How local spices halt breast cancer spread

Thursday, December 10, 2009

How local spices halt breast cancer spread

Can having a meal rich in local spices like turmeric and black pepper stop the spread of breast cancer? CHUKWUMA MUANYA examines the possibilities.

A NEW United States study has found that compounds derived from the spices turmeric and pepper could help prevent breast cancer by limiting the growth of stem cells, the small number of cells that fuel a tumor's growth.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Centre, United States have found that when the dietary compounds curcumin, which is derived from the Indian spice turmeric, and piperine, derived from black peppers, were applied to breast cells in culture, they decreased the number of stem cells while having no effect on normal differentiated cells.

Curcumin and piperine have been explored by other researchers as a potential cancer treatment. But this paper, published online in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, is the first to suggest these dietary compounds could prevent cancer by targeting stem cells.

Earlier medical researches indicate that a regular diet including spices such as garlic and turmeric, reduces breast cancer risk in women.

Turmeric is a spice that comes from the root of Curcuma longa, a member of the ginger family, Zingaberaceae. In traditional medicine, turmeric has been used for its medicinal properties for various indications and through different routes of administration, including topically, orally, and by inhalation.

In Nigeria, it is called atale pupa in Yoruba; gangamau in Hausa; nwandumo in Ebonyi; ohu boboch in Enugu (Nkanu East); gigir in Tiv; magina in Kaduna; turi in Niger State; onjonigho in Cross River (Meo tribe).

Turmeric, also known as curcuma, produces a root that is used to produce the vibrant yellow spice used as a culinary spice so often used in curry dishes.

One of turmeric's components is curcumin, a type of phytochemical known as a polyphenol. Research findings suggest that phytochemicals, which are the chemicals found in plants, appear to help prevent disease. As the bioactive component of turmeric, curcumin is readily absorbed for use by the body.

Botanically called Piper nigrum (uziza in Ibo) is of plant family Piperaceae. The fruits and seeds are used to cure dyspepsia (indigestion), diarrhoea, cholera, piles, urinary problems, boils, rheumatism, toothaches and headaches. Black pepper is also used to stabilise the womb in women after birth.

Indeed, ground black pepper is one of the most commonly consumed spices. Black pepper has been shown to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antimutagenic properties and helps improve digestion. Black pepper is a dietary source of vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese. The spiciness of black pepper is due to its piperine content. Piperine has been shown to significantly increase the bioavailability of selenium and beta-carotene, among other nutrients. Black pepper and piperine have been shown to inhibit the development of carcinogen-induced colon and lung cancers in laboratory animals.

Piperine has been shown to enhance breast stem cell sensitivity to curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric. Curcumin may decrease breast cancer risk in part by reducing breast stem cell self-renewal and enhancing differentiation of breast stem cells

Lead author Dr. Madhuri Kakarala, clinical lecturer in internal medicine at the U-M Medical School and a research investigator at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System said: "If we can limit the number of stem cells, we can limit the number of cells with potential to form tumors."

Cancer stem cells are the small number of cells within a tumor that fuel the tumor's growth. Current chemotherapies do not work against these cells, which is why cancer recurs and spreads.

Researchers believe that eliminating the cancer stem cells is key to controlling cancer. In addition, decreasing the number of normal stem cells, unspecialised cells that can give rise to any type of cell in that organ, can decrease the risk of cancer.

In this study, a solution of curcumin and piperine was applied to the cell cultures at the equivalent of about 20 times the potency of what could be consumed through diet. The compounds are available at this potency in a capsule form that could be taken by mouth.

Note: This work has not been tested in patients, and patients are not encouraged to add curcumin or piperine supplements to their diet at this time.

The researchers applied a series of tests to the cells, looking at markers for breast stem cells and the effects of curcumin and piperine, both alone and combined, on the stem cell levels. They found that piperine enhanced the effects of curcumin, and that the compounds interrupted the self-renewal process that is the hallmark of cancer-initiating stem cells. At the same time, the compounds had no affect on cell differentiation, which is the normal process of cell development.

