Artemisia herbs - the hope against Cancer and Leukemia
Plant Artemesia annua L. , commonly known as Sweet Wormwood, thousands of years ago. Extracts of sweet wormwood have been used in traditional herbal medicine, and an active ingredient, Artemisinin, is now used in conventional medical treatment of #malaria .
University of Washington: research Professor Henry Lai and assistant research Professor Narendra Singh have exploited the chemical properties of a wormwood derivative to target #BreastCancer cells, with surprisingly effective results.
In the current study, the researchers subjected sets of breast cancer cells and normal breast cells to doses of #holotransferrin (which binds with #transferrin receptors to transport iron into cells), #dihydroartemisinin (a more water-soluble form of artemisinin) and a combination of both compounds.
The response by cancer cells when hit with first holotransferrin, then dihydroartemisinin, was dramatic. After eight hours, just 25% of the cancer cells remained. By the time 16 hours had passed, nearly all the cells were dead.
An earlier study involving Leukemia cells yielded even more impressive results. A possible explanation might be the level of #iron in the leukemia cells.
“They have one of the highest iron concentrations among cancer cells,” Lai explained. “ Leukemia cells can have more than 1,000 times the concentration of iron that normal cells have.
Read more: http://www.globalhealthlab.com/blogs/news/12905401-artemisia-herbs-the-hope-against-cancer-and-leukemia
#SweetWormwood, or #ArtemisiaAnnua , should not be confused with Simple #Wormwood , or #ArtemisiaAbsinthium .
Wormwood is used in Moxibustion - a practice of both traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine that stimulates #acupoints in order to promote the body's ability to heal itself. Practitioners claim the radiant heat produced by the burning herbs penetrates deeply into the body, where it is supposed to restore the balance and flow of vital energy or #life_force called #Qi or #Ch'i.
#Artemisia, #herbs , #Cancer , #Leukemia , #Moxibustion , #health
Information credit: washington.edu, cancer.org
Image credit: lilianausvat.blogspot.com, indiamart.com, middlepath.com.au