Articles and News
Medicinal plants from Peru: a review of plants as potential agents against cancer
Natural products have played a significant role in drug discovery and development especially for agents against cancer and infectious disease. An analysis of new and approved drugs for cancer by the United States Food and Drug Administration over the period of 1981-2002 showed that 62% of these cancer drugs were of natural origin. Natural compounds possess highly diverse and complex molecular structures compared to small molecule synthetic drugs and often provide highly specific biological activities likely derived from the rigidity and high number of chiral centers. Ethnotraditional use of plant-derived natural products has been a major source for discovery of potential medicinal agents. A number of native Andean and Amazonian medicines of plant origin are used as traditional medicine in Peru to treat different diseases. Of particular interest in this mini-review are three plant materials endemic to Peru with the common names of Cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa), Maca (Lepidium meyenii), and Dragon's blood (Croton lechleri) each having been scientifically investigated for a wide range of therapeutic uses including as specific anti-cancer agents as originally discovered from the long history of traditional usage and anecdotal information by local population groups in South America. Against this background, we present an evidence-based analysis of the chemistry, biological properties, and anti-tumor activities for these three plant materials. In addition, this review will discuss areas requiring future study and the inherent limitations in their experimental use as anti-cancer agents.
Source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17017852
Emotional Fortitude for Anxious Times
We want to be strong emotionally in order to weather coming changes.
The world is changing fast. We’d better be prepared. Survivalists stock up on food and guns. I recommend we stock up on mental and emotional health.
Becoming psychologically stronger is likely the best investment anyone can make right now. This strength puts us in a better position to weather social and environmental disorder and to establish the best solutions and policies going forward.
As we all know, civilization is staggering from the toxic effects of terrorism, mass killings, warfare, financial instability, resource depletion, population displacements, social and international dissension, incompetence, corruption, and, of course, climate change. We might be spared utter calamity, but overall conditions may well worsen before they get better.
Climate change alone, psychologists tell us, has been shown to increase citizens’ rates of anxiety, depression, and traumatization. “These symptoms,” they say, “can exist for years after experiencing the loss of homes, livelihoods, and community resources” from storms and floods. The medical journal, The Lancet, reports that mental-health disorders are among the most dangerous of the indirect health effects of global warming.
These effects can be felt even when we haven’t yet experienced direct loss from weather events. Troubling many of us is an underlying anxiety, as well as a sense of helplessness and guilt, concerning the degraded planet we’re leaving to our descendants. Those who deny the scope of the crisis might be at risk of degrading their humanity and descending into mental mediocrity or even stupidity.
Psychological health not only makes us stronger to deal with personal challenges, but also empowers us collectively to create reforms and changes that lead to desired outcomes. We stay connected to our better self while preserving the ideals and promise of humanity. As an added consideration, emotional strength, which is a factor in the complex interactions that exist between mental and physical disease, often leads to fewer medical problems.
People around the world are already loaded up with anger, fear, anxiety, cynicism, depression, and despair. These psychological afflictions contribute to social and political disorder. The World Health Organization estimates that mental-health disorders account for 12 percent of the global burden of disease. In the United States, 40 million people are currently suffering from anxiety disorders. An estimate 26 percent of Americans ages 18 and older—about one in four adults—suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Under worsening environmental and economic conditions, this malaise could spread like a plague. Those of us who have developed inner strength would be “vaccinated” against fear, helplessness, despair, and rage.
These figures above represent only mental-health disorders. The prevalence of neurosis is much higher. Neurotic people are troubled by inner conflict, yet the symptoms of their dysfunction are generally not as debilitating as with more serious psychological disorders. Nonetheless, neurotic individuals are prone under challenging circumstances to slip backwards into conditions of more troublesome dysregulation.
Of course, factors other than climate change are also emotionally challenging. Many kind decent people, seeing the extent of the social dysfunction around them, are succumbing to passive or bitter resignation. While conditions are indeed difficult, depth psychology has powerful insights to offer that can help us to discover our better self.
Peter Michaelson (Whywesuffer.com)
Psychological Health in Cancer Survivors: A Final Thought
The cancer experience is a dynamic entity. Consequently the concept of psychological health in cancer survivors may be a dynamic entity. The physical, psychological, social, and existential stressors associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment today might be markedly different from those that may be associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment tomorrow. Consequently, the spectrum and prevalence of psychological responses, both negative and positive, associated with a specific constellation of disease, treatment, and patient characteristics might change with the passage of time. To appreciate the truth in this assertion, one only needs to consider how the experience of breast cancer has changed over the past 50 years. Early reports from the 1950’s of the psychological impact of breast cancer stressed the potential for anger, anxiety, depression, helplessness, stigma, and social isolation. Today, 50 years later, one is equally likely to hear the psychological impact of breast cancer described in terms of opportunity, empowerment, and social connection.