Kakarala said: "This shows that these compounds are not toxic to normal breast tissue. Women at high risk of breast cancer right now can choose to take the drugs tamoxifen or raloxifene for prevention, but most women won't take these drugs because there is too much toxicity. The concept that dietary compounds can help is attractive, and curcumin and piperine appear to have very low toxicity."

In addition, tamoxifen or raloxifene are designed to affect estrogen, which is a factor in most, but not all breast cancers. In fact, the aggressive tumors that tend to occur more often in women with a family history or genetic susceptibility are typically not affected by estrogen. Because curcumin and piperine limit the self renewal of stem cells, they would impact cancers that are not estrogen sensitive as well as those that are.

Researchers are planning an initial Phase I clinical trial to determine what dose of curcumin or piperine can be tolerated in people. The trial is not expected to begin accruing participants until spring.

Previous studies have shown that people whose diets are rich in turmeric have lower rates of breast cancer as well as prostate, lung and colon cancers. Research at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, United States suggested that curcumin, an active component in turmeric, may help prevent the spread of breast cancer. In studies of mice, researchers found that curcumin helped stop the metastasis of breast cancer cells to the lung. Human studies following up on this finding are now in progress.

In the M.D. Anderson study, researchers injected mice with breast cancer cells from a woman whose disease had spread to her lungs. The cells began to grow in the mice and then were surgically removed. The mice then were divided into four groups: one got no treatment, one got curcumin, one got the cancer drug Taxol and the fourth group got curcumin plus Taxol. Cancer spread to the lungs among half the mice in the curcumin-only group and 22 per cent of those in the curcumin/Taxol group. The other groups fared far worse: among the mice that received Taxol alone 75 per cent developed lung tumors; and the cancer spread to the lungs among 95 per cent of the mice who were given no treatment.

While these results are exciting, we do not know yet if curcumin plus Taxol will be as effective in humans. However, the researchers were impressed enough to suggest that it might be worthwhile to give curcumin to women at high risk of breast cancer because of a family history of the disease.

Meanwhile, previous laboratory studies indicate that black pepper may also be beneficial in pain and Alzheimer's disease. In clinical trials, inhalation of black pepper oil improved withdrawal symptoms of cigarette smoking and the ability to swallow in post-stroke patients.

Ingestion of black pepper may cause dyspepsia (upset stomach) and other gastrointestinal adverse effects. Inhalation of black pepper has caused respiratory irritation, edema, and even respiratory arrest, severe anoxia, and death. There may also be a link between ingestion of black pepper and nasopharyngeal or esophageal cancer.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved black pepper, black pepper oil, black pepper oleoresin, piperidine, and piperine as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) for use in foods in the United States.

Beware of Lead Poisoning

Beware of Lead Poisoning

Lead is a highly toxic metal that can be found in many products and materials in our homes and businesses. The primary source of lead in the human environment is lead-based paint, but lead can also be found in the dust and soil where lead-based paints have peeled off or have been disturbed, as well as in some types of plumbing materials. Although Congress passed laws prohibiting the manufacture and use of lead-based paint in 1978, many buildings and homes built before this ban still contain significant amounts of lead-based paint.

In recent years governments have issued emergency recalls of such consumers products as toys and jewelry.Why? Dangerous levels of lead have been detected in some of these items, and young children tend to suck or chew on them. Lead poisoning can be especially dangerous for children under six years of age, since their central nervous system is still developing.

According to a study by the johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health,lead inhibits a protein that is important for brain development and cognition.Studies show that children absorb up to 50 percent of the lead ingested, whereas adults usually absorb only 10 to 15 percent.

Recent research has suggested that even levels of lead that fall under some governemnt-issued toxicity limits may cause harm.
The problems, according to the National Safety council in the United States, can include \learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, behavioral problems, stunted growth,impaired hearing and kidney damage| in children. Women who may become pregnant should take extra precautions to avoid exposure because lean can harm the fetus.
Take note that adults can also get lead poisoning resulting in nerve disorder,muscle and joint pain, or problems with memory and concentration.

