Ginger Induces Leukemia Cell Suicide

July 17, 2014 by kathleenberryhebert 2 Comments

Ginger has been known to help with nausea and upset stomachs.  A recent, milestone study has found that ginger fights several species of drug-resistant bacteria.  It has been documented for shrinking tumors in mice with hard-to-treat cancers.

In a Chinese Study in 2013, Shogaol, 6-Shogaol specifically, a compound in ginger was the focus of the study.  Shogaol not only inhibited leukemia growth but also caused leukemia cell apoptosis, which is cell suicide.  This is groundbreaking.

Cell apoptosis is extremely dangerous with healthy cells but is incredible if it means stopping cancer growth.  Somehow this Shogaol compound caused the leukemia cells to die but did not harm the healthy cells nor cause any side effects!

In the study, they used a 6-shogaol compound from ginger, also called Zingiber officinale.  Mice were randomized into two groups of 7 mice.  6-shogaol was dissolved in 0.1% DMSO and 10% polyoxyethylene castor oil.  After the tumor was inoculated, the treatment group received 6-shogaol and the control group received an equal volume of solvent control.  The tumor volume was measured every three days.   Unfortunately the mice were killed after 20 days but examination of the tumors of the mice with the 6-shogaol treatment revealed cancer apoptosis.

The study reveals that the 6-shogaol compound is a potential anti-tumor agent for hematologic malignancies.  There was another study in 2003 that had similar findings.  They found that gingerol, a component of ginger induced leukemia cell suicide. The end goal is to create a pharmacological drug that can be created and patented for treatment of leukemia.

If you have diabetes or take heart, or blood thinning medication, be mindful of how much ginger one ingests.  But if not, it has no side effects (unless one has an allergy).

Thank you Heather Callaghan for your summary.  Read more from Heather here:  naturalblaze.com

from Kathleen Berry-Hebert http://ift.tt/1jC0BF8