Source: PMC (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
The Emotional Causes of Cancer
Cancer absolutely has emotional roots. There is a ton of evidence suggesting that repressed anger, hate and resentment play a crucial role in the development of cancer. Increased stress hormones caused by emotional triggers suppress the immune system, which can lead to cancer.
When negative feelings are not expressed, they can can contribute to physical illness over time. Even the conservative Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that 85 percent of all diseases have an emotional element. Trapped or repressed negative feelings, such as anger, increase a person’s level of the stress hormones, which directly suppress the immune system. The health of your immune system is crucial in fighting cancer.
Research Findings
A team of researchers at Stanford University in California found that women who repressed their emotions were more likely to show disruptions in the normal balance of the stress hormone cortisol, compared with those who did not. Earlier studies have shown that the unbalanced cortisol fluctuations can predict early death in women with breast cancer that has spread to other areas of the body.
“People who have repressive styles tend to be more prone to illness, particularly [immune-system related] diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, infections, and cancers. The concept is of unexpressed anger. If one doesn’t let it out, that could have adverse consequences.” ~University of California Los Angeles
The National Cancer Institude says that research with animal models suggests that “your body’s neuroendocrine response (release of hormones into your blood in response to stimulation of your nervous system) can directly alter important processes in cells that help protect against the formation of cancer, such as DNA repair and the regulation of cell growth.”
“Extreme suppression of anger was the most commonly identified characteristic of 160 breast cancer patients who were given a detailed psychological interview and self-administered questionnaire. Repressing anger magnified exposure to physiological stress, thereby increasing the risk of cancer.” ~Journal of Psychosomatic Research
“Extremely low anger scores have been noted in numerous studies of patients with cancer. Such low scores suggest suppression, repression, or restraint of anger. There is evidence to show that suppressed anger can be a precursor to the development of cancer, and also a factor in its progression after diagnosis.” ~Cancer Nursing – International Journal
A study comparing long-term survivors of breast cancer with those who did not survive, scientists at John Hopkins University found that long-term survivors expressed much higher levels of anxiety, hostility and other negative emotions. Patients who were able to express their feelings lived longer than those who had difficulty in doing so. ~Journal of the American Medical Association.
Wendy Myers (liveto110.com)
Medicinal plants from Peru: a review of plants as potential agents against cancer
Natural products have played a significant role in drug discovery and development especially for agents against cancer and infectious disease. An analysis of new and approved drugs for cancer by the United States Food and Drug Administration over the period of 1981-2002 showed that 62% of these cancer drugs were of natural origin. Natural compounds possess highly diverse and complex molecular structures compared to small molecule synthetic drugs and often provide highly specific biological activities likely derived from the rigidity and high number of chiral centers. Ethnotraditional use of plant-derived natural products has been a major source for discovery of potential medicinal agents. A number of native Andean and Amazonian medicines of plant origin are used as traditional medicine in Peru to treat different diseases. Of particular interest in this mini-review are three plant materials endemic to Peru with the common names of Cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa), Maca (Lepidium meyenii), and Dragon's blood (Croton lechleri) each having been scientifically investigated for a wide range of therapeutic uses including as specific anti-cancer agents as originally discovered from the long history of traditional usage and anecdotal information by local population groups in South America. Against this background, we present an evidence-based analysis of the chemistry, biological properties, and anti-tumor activities for these three plant materials. In addition, this review will discuss areas requiring future study and the inherent limitations in their experimental use as anti-cancer agents.
Source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17017852
Emotional Fortitude for Anxious Times
We want to be strong emotionally in order to weather coming changes.
The world is changing fast. We’d better be prepared. Survivalists stock up on food and guns. I recommend we stock up on mental and emotional health.
Becoming psychologically stronger is likely the best investment anyone can make right now. This strength puts us in a better position to weather social and environmental disorder and to establish the best solutions and policies going forward.
As we all know, civilization is staggering from the toxic effects of terrorism, mass killings, warfare, financial instability, resource depletion, population displacements, social and international dissension, incompetence, corruption, and, of course, climate change. We might be spared utter calamity, but overall conditions may well worsen before they get better.
Climate change alone, psychologists tell us, has been shown to increase citizens’ rates of anxiety, depression, and traumatization. “These symptoms,” they say, “can exist for years after experiencing the loss of homes, livelihoods, and community resources” from storms and floods. The medical journal, The Lancet, reports that mental-health disorders are among the most dangerous of the indirect health effects of global warming.
