(CN) Herbal products better than bear bile at killing cancer cells

[Guest guest]

Coptis chinensis - (¶ÌÝà»ÆÁ¬), Huang Lian, Chinese

Goldthread.

 

This could be very good news both for bears & for cows - I just

Googled to find out more about " Coptis " .

 

It is one of the 50 " fundamental herbs in Chinese herbology,

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptis_chinensis

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptis

 

 

aapn , " jwed " <john wrote:

>

> 5th Pong Ding Yuen International Traditional

Symposium

> delivers positive results

> http://www.animalsasia.org/index.php?UID=NTYH6M8GRMR

>

> Assistant Professor Feng Yibin presents his preliminary research

results.

>

> Frank Pong (centre) briefs delegates on the horrors of bear farming

and the

> research.

>

> Jill summarises Animals Asia's work to bring an end to bear farming

in

> China.

>

> Participants at the symposium, which delivered positive findings on

TCM.

> Armed with a generous grant from the Pong Ding Yuen Endowment Fund

for

> Education and Research in Chinese-Western Medicine, which has been

matched

> by Hong Kong Government funding, Assistant Professor Feng Yibin and

his

> colleagues at the University of Hong Kong School of Chinese

Medicine began

> researching the effectiveness of various Chinese herbal

alternatives for

> ailments commonly treated using bear bile products, early in 2008.

> Many people believe that bear bile cannot be replaced by herbal

alternatives

> because of a lack of supporting systematic, comparative research.

The aim of

> Professor Feng and his team is to conduct research to compare the

> effectiveness of bear bile and herbal alternatives, using modern,

rigorous

> scientific procedures.

>

> Although the studies are in their early stages, and are scheduled to

> continue for at least the next four years, some preliminary

findings were

> presented by Professor Feng at the 5th Pong Ding Yueng International

> Traditional Symposium, held on 13 December 2008 at

the

> University of Hong Kong School of .

>

> Bear bile is used by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine

as a

> " cold " medicine to treat a variety of conditions, such as removing

heat from

> the liver, relieving convulsions and spasms, visual disorders,

reducing heat

> or fever, and clearing toxic chemicals. In Western medicine,

ursodeoxycholic

> acid (UDCA), a bile acid found in high concentrations in bear bile,

is known

> to modify cholesterol absorption and excretion, and is used in the

treatment

> of gall stones, biliary cirrhosis, and liver cancers. UDCA for

Western

> medicinal use is produced semi-synthetically from precursors

derived from

> the bile of cattle slaughtered for the beef industry. Bear bile

used by some

> traditional Chinese medicine practitioners is largely derived from

bile

> farms, in which live bears held in horrific conditions are " milked "

for

> their bile.

>

> Professor Feng described studies comparing extracts from two

species of the

> herb " coptis " , against raw bear bile and purified active

ingredients from

> bear bile. The tests showed coptis to be far more effective than

bear bile

> at killing cancer cell lines.

>

> These initial results are very exciting. Further tests are planned

to

> compare coptis and its extracts with bear bile, for their

effectiveness

> against a variety of liver conditions.

>

> Following his presentation at the symposium, Professor Feng held a

press

> conference alongside Frank Pong from the Pong Ding Yuen Endowment

Fund for

> Education and Research in Chinese-Western Medicine, and our founder

Jill

> Robinson. The press conference attracted journalists from a variety

of Hong

> Kong Chinese publications, including the Apple Daily, the Oriental

Daily

> News, the Sun, the Sing Tao Daily, Ta Kung Pao, Wen Wei Po, the

Commercial

> Daily, and the Metro Daily. Mr Pong introduced Professor Feng and

Jill to

> the press, and gave a summary of his interest in the work, in which

he said:

>

> " I am told that doctors in traditional Chinese medicine no longer

depend on

> bear bile for the treatment of illnesses related to the liver.

There are

> other forms of medication that are just as, or even more, effective

than

> bear bile powder.

>

> What is more, the dried bile juice extracted from the bears kept in

cages

> often contains materials from the infected livers of the bears, as

the tubes

> that are inserted into the abdomens of the bears are left in place

for as

> long as the bears are used for the extraction (it is an open

wound). The

> more modern open-fistula method claimed to be more humane is just as

> damaging. Nearly all of the bears kept this way die of liver

cancer, and

> while their livers develop the cancerous growth, their bile

continues to be

> extracted.

>

> With modern and scientific understanding of the effects of the

medicinal

> properties of the contents of the bear bile, many studies have been

done to

> show that the bear bile can be replaced by more effective and

hygienic

> medications.

>

> The research work, which started in early 2008 and is being carried

out by

> Dr Feng, aims to establish herbal alternatives to bear bile.

>

> I hope Professor Feng's work will show good results and help to put

an end

> to the very cruel practice of bear bile farming. "

>

> Jill Robinson gave a short presentation on the horrors of bear

farming and

> the work of Animals Asia, which includes investigations into the

safety for

> the consumer of bile products from diseased and mistreated bears.

Professor

> Feng described his research in more detail for the journalists.

>

> The results of the research, and the press reports which follow,

will

> hopefully provide further arguments for the elimination of bear

bile from

> the traditional Chinese medicine pharmacopoeia, and consequently

the relief

> from torturous suffering endured by so many bears in China and

beyond.

>

[Guest guest]

Great news for a more sane world below! We are TCM (traditional chinese

medical) practitioners here in Seattle, WA, USA and generally regarding

animal products used in TCM there is a conscious effort to avoid

products from " endangered species " but extending this to animal products

also from animals cruelly raised or even better to all animal products

of course is best of all.

kind regards,

 

Weintraub

Help Animals India/VSPCA

helpanimalsindia.org/vspca.org

 

 

aapn , " John Edmundson " <balathai wrote:

>

> Coptis chinensis - (¶ÌÝà»ÆÁ¬), Huang Lian, Chinese

> Goldthread.

