Fwd: Cancer weapon might be found in papaw patch

[Guest guest]

" Greg Moore "

Wed, 29 Oct 2003 13:40:20 -0500

Cancer weapon might be found in papaw patch

 

 

 

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FYI.

 

 

 

Greg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cancer weapon might be found in papaw patch

 

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

 

Dennis Fiely

 

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

 

 

 

 

A worldwide search led to his doorstep. ‘‘I looked at plants in Australia,

Africa and Asia, and this one was growing 2 miles from my office,’ said Purdue

University researcher Jerry McLaughlin.

 

A professor emeritus of pharmacognosy (the study of plant chemicals), McLaughlin

has spent 28 years examining 3,500 plants for anti-cancer compounds.

 

The most promising has turned out to be the papaw, a North American tree with

edible fruit that sometimes is called ‘‘the Indiana banana. "

 

McLaughlin will speak Friday in Columbus about his research.

 

The papaw has reduced tumor sizes and antigen levels (indicating the presence of

cancer cells) by more than 50 percent without significant side effects in

research with hundreds of people, McLaughlin said.

 

Substances in the leaves, twigs and unripened fruit induce a form of cellular

suicide called apoptosis.

 

They destroy cancer cells by inhibiting the production of the energy-carrying

molecule adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, that’s used as a building block for

cell reproduction.

 

The depletion of ATP robs cancer cells of the energy to feed their voracious

appetites, while normal cells continue to receive the ATP they need.

 

" None of the anti-cancer drugs works this way, " McLaughlin said.

 

Although the National Cancer Institute funded much of his research, a

scientifically accepted, placebo-controlled, doubleblind study has yet to prove

his findings.

 

He blames political and economic factors for the lack of interest among drug

companies and concedes that the medical establishment dismisses his case studies

as " anecdotal. "

 

" One day papaw will have those studies; we just aren’t there yet, " said Richard

Simmons, a pediatric ophthalmologist who is sponsoring McLaughlin’s Columbus

visit. " So far, it seems to be very effective against most tumor cells, but

people should understand there are no guarantees. "

 

McLaughlin is marketing papaw extracts through Nature’s Sunshine, a supplement

company that sells products through distributors.

 

" It makes me sick to have to make it available this way, as if it were a snake

oil based on promotion more than fact, " McLaughlin said.

 

" Everybody wants to see 5,000 cases studied for 10 years. In the meantime, we

have 600,000 people dying of cancer every year.

 

" I am so frustrated that a drug company has not picked this up because I know

this stuff is going to work. "

 

dfiely

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2003, The Columbus Dispatch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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