These effects can be felt even when we haven’t yet experienced direct loss from weather events. Troubling many of us is an underlying anxiety, as well as a sense of helplessness and guilt, concerning the degraded planet we’re leaving to our descendants. Those who deny the scope of the crisis might be at risk of degrading their humanity and descending into mental mediocrity or even stupidity.
Psychological health not only makes us stronger to deal with personal challenges, but also empowers us collectively to create reforms and changes that lead to desired outcomes. We stay connected to our better self while preserving the ideals and promise of humanity. As an added consideration, emotional strength, which is a factor in the complex interactions that exist between mental and physical disease, often leads to fewer medical problems.
People around the world are already loaded up with anger, fear, anxiety, cynicism, depression, and despair. These psychological afflictions contribute to social and political disorder. The World Health Organization estimates that mental-health disorders account for 12 percent of the global burden of disease. In the United States, 40 million people are currently suffering from anxiety disorders. An estimate 26 percent of Americans ages 18 and older—about one in four adults—suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Under worsening environmental and economic conditions, this malaise could spread like a plague. Those of us who have developed inner strength would be “vaccinated” against fear, helplessness, despair, and rage.
These figures above represent only mental-health disorders. The prevalence of neurosis is much higher. Neurotic people are troubled by inner conflict, yet the symptoms of their dysfunction are generally not as debilitating as with more serious psychological disorders. Nonetheless, neurotic individuals are prone under challenging circumstances to slip backwards into conditions of more troublesome dysregulation.
Of course, factors other than climate change are also emotionally challenging. Many kind decent people, seeing the extent of the social dysfunction around them, are succumbing to passive or bitter resignation. While conditions are indeed difficult, depth psychology has powerful insights to offer that can help us to discover our better self.
Peter Michaelson (Whywesuffer.com)
Psychological Health in Cancer Survivors: A Final Thought
The cancer experience is a dynamic entity. Consequently the concept of psychological health in cancer survivors may be a dynamic entity. The physical, psychological, social, and existential stressors associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment today might be markedly different from those that may be associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment tomorrow. Consequently, the spectrum and prevalence of psychological responses, both negative and positive, associated with a specific constellation of disease, treatment, and patient characteristics might change with the passage of time. To appreciate the truth in this assertion, one only needs to consider how the experience of breast cancer has changed over the past 50 years. Early reports from the 1950’s of the psychological impact of breast cancer stressed the potential for anger, anxiety, depression, helplessness, stigma, and social isolation. Today, 50 years later, one is equally likely to hear the psychological impact of breast cancer described in terms of opportunity, empowerment, and social connection.
Source: PMC (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
The Emotional Causes of Cancer
Cancer absolutely has emotional roots. There is a ton of evidence suggesting that repressed anger, hate and resentment play a crucial role in the development of cancer. Increased stress hormones caused by emotional triggers suppress the immune system, which can lead to cancer.
When negative feelings are not expressed, they can can contribute to physical illness over time. Even the conservative Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that 85 percent of all diseases have an emotional element. Trapped or repressed negative feelings, such as anger, increase a person’s level of the stress hormones, which directly suppress the immune system. The health of your immune system is crucial in fighting cancer.
Research Findings
A team of researchers at Stanford University in California found that women who repressed their emotions were more likely to show disruptions in the normal balance of the stress hormone cortisol, compared with those who did not. Earlier studies have shown that the unbalanced cortisol fluctuations can predict early death in women with breast cancer that has spread to other areas of the body.
“People who have repressive styles tend to be more prone to illness, particularly [immune-system related] diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, infections, and cancers. The concept is of unexpressed anger. If one doesn’t let it out, that could have adverse consequences.” ~University of California Los Angeles
The National Cancer Institude says that research with animal models suggests that “your body’s neuroendocrine response (release of hormones into your blood in response to stimulation of your nervous system) can directly alter important processes in cells that help protect against the formation of cancer, such as DNA repair and the regulation of cell growth.”
“Extreme suppression of anger was the most commonly identified characteristic of 160 breast cancer patients who were given a detailed psychological interview and self-administered questionnaire. Repressing anger magnified exposure to physiological stress, thereby increasing the risk of cancer.” ~Journal of Psychosomatic Research
“Extremely low anger scores have been noted in numerous studies of patients with cancer. Such low scores suggest suppression, repression, or restraint of anger. There is evidence to show that suppressed anger can be a precursor to the development of cancer, and also a factor in its progression after diagnosis.” ~Cancer Nursing – International Journal
A study comparing long-term survivors of breast cancer with those who did not survive, scientists at John Hopkins University found that long-term survivors expressed much higher levels of anxiety, hostility and other negative emotions. Patients who were able to express their feelings lived longer than those who had difficulty in doing so. ~Journal of the American Medical Association.
Wendy Myers (liveto110.com)