The pancreas is part of the digestive system and plays an
important role in the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. Pancreatic
cancer will usually result in dietary-related symptoms, which can include
appetite changes, weight loss and changes in bowel habits. Some people may also
develop diabetes and you will be monitored for this as part of your care.
Based on several recent studies, ginger is a potent
anti-inflammatory and contains compounds shown to cause cancer cells to commit
suicide (apoptosis), making it a potentially effective weapon
against cancer.
It is also considered as one of the most powerful
prevention tools for the people in risk groups, taking care over the digestive
system periodic maintenance.
Korean Study
Gingerol, a natural component of the herb ginger,
inhibits cell growth and induces cell death in human pancreatic cancer cells,
according to Korean researchers reporting their study results in Yonsei Medical
Journal.
Researchers noted that “gingerol, a major phenolic
compound derived from ginger, has anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and
anti-tumor activities. While several molecular mechanisms have been described
to underlie its effects on cells in vitro and in vivo, the underlying
mechanisms by which gingerol exerts anti-tumorigenic effects are largely
unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the action of gingerol on
two human pancreatic cancer cell lines.”
The scientists incubated the two separate pancreatic
cancer cell lines with varying concentrations of gingerol for different
durations. They found that cell growth was inhibited in direct relation to the
dose and duration of gingerol application. Gingerol interfered with the
cell-growth cycle in both cell lines and hastened cell death in one of the cell
lines.
Most important, gingerol killed cancer cells that carry a
mutation in a gene known as p53, which is mutated in more than half of human
cancers and can contribute to resistance to radiation and chemotherapy. In view
of its beneficial effects, gingerol may eventually be used to facilitate tumor
response to treatments for pancreatic cancer.
Chinese Study
Pancreatic carcinoma is one common cancer with gradually
increasing incidence during the past several decades. However, currently the
candidate drugs to suppress pancreatic cancer remain lacking. The Chinese
scientific research was carried out to investigate if zerumbone, a natural
cyclic sesquiterpene isolated from Ginger root, will produce the anticancer
effects on pancreatic carcinoma cell lines. Researchers found that zerumbone was able to
induce apoptosis of pancreatic carcinoma cell lines, indicating to be a
promising treatment for pancreatic cancer. The results were published 2012 in Evid
Based Complement Alternative Med. Journal.
Other Cancers
The similar promising results were recently found in
treatments of breast, ovarian, colon, and lung cancers.
Researchers from the University of Minnesota’s Hormel
Institute found that gingerols, the phytonutrients in ginger, may help inhibit
the growth of human colorectal cancer cells. The study, presented at the
Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research in 2003, indicated that ginger’s
compounds may work as “effective chemopreventive and/or chemotherapeutic agents
for colorectal carcinomas.”
A study presented at the American Association for Cancer
Research annual meeting in 2006 found ginger to be effective against prostate
and ovarian cancer, too. The research, conducted at the University of
Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, showed that ginger kills cancer cells
and also prevents them from building up resistance to cancer treatment. However,
this was just a preliminary study; further research is still required for the
same. The study was funded by the National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. Thus, ginger can be
of great help for cancer patients, especially if they develop resistance to
chemotherapy drugs because repeated chemotherapy can reduce its effectiveness. Plus,
it presents no side effects. However, the amount of ginger that should be
consumed to gain these benefits has not been determined as it has not been
tested on human subjects as yet.
Researchers at Georgia State University also found that
ginger can be helpful in fighting prostate cancer. Their study, published in
the British Journal of Nutrition, showed that whole ginger extract can help
shrink prostate tumor size by as much as 56% in mice.
Researchers at the Biological Sciences Department,
Faculty of Sciences, King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia, studied the
impacts of crude extracts of ginger on growth of breast cancer cell lines. They
found that ginger inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells, without
significantly impacting the viability of non-tumor breast cells. The
researchers concluded: “Ginger may be a promising candidate for the treatment
of breast carcinomas.”
Other Health
Benefits of Ginger
* Diabetes
Prevention: Studies have shown that diabetes may be both prevented and
treated, along with the related abilities to lower blood sugar, cholesterol,
and blood fats.
* Antibiotic:
Ginger’s antibiotic effects may be exceptional. At least one study that
compares the effects of ginger and antibiotics on Staphylococcus aureus and S.
pyreus infections shows that ginger extract may be superior. The effects on
drug-resistant infections are, as yet, unknown. Ginger has been shown to have
an antibacterial effect on respiratory and periodontal infections.
* Antifungal:
Fungal infections are among the most difficult to treat, and drug-resistant
fungi have been developing. However, there’s no need to despair, as ginger has
been found to have antifungal capability, including to drug-resistant forms.
* Ulcers:
Intestinal ulcers can be prevented with ginger. There is a generally recognized
acceptance now that the Helico pylori bacterium is associated with ulcers, and
at least one study has shown that a derivative of ginger has been shown to
inhibit H. pylori. One study has demonstrated that ginger can inhibit existing
ulcers, too.
* Diabetes
Complications: Complications of diabetes may be limited by ginger. Studies
have shown that it may reduce urine protein levels, decrease water intake and
urine output, and reverse proteinuria. It’s been shown to aldose reductase
inhibitors, which reduce damage done by diabetes. Ginger can protect nerves in
diabetes and lower blood fat levels.
* Inflammation:
Inflammation is a serious problem with many chronic conditions, both in terms
of causing them and causing pain, and ginger can be highly effective in
managing it. Neurodegenerative diseases may be aided by ginger’s ability to
inhibit nitrous oxide production and proinflammatory cytokines. Its
antiinflammatory ability may be helpful in arthritis, cancer prevention,
prostate disease, and general inflammatory processes.
