Can herbs prolong Survival time?

[Guest guest]

Hi All, &

 

 

> While certain tonic herbs and their key components, such as huangqi and

> renshen, have been shown to affect factors like short term immunity and

> endurance, no tonic herb has EVER been shown to increase lifespan in a

> lab animal.

 

There is some evidence that herbs / herbal formulas prolonged survival

time slightly in experimental cancers.

 

Cordyceps: See http://tinyurl.com/vz7np

 

Xiaochaihu Tang:

 

http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v111/n4/full/5600150a.html says:

prolongs the life span of MT/ret transgenic mice We further studied the

effect of Sho-saiko-to on the life span of MT/ret transgenic mice. Figure 4

shows the survival time and rate of Sho-saiko-to treated (n = 50) and

untreated (n = 50) MT/ret transgenic mice. Mean life span of the former

(12.6 5.0 mo) was significantly (p < 0.02) longer than that of the latter

(10.0 4.3 mo). Survival rate of the former was also significantly (p < 0.02)

higher than that of the latter from 12 mo after birth.

 

Ohta T, Tawara M, Tatsuka M, Abe H, Odashima S. [An approach to

prolongation of survival rate in tumor bearing mice using 5-fluorouracil in

combination with various kinds of herb medicine][Article in Japanese]Gan

To Kagaku Ryoho. 1983 Aug;10(8):1858-65. The effect of 5-fluorouracil (5-

FU) in combination with herb medicine on the prolongation of survival rate

in tumor bearing mice was studied. 5-FU directly inhibited the growth of

cancer cells in vitro. However, the herb medicines used in this experiment

showed neither an inhibitory effect on the growth of cancer cells nor

prevention of inhibitory effect of 5-FU on the growth of cancer cells. 5-FU in

combination with various kinds of herb medicine prolonged the survival

time of tumor bearing mice. 5-FU in combination with shosaiko-toh was

most effective; its increase of life span (ILS) was by 56%. However,

mitomycin C in combination with shosaiko-toh was not associated with the

prolongation of the survival rate of tumor bearing mice. The long-term

administration of 5- FU to rats resulted in decrease in body weight, food

intake, and white blood cell count, and these symptoms were improved

when 5-FU was used in combination with shosaiko-toh. However, the

increase in A/G ratio due to a decrease in the serum globulin fraction and

marked atrophy of the thymus were not improved even when shosaiko-toh

was combined with 5-FU. PMID: 6411005 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

Other herbs: http://tinyurl.com/vwwqf

 

RUAN Wen-jing1, LAI Mao-de1, ZHOU Jian-guang2 Review: Anticancer

effects of Chinese herbal medicine, science or myth? Journal of Zhejiang

University SCIENCE B ISSN 2006, 1673-1581 (Print); ISSN 1862-1783

(Online) www.zju.edu.cn/jzus; www.springerlink.com E-mail:

jzus Corresponding author: lmp Project (No.

011107607) supported by the Science and TechnologyFoundation Grant of

Zhejiang Province, China Received July 17, 2006; revision accepted Sept.

26, 2006 (1 Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang

University, Hangzhou 310006, China) (2 Department of Dermatology, the

Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University,

Hangzhou 310009, China) Abstract: Currently there is considerable interest

among oncologists to find anticancer drugs in Chinese herbal medicine

(CHM). In the past, clinical data showed that some herbs possessed

anticancer properties, but western scientists have doubted the scientific

validity of CHM due to the lack of scientific evidence from their perspective.

Recently there have been encouraging results, from a western perspective,

in the cancer research field regarding the anticancer effects of CHM.

Experiments showed that CHM played its anticancer role by inducing

apoptosis and differentiation, enhancing the immune system, inhibiting

angiogenesis, reversing multidrug resistance (MDR), etc. Clinical trials

demonstrated that CHM could improve survival, increase tumor response,

improve quality of life, or reduce chemotherapy toxicity, although much

remained to be determined regarding the objective effects of CHM in

human in the context of clinical trials. Interestingly, both laboratory

experiments and clinical trials have demonstrated that when combined with

chemotherapy, CHM could raise the efficacy level and lower toxic reactions.

These facts raised the feasibility of the combination of herbal medicines and

chemotherapy, although much remained to be investigated in this area.

 

Best regards,