Other Sources of Lead Poisoning
Although in recent yearsmost developed countries have phased out lead from gasoline, the World Health Organization WHO says that there are nearly 100 countries in the world that still use leaded gas.Lead does not break down or burn up. Thus, tiny particles from vehicles emissions contaminate thue soil along highways.Lead dust is then breathed in or tracked into homes.

Symptoms of Lead Poisoning

Common symptoms of lead poisoning in children are:

·

decreased appetite

·

stomach aches

·

sleeplessness

·

learning problems

·

constipation

·

vomiting

·

diarrhea

·

fatigue

·

lowered IQ

·

anemia.

Common symptoms of lead poisoning in adults are:

·

fatigue

·

depression

·

heart failure

·

abdominal pain

·

gout

·

kidney failure

·

high-blood pressure

·

wrist or foot weakness

·

reproductive problems

·

anemia.

If you live or work in a home or building constructed prior to 1978 or if you feel you may have been exposed to lead, you should have a simple blood test performed by a medical doctor. If it turns out that you have been exposed to lead, the main treatment for lead poisoning is to stop the exposure, but there are also medications available that will lower the lead levels in the blood.

Need for Public Awareness.
Lead poisoning can result from the accumulation of lead in the body over a period of time. But a one-time ingestion in sufficient amount can kill. The U.S. Centers fro Disease Control reports that in 2006 a preschooler died from the effects of swallowing a piece of metallic jewelry containing high level of lead.

Highlighting the need for public awareness, a medical encyclopedia states that at present, 1 in 20 preschooler in the United States has high levels of lead in his or her blood. if that is true of a country where the use of lead is regulated what might be said of lands where such regulations are nonexistent? Indeed everyone must beware!

AIDS and mortality in South Africa

On 2 November 2009, Statistics South Africa released the latest mortality data, which goes up to 2007 (Stats SA, 2009).

This table gives the number of recorded deaths per year:
Year Number of recorded deaths by Stats SA

1997 317,131
1998 365,852
1999 381,820
2000 415,983
2001 454,847
2002 502,031
2003 556,769
2004 576,700
2005 598,054
2006 612,462
2007 601,033


You do not need to be a statistician to be astounded by this. Recorded deaths have increased over 90% in a decade. Improved death registration and population growth can account for only a small portion of this increase. The vast majority of additional deaths are due to the HIV epidemic. A huge body of evidence shows this. For example, there has been a three-fold increase in TB deaths over the same period and TB is the leading cause of death in people with HIV. Also the age pattern of the deaths --younger instead of older adults comprise the bulk of them-- and the drop in the median age of death from 51 in 1997 to 44 in 2007 are consistent with the way AIDS works. (For more detailed evidence see Dorrington et al. 2006, Dorrington et al. 2001 and Stats SA, 2002).

Also noticeable is that the number of deaths appears to have stabilised from 2005 to 2007 and perhaps has even begun to decrease slightly. This is most likely due to the state's antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programme.

Unfortunately because the public sector programme has not been well monitored and there are numerous treatment providers in the private sector, there is not accurate data on the number of people on treatment. But by using several sources of data, including figures published by the Department of Health, medical aid data and public sector ARV procurement data it is possible to make reasonable estimates. Muhammad Aarif Adam of Sanlam and Leigh Johnson of the Centre for Actuarial Research have made plausible calculations of the number of people on treatment in the middle of each year up until mid-2008, shown in the next table (Adam and Johnson, 2009).

Year Number of people on treatment

2001 6,000
2002 15,000
2003 26,000
2004 47,000
2005 109000
2006 229,000
2007 371,000
2008 568,000



The programme began in earnest in 2004 and the stabilisation of the death rate has coincided with it. If you consider that many, perhaps most, of the people on the programme would be dead by now that would easily account for stemming rising deaths. Make no mistake; there has been a massive surge in deaths in South Africa for more than a decade and AIDS deaths continue to be very high; deaths might have stabilised but at a very high number. Life-expectancy declined to the low-50s. At least though, we are implementing the most effective known scientific medical intervention to mitigate the effects of the disease and it now appears that life-expectancy is increasing again.