* Gastric
Distress: Ginger’s ability to ease gastric distress is superior, and it
does more than simply ease pain. In a double-blind study, ginger capsules were
taken orally in people suffering from dyspepsia with slow emptying of the
stomach’s contents. It stimulated the emptying of the stomach without any
negative effects. It has been found to have an antispasmodic agent, which helps
explain some of its beneficial effects on the intestinal tract. As previously
stated, it inhibits H. pylori, which helps prevent ulcers. It also protects
gastric mucosa.
* Toxicity:
Ginger helps prevent the toxic effects of a wide array of substances, including
the pesticide lindane, a cancer drug, the chemical bromobenzene, and the
excitotoxin monosodium glutamate (MSG). Lindane was shown to modulate oxidative
stress in rats exposed to the pesticide lindane, a neurotoxin, simply by adding
it to their diet. The cancer drug doxorubicin damages kidneys, but ginger has
been shown to help alleviate the harm. Brombozene is highly toxic, used in
chemical reactions, and can rapidly damage the liver and nervous system. Ginger
has been shown to alleviate its liver damage. Ginger extract has been shown to
protect against MSG nerve damage.
* Nonalcoholic
Fatty Liver Disease (Fructose Damage): Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
(NFLD) has a variety of causes, but it’s now on the increase because of the
prevalence of fructose as a sweetener. Research on ginger’s function with
regard to NFLD is in the very early stages. However, NFLD is known to be
associated with dyslipidemia and excess triglycerides in the liver. Ginger may
help this condition by lowering serum cholesterol. Research showing this is
very new, published just this year, so it’s hardly definitive. However, ginger
does appear to hold promise as a treatment for NFLD.
* Menstrual Pain:
A double blind study of young women suffering from menstrual pain compared with
mefenamic acid (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory marketed as Ponstel),
ibuprofen, ginger powder in capsules, and placebo was performed. Ginger was
found to be as effective as both mefenamic acid and ibuprofen.
* Radiation:
With radiation in the news lately, it’s wonderful to learn that ginger has been
proven to provide significant benefit against it. One study has demonstrated
that it can help prevent vomiting and taste distortion associated with
radiation poisoning. Another study administered high doses of ginger extract to
mice before their exposure to gamma radiation, and compared them to mice that
had received only distilled water before exposure. It reduced the severity of
symptoms and mortality. They were protected from gastrointestinal and bone-marrow-related
deaths. It’s interesting to note that treatment after exposure provided no
benefit.
* Gout, Rheumatoid
Arthritis, Knee Osteoarthritis, and Indomethacin: Indomethacin is an
anti-inflammatory drug commonly used to treat the pain from inflammation of
gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis of the knee. Studies comparing
the effect of ginger extract with indomethacin consistently show that ginger
is, at a minimum, just as effective, and sometimes even more than indomethacin.
Since indomethacin’s adverse effects include renal insufficiency in 40% of the
people who take it, jaundice in 10%, headaches in 12%, and elevations in liver
function tests indicating harm to the liver, plus a host of other nasty
problems, it’s difficult to imagine any legitimate reason for doctors
prescribing the drug when they could simply have their patients take ginger
extract.
* Nausea and
Motion Sickness: Ginger has been well studied for its classic ability to
ease nausea in all sorts of situations. It has long been used for motion and
sea sickness. Studies have been done both to ascertain whether it’s
effective—which, of course, it is—and also to try to figure out how it works.
Morning sickness, nausea, during pregnancy causes misery for a lot of women. Women
suffering from morning sickness were given beverages with ginger during the
first trimester of pregnancy and compared with women given placebo. Ginger
alleviated the nausea in a highly significant percentage of the women. A trial
of taking ginger and protein after chemotherapy demonstrated that patients were
able to lessen their intake of anti-emetic medications.
* Bacterial
Diarrhea: The primary cause of death in young children in developing
countries is bacterial-induced diarrhea. The bacteria don’t cause it directly.
The toxins they release do. Zingerone, a compound found in ginger, binds the
toxin so that it cannot interact with the gut, thus preventing diarrhea and the
resultant death. The standard treatment now is antibiotics coupled with
electrolyte replacement, which would indicate that the antibiotics are not
particularly effective. Since the long term effects of antibiotics are now
known to be disastrous and antibiotics are expensive, it’s hard to imagine a
legitimate reason for not implementing large-scale trials of ginger on children
suffering from bacterial diarrhea.
Ginger vs. Pharmaceutical
Drug Therapy
According to scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center in Boston, the premium priced drugs are more likely to harm the patient
than safe them. The following statement from researcher Dr. Raghu Kallur sums
up the dangers of the standard medical protocols for patients: “Whatever
manipulations we’re doing to tumors can inadvertently do something to increase
the tumor numbers to become more metastatic, which is what, kills patients at
the end of the day.”
Therefore, finding ways to incorporate ginger into your
diet may be a lifesaver, the myth that only standard treatment can directly
affect the outcome of cancers progression can be considered as outdated. Ginger
is recognized for its antiviral, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory
properties. Ginger has a high concentration of active substances, which means
you don’t have to use a large amount to receive its beneficial effects; all it
takes is one or two ½ inch slices of fresh ginger in a cup of hot water for
relief of stomach ailments.
Adding some fresh ginger to some of your recipe means
getting more than flavor; it will assist with digestion, detoxifying and most
importantly cellular health.
Sources and
Additional Information:
http://www.top10homeremedies.com/news-facts/can-ginger-fight-cancer-effectively-chemo.html
