Serious TCM and the rise of LIVER CANCER!!!

[theblackhole]

Researchers have uncovered widespread evidence of a link between traditional Chinese herbal remedies and liver cancer across Asia, a study said Wednesday.

The findings suggest stronger measures are needed to prevent people from consuming chemicals called aristolochic acids (AA), which are derived from the woody vines of the Aristolochia plant family, said the report in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The acids can be found in some traditional Chinese medicines that are given during childbirth, to prevent parasites and promote healing.

Researchers tested 98 liver tumors that were stored at hospitals in Taiwan, and found that 78 percent contained mutation patterns that indicated the cancers "were likely due to contact with the chemicals," said the study.

 

[theblackhole]

Since these acids cause "a well-defined mutational signature," researchers also looked at 89 samples of liver cancer in China, and found that 47 percent showed a link to this traditional medicine component.

In Vietnam, five out of 26 tumors studied were a match (19 percent), along with five out of nine from other countries in Southeast Asia (56 percent).

The link to traditional Chinese medicine was far less common in North America (five percent of 209 liver cancers studied) and 1.7 percent of the 230 looked at from Europe.

Taiwan banned in 2003 some herbal preparations using the plants after it was discovered that aristolochic acids could cause kidney failure and urinary tract cancers.

However, there is no outright ban in China or Taiwan, and "only specific plants, rather than any plant and product containing AA or its derivatives, are regulated," making it hard for consumers to avoid them, said the report.

Researchers found that the prevalence of AA-associated mutations in liver cancers in Taiwan did not drop after the ban was implemented.

This could be because it would take more time for a drop in cancers to be noticeable in the data, as was the case with tobacco-related cancers after smoking was revealed to cause lung tumors.

Or it could be that people continue to be exposed to these acids through other products and herbal mixtures that still contain them

 

[theblackhole]

Researchers found chemicals called aristolochic acids, often found in traditional Chinese herbal remedies, are linked to liver cancer across Asia
Researchers have uncovered widespread evidence of a link between traditional Chinese herbal remedies and liver cancer across Asia, a study said Wednesday.

The findings suggest stronger measures are needed to prevent people from consuming chemicals called aristolochic acids (AA), which are derived from the woody vines of the Aristolochia plant family, said the report in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The acids can be found in some traditional Chinese medicines that are given during childbirth, to prevent parasites and promote healing.

Researchers tested 98 liver tumors that were stored at hospitals in Taiwan, and found that 78 percent contained mutation patterns that indicated the cancers "were likely due to contact with the chemicals," said the study.

Since these acids cause "a well-defined mutational signature," researchers also looked at 89 samples of liver cancer in China, and found that 47 percent showed a link to this traditional medicine component.

In Vietnam, five out of 26 tumors studied were a match (19 percent), along with five out of nine from other countries in Southeast Asia (56 percent).

The link to traditional Chinese medicine was far less common in North America (five percent of 209 liver cancers studied) and 1.7 percent of the 230 looked at from Europe.

Taiwan banned in 2003 some herbal preparations using the plants after it was discovered that aristolochic acids could cause kidney failure and urinary tract cancers.

 

[theblackhole]

The species Aristolochia clematitis was highly regarded as a medicinal plant since the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and on to until the Early Modern era; it also plays a role in traditional Chinese medicine. Due to its resemblance to the uterus, the doctrine of signatures held that "birthwort" was useful in childbirth. A preparation was given to women upon delivery to expel the placenta, as noted by the herbalist Dioscurides in the first century CE. Despite its presence in ancient medicine, Aristolochia is known to contain the lethal toxin aristolochic acid.

The Bencao Gangmu, compiled by Li Shi-Zhen in the latter part of the sixteenth century, was based on the author’s experience and on data obtained from earlier herbals; this Chinese herbal classic describes 1892 "drugs" (with 1110 drawings), including many species of Aristolochia.[6] For 400 years, the Bencao Gangmu remained the principal source of information in traditional Chinese medicine and the work was translated into numerous languages, reflecting its influence in countries other than China. In the mid-twentieth century, the Bencao Gangmu was replaced by modern Materia Medica, the most comprehensive source being Zhong Hua Ben Cao (Encyclopedia of Chinese Materia Medica), published in 1999.[7] The Encyclopedia lists 23 species of Aristolochia, though with little mention of toxicity. The Chinese government currently lists the following Aristolochia herbs: A. manshuriensis (stems), A. fangchi (root), A. debilis (root and fruit), and A. contorta ( fruit), two of which (mou dou ling and quingmuxiang) appear in the 2005 Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China.

In traditional Chinese medicine Aristolochia species are used for certain forms of acute arthritis and edema.[8][9][10]

Despite the toxic properties of aristolochic acid, naturopaths claim that a decoction of birthwort stimulates the production and increases the activity of white blood cells, or that pipevines contain a disinfectant which assists in wound healing.[citation needed] Also, Aristolochia bracteolata is colloquially known as "worm killer" due to supposed antihelminthic activity.[citation needed]

Aristolochia taxa have also been used as reptile repellents. A. serpentaria (Virginia snakeroot) is thus named because the root was used to treat snakebite, as "so offensive to these reptiles, that they not only avoid the places where it grows, but even flee from the traveler who carries a piece of it in his hand

 

[theblackhole]

 

[theblackhole]

 

[theblackhole]

SO please be careful when you consume herbal meds...esp on line meds

 

[theblackhole]

sorry double threads
admin sorry
pls delete \
tks

 

[halsey02]

Did a google on this "Aristolochia plant family"...this is a very large family of plants...it did not say specifically which plant or plants!?

 

[zhihau]

sorry double threads
admin sorry
pls delete \
tks

No need to delete, threads merged.

 

[theblackhole]

don't forget it is common to have antibiotics and prednisolone all mixed in tcm herbal concoctions
please be very careful
HSA should make it mandatory for all tcm meds to be itemized for the safefty of the public
it is a billion dollar business and it affects millions of people, many are blind followers
my friend suffering from terminal illness spent all his savings on tcm secret cure after he was
given the full insurance money for terminal illness...in the end, he died...the widow much poorer