Boswellia - Frankincense - Breast Cancer

A January 2024 study by the Medical University of South Carolina said,

• “We looked at differences in the growth rate of the tumors before and after treatment, and we found that the tumors after treatment had a lower growth rate compared to before treatment,”

• “We saw a statistically significant reduction in tumor proliferation compared to the non-treated group, so the implications are that Boswellia, this extract of frankincense, does have anti-cancer activity in humans,”

• “This study was not designed to look at survival or recurrence – it was designed to see if this supplement has anti-cancer activity in humans. Since this was a positive trial, larger studies to look at endpoints of survival and recurrence are warranted,”

• “This does not imply that patients should take Boswellia in place of standard breast cancer treatment.” 

• “What's strange about Boswellia is that it’s probably been used in medicine longer than any other plant-based product, but we still don’t have any purified active drug products from the plant,”

• “It is disappointing – but based on the difficulty we had in identifying the active pharmaceutical ingredient, perhaps not surprising.” 

Avocado and leukemia treatments

An April 2021 study University of Guelph looked at an avocado compound that may indicate better ways to treat leukaemia said, 

"This is the first time VLCAD [an enzyme] has been identified as a target in any cancer."

Looking for a compound that would inhibit the enzyme they found, "the best one was derived from avocado,"

Dietary Inflammatory Index and Colorectal Cancer Risk

Another study regarding the Dietary Inflammatory Index

A 2017 study entitled “Dietary Inflammatory Index and Colorectal Cancer Risk—A Meta-Analysis” concluded

“This meta-analysis suggests that a more pro-inflammatory diet, as estimated by the higher DII score, was independently associated with an increased risk of CRC. Hence, promoting diets low in pro-inflammatory items and rich in anti-inflammatory food components should help in reducing the incidence of CRC. Future research should concentrate on how DII fares in a population with CRC and what effect it would have on CRC-specific mortality.”

Source

Shivappa N, Godos J, Hébert JR, et al. Dietary Inflammatory Index and Colorectal Cancer Risk-A Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2017;9(9):1043. Published 2017 Sep 20. doi:10.3390/nu9091043

Testosterone and immune response

A May 2021 study by West Virginia University said, 

"Stomach cancer is primarily caused by rampant inflammation,”

"The overarching theme of my lab is to understand what's controlling the balance between a protective immune response, which is just targeting the infection, and a pathogenic immune response, which is like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum and damaging everything. It looks like androgens may be really important in tipping that balance toward a protective response."

Glucocorticoids are "the chief anti-inflammatory hormones that your body produces …You can think of them as the brake pedal to the immune system.”

"We were able to completely rescue them from their stomach inflammation,”

"We proved that androgens were the hormones giving male mice that double layer of protection from inflammation. In the females, the only anti-inflammatory hormone was glucocorticoids. In males, it could be either glucocorticoids or androgens. This study potentially explains why women have a much higher incidence of autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases."

"Actually, eight out of 10 individuals with autoimmune disease are women," 

"If someone presents with stomach inflammation, it might be worth it for clinicians to investigate what's going on with their endocrine system," 

"Persistent, smoldering inflammation over the course of many, many years is the fertile ground for stomach cancer to grow." 

"It's an important, and understudied, human health issue."

"These findings may help us understand how inflammation promotes cancer development, but we can't make any direct inferences about stomach cancer from this body of work,”

"That's the direction we're moving in, though. We're currently studying how sex affects carcinogenesis using an actual cancer model."

BMI, body shape and cancer risk

A May 2021 study by he University of Glasgow and the University of Newcastle said,

"Our findings underscore the importance of measuring more than just BMI when predicting cancer risk, and suggest that people's body shape may increase their risk of certain cancers", 

"Whatever method you use, being overweight or obese is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking. More urgent actions are needed to help people maintain a healthy bodyweight and shape throughout their lives, starting at an early age."

ultra-processed foods and drinks

A March 2021 study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health found that that ultra-processed foods and drink is associated with a risk of colorectal cancer.

The researchers consider this link to explained partly by

“the low intake of fibre, fruits and vegetables, which are known to offer protection against colorectal cancer, among people who eat a lot of ultra-processed foods, but also by the additives and other substances with carcinogenic potential typically used in processed food products."

"This finding is not surprising and is consistent with the results of previous studies of dietary factors and prostate cancer risk, in which no link was found,”

"We found differences in terms of their intake of energy, fibre, energy density and saturated fatty acids. Consumption of ultra-processed foods and beverages was higher among colorectal and breast cancer cases than in the controls”

"ultra-processed foods and drinks in general are not yet classified as carcinogenic because the aim of the IARC was not to assess the overall risk of an individual's diet, but rather to focus on specific components that might be dangerous, such as processed meats".

Sugar-sweetened drinks and colorectal cancer

A May 2021 study by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis said,

"Colorectal cancer in younger adults remains relatively rare, but the fact that the rates have been increasing over the past three decades -- and we don't understand why -- is a major public health concern and a priority in cancer prevention," 

"Due to the increase in colorectal cancer at younger ages, the average age of colorectal cancer diagnosis has gone down from 72 years to 66 years. These cancers are more advanced at diagnosis and have different characteristics compared with cancers from older populations.

"Our lab is funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to identify risk factors, the molecular landscapes, and precision screening strategies for these cancers so that they can be detected earlier and even prevented,”

"In past work, we have shown that poor diet quality was associated with increased risk of early-onset colorectal cancer precursors, but we have not previously examined specific nutrients or foods."

"Despite the small number of cases, there is still a strong signal to suggest that sugar intake, especially in early life, is playing a role down the road in increasing adulthood colorectal cancer risk before age 50,”

"This study, combined with our past work linking obesity and metabolic conditions to a higher risk of early-onset colorectal cancer, suggests that metabolic problems, such as insulin resistance, may play an important role in the development of this cancer in younger adults."

"Given this data, we recommend that people avoid sugar-sweetened beverages and instead choose drinks like milk and coffee without sweeteners,"

Coffee and Prostate Cancer Risk

A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the BMJ in January 2021 suggests  a link between coffee consumption and a lowered risk of prostate cancer.

The study concluded that, "increased coffee consumption may be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Further research is still warranted to explore the underlying mechanisms and active compounds in coffee.

"If the association is further proved to be a causal effect, men might be encouraged to increase their coffee consumption to potentially decrease the risk of prostate cancer."

Quitting Smoking – Reducing Risks

This page supports conversations we have in clinic appointments

1. Smoking is heating and drying. (Tibb)

2. Shisha is super heating and super drying. (Tibb - first principles)

3. The age of 35 is a key turning point. (Alopathic)

4. Smoking has an impact on the spine. (Alopathic)

5. “You’re not 19 anymore”. (Code)

6. Quitting smoking reduces the risk of the following (Alopathic) cancers

• Lung cancer

• Larynx cancer

• Oral cavity cancer

• Pharynx cancer

• Oesophagus cancer

• Pancreas cancer

• Bladder cancer

• Stomach cancer

• Colon cancer

• Rectum cancer

• Liver cancer

• Cervix cancer

• Kidney cancer

• Acute myeloid leukaemia