supplements advertised as having male hormones are “really playing with fire.”

“Many men are on androgen replacement therapy or some kind of male hormone replacement and there’s always been a concern this may stimulate the growth of prostate cancer cells,” says Dr. Laurence Klotz, chief of the division of urology at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Science Centre.

“It’s a very controversial question and the answer is still not clear.”

A separate study, this one the latest to look at the risk of hormone therapy for women, found that taking an estrogen-plus-progesterone combination for as little as three years significantly increases the risk of certain breast cancers.

It was thought only women who use these hormones for at least five years have an increase in breast cancer risk.

The study involved more 1,500 postmenopausal women, age 55 to 74, in western Washington. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found that women who used the combined hormone regimen had a three- to four-fold relative increased risk of lobular cancer, but only if they used the hormones for three or more years.

Lobular cancer accounts for about only 15 per cent of all invasive breast cancers. It’s hard to detect and its incidence soared 52 per cent in the U.S. between 1987 and 1999, according to the researchers.

“These findings are still of considerable public-health importance considering the estimated 57 million prescriptions for menopausal hormone therapy that continue to be filled in the United States,” lead author Dr. Christopher Li said in a release issued with the new study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Herbal soup fights flu A, perhaps useful to guard off swine flu too?

CM NEWS – Swine flu outbreak has scared the world recently, with death toll reaching 100 and counting. While scientists are racing to understand the flu and in full effort to formulate a new vaccine against it, the only things ordinary folks like us can do is to keep ourselves healthy and strong to guard off infection. In traditional Asian medicine, a decoction called Ma Huang Tang (麻黃湯) in Chinese or Mao-to in Japanese.

What’re in Ma Huang Tang?

The main ingredients of Ma Huang Tang are:


In a Japanese study conducted to evaluate the effect of oral Mao-to (麻黃湯) administration in children with type A influenza, the Mao-to powder was more effective in controlling fever due to flu A than administering an antiviral drug commonly used to fight flu A, Oseltamivir, alone.

What is Oseltamivir? Oseltamivir is an antiviral drug that is used in the treatment and prophylaxis of both Influenzavirus A and Influenzavirus B infection. Like zanamivir, oseltamivir is a neuraminidase inhibitor. It acts as a transition-state analogue inhibitor of influenza neuraminidase, preventing progeny virions from emerging from infected cells.

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In the Japanese study, the scientists performed a controlled trial of 60 children, from 5 months through 13 years of age, with fever and influenza-like symptom of up to 48 h duration. Patients assigned into the following 3 groups: oral Mao-to powder 0.06 g/kg body wt. three times daily; Oseltamivir 2 mg/kg body wt. dose twice daily; or both oral Mao-to plus Oseltamivir.

The results indicated that the median duration of fever after treatment was significantly shorter in the Mao-to and Mao-to plus Oseltamivir groups, compared with the Oseltamivir only group. It was thus concluded by the scientists that oral Mao-to administration was effective in the control of fever due to type A influenza infection in children.

The Wonderful Avocado

I have to admit, until the past few months, the only times I’d really have avocados around the house was when I was making guacamole. But in these past few months, I’ve loved adding them to my brown rice, salads, and most any other dish that I make, or even just eating some slices on the side to help keep me full and satisfied. Once you get the hang of getting them to just the right ripeness, you’ll get hooked on these amazing little “fruits”.  Not to mention, you’ll love the health benefits they give, and the flavor you enjoy when you eat them, although you may not know that eating them gives you these benefits, rest assured that even though they are a relatively high fat piece of produce, they are good for the body when eaten in the right amount.

One of the first nutrients that avocados possess that are mega important is omega 3 monosaturated fat.  It is one of the only things in the produce section that you will get this from. For this reason, avocados are immensely popular with the vegan and vegetarian crowd since the only other real source they can get these from are flax seeds and various types of nuts.  They have about 5 grams of monosaturated fat per serving, which may seem like a lot for produce, and some dieters may shy away from them for this reason, but the benefits far outweigh this minor fact, and actually when eaten in moderation, avocados have properties that may aid someone who is trying to lose weight.

One important thing they do help with is keeping you feeling full and satisfied. This is due to the fiber and omega 3 monosaturated fat content. Because you’re fuller longer, you won’t eat as much.  In fact, high avocado consumption has been shown to lower the blood serum levels of cholesterol, which is excellent for those that suffer high cholesterol and have a hard time keeping it  in check.  They are also an excellent food for those who suffer from hair loss, as they are high in vitamin E, a vitamin that helps regrow healthy hair.  To add to that, they also contain zinc, another important building block for hair growth, vitamin C, and folate, all awesome additions to the diet for hair loss.

Avocados actually contain more potassium than a banana, in fact, over fifty percent more than a banana, which is something I did not know until now. They are also high in the powerful B vitamins, so they are great for giving you energy boosts, and are one of the few produce items that offer you vitamin E AND vitamin K.  They also happen to have the highest fiber content of any other fruit.  Yes, they are considered a fruit, I know, they seem more like a vegetable, kind of like the whole tomato thing, that always throws me off. Only downside is they may make you gassy if you eat too much, but hey, that can always be rectified with a little Beano!