>

> This could be very good news both for bears & for cows - I just

> Googled to find out more about " Coptis " .

>

> It is one of the 50 " fundamental herbs in Chinese herbology,

>

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptis_chinensis

>

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptis

>

>

> aapn , " jwed " john@ wrote:

> >

> > 5th Pong Ding Yuen International Traditional

> Symposium

> > delivers positive results

> > http://www.animalsasia.org/index.php?UID=NTYH6M8GRMR

> >

> > Assistant Professor Feng Yibin presents his preliminary research

> results.

> >

> > Frank Pong (centre) briefs delegates on the horrors of bear farming

> and the

> > research.

> >

> > Jill summarises Animals Asia's work to bring an end to bear farming

> in

> > China.

> >

> > Participants at the symposium, which delivered positive findings on

> TCM.

> > Armed with a generous grant from the Pong Ding Yuen Endowment Fund

> for

> > Education and Research in Chinese-Western Medicine, which has been

> matched

> > by Hong Kong Government funding, Assistant Professor Feng Yibin and

> his

> > colleagues at the University of Hong Kong School of Chinese

> Medicine began

> > researching the effectiveness of various Chinese herbal

> alternatives for

> > ailments commonly treated using bear bile products, early in 2008.

> > Many people believe that bear bile cannot be replaced by herbal

> alternatives

> > because of a lack of supporting systematic, comparative research.

> The aim of

> > Professor Feng and his team is to conduct research to compare the

> > effectiveness of bear bile and herbal alternatives, using modern,

> rigorous

> > scientific procedures.

> >

> > Although the studies are in their early stages, and are scheduled to

> > continue for at least the next four years, some preliminary

> findings were

> > presented by Professor Feng at the 5th Pong Ding Yueng International

> > Traditional Symposium, held on 13 December 2008 at

> the

> > University of Hong Kong School of .

> >

> > Bear bile is used by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine

> as a

> > " cold " medicine to treat a variety of conditions, such as removing

> heat from

> > the liver, relieving convulsions and spasms, visual disorders,

> reducing heat

> > or fever, and clearing toxic chemicals. In Western medicine,

> ursodeoxycholic

> > acid (UDCA), a bile acid found in high concentrations in bear bile,

> is known

> > to modify cholesterol absorption and excretion, and is used in the

> treatment

> > of gall stones, biliary cirrhosis, and liver cancers. UDCA for

> Western

> > medicinal use is produced semi-synthetically from precursors

> derived from

> > the bile of cattle slaughtered for the beef industry. Bear bile

> used by some

> > traditional Chinese medicine practitioners is largely derived from

> bile

> > farms, in which live bears held in horrific conditions are " milked "

> for

> > their bile.

> >

> > Professor Feng described studies comparing extracts from two

> species of the

> > herb " coptis " , against raw bear bile and purified active

> ingredients from

> > bear bile. The tests showed coptis to be far more effective than

> bear bile

> > at killing cancer cell lines.

> >

> > These initial results are very exciting. Further tests are planned

> to

> > compare coptis and its extracts with bear bile, for their

> effectiveness

> > against a variety of liver conditions.

> >

> > Following his presentation at the symposium, Professor Feng held a

> press

> > conference alongside Frank Pong from the Pong Ding Yuen Endowment

> Fund for

> > Education and Research in Chinese-Western Medicine, and our founder

> Jill

> > Robinson. The press conference attracted journalists from a variety

> of Hong

> > Kong Chinese publications, including the Apple Daily, the Oriental

> Daily

> > News, the Sun, the Sing Tao Daily, Ta Kung Pao, Wen Wei Po, the

> Commercial

> > Daily, and the Metro Daily. Mr Pong introduced Professor Feng and

> Jill to

> > the press, and gave a summary of his interest in the work, in which

> he said:

> >

> > " I am told that doctors in traditional Chinese medicine no longer

> depend on

> > bear bile for the treatment of illnesses related to the liver.

> There are

> > other forms of medication that are just as, or even more, effective

> than

> > bear bile powder.

> >

> > What is more, the dried bile juice extracted from the bears kept in

> cages

> > often contains materials from the infected livers of the bears, as

> the tubes

> > that are inserted into the abdomens of the bears are left in place

> for as

> > long as the bears are used for the extraction (it is an open

> wound). The

> > more modern open-fistula method claimed to be more humane is just as

> > damaging. Nearly all of the bears kept this way die of liver

> cancer, and

> > while their livers develop the cancerous growth, their bile

> continues to be

> > extracted.

> >

> > With modern and scientific understanding of the effects of the

> medicinal

> > properties of the contents of the bear bile, many studies have been

> done to

> > show that the bear bile can be replaced by more effective and

> hygienic

> > medications.

> >

> > The research work, which started in early 2008 and is being carried

> out by

> > Dr Feng, aims to establish herbal alternatives to bear bile.

> >

> > I hope Professor Feng's work will show good results and help to put

> an end

> > to the very cruel practice of bear bile farming. "

> >

> > Jill Robinson gave a short presentation on the horrors of bear

> farming and

> > the work of Animals Asia, which includes investigations into the

> safety for

> > the consumer of bile products from diseased and mistreated bears.

> Professor

> > Feng described his research in more detail for the journalists.

> >

> > The results of the research, and the press reports which follow,

> will

> > hopefully provide further arguments for the elimination of bear

> bile from

> > the traditional Chinese medicine pharmacopoeia, and consequently

> the relief

> > from torturous suffering endured by so many bears in China and

> beyond.

> >

>