But many unnecessary deaths occurred because of the delayed rollout of the ARV treatment programme. Two studies have conservatively estimated that former President Thabo Mbeki's AIDS denialist policies cost well over 300,000 lives (Nattrass, 2008; Chigwedere, 2008). Mbeki did not pursue this deadly policy without help though. Officials in government, civil servants and even some journalists supported his policy, tried to give it legitimacy and for a time succeeded in quashing the demand for a treatment rollout from health workers and AIDS activist organisations, like the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). Thankfully, we have moved beyond this awful era of South African history.

PS: The last two weeks have seen what I believe is the final death-knell of state-supported AIDS denialism. Both President Zuma and Minister of Health Motsoaledi have delivered important speeches showing their intention to fight the epidemic. On page 35 of his presentation Motsoaledi quoted mortality data for 2008 from Home Affairs which appears to be far too large. I am unaware of how this number was derived and it appears to be an error. In other respects Motsoaledi's speech was excellent and his mistake is of no great importance.

HIV Study: Can Intense Treatment Prevent Spread?

The National Institutes of Health and the D.C. Health Department are preparing to launch a study in the District with an ambitious goal: to determine whether aggressive treatment of every adult with HIV could eliminate AIDS." In conjunction with the study, NIH will provide experts to the city health department to help modernize clinic record-keeping efforts and to improve the tracking of HIV-infected people. "Experts will also show social workers how to monitor patients to ensure they take their medication, even when they feel well." But the study, which is slated to begin "on or around World AIDS Day" will face many hurdles. "Researchers must first determine whether testing every adult for HIV is feasible. Then they must determine whether people who test positive will opt for treatment"

Secondhand smoke remains a challenge despite laws

While several African countries are making progress in implementing smokefree laws, nearly 90 percent of people on the continent remain without meaningful protection from secondhand smoke.

According to Global Voices: Rebutting the Tobacco Industry Winning Smokefree Air, a report released on the eve of the African Organisation for Research & Training in Cancer (AORTIC) conference, more than 400-million people are protected by “comprehensive” smokefree laws with a further 500-million covered by “strong” smokefree laws.

“Comprehensive” smokefree laws do not allow any designated smoking rooms and include only extremely limited exemptions, while “strong” laws allows for these rooms.

The report points out that while there has been rapid progress there is a long way to go with people in low and middle-income countries set to bear the brunt of the global tobacco epidemic. Without clear tobacco control policies, tobacco-related illness, disability and death will follow.

The report calls on governments to continue to act if they are to meet the goal of protecting everyone from secondhand smoke by 2012 with most countries having to considerably strengthen existing smoking restrictions in order to meet the target.

Multinational tobacco companies are also accused of using fake “science” to buy influence, scare stories and cover ups – using their considerable wealth to stop smokefree laws in every region of the world. In Kenya, the tobacco industry has issued a legal challenge to a strong smokefree law passed by the Parliament and in Zambia British American Tobacco has helped to dilute proposals for a smokefree law.

Dr Thomas Glynn, Director for International Cancer Control at the American Cancer Society (ACS) told a press gathering this week that in the United States 50 000 people die every year from secondhand smoke exposure, while 10 times this number will get sick from it. “Secondhand smoke sickens and kills, there is no safe level of exposure,” said Glynn, adding that a person’s arteries started to harden within in 30 minutes of exposure.

ACS economist Evan Blecher shared data revealing that the steep economic growth in Africa had been coupled with a steep rise in tobacco consumption and would eventually lead to a rise in tobacco-related cancers.

Mozambique, one of the fastest growing economies on the continent, has seen a 220% growth in cigarette consumption over the last 16 years, while the disease and cancer burden is projected to double. Nigeria, where 40% of Africa’s population live, has seen a staggering 60% rise in cigarette consumption.

“A country that grows by 5% per year will see cigarette consumption double in about 12 years,” said Blecher. Economic growth makes cigarettes more affordable to more people, but one of the government’s best measures to control this is to introduce or increase tax on tobacco products.

In South Africa, the price of tobacco products has tripled over the past 15 years leading to a decrease in consumption. “The country will see a decline in deaths related to tobacco,” he said.

Over R8-billion, two percent of government revenue was collected via the tax on tobacco products in 2009.