Happy blog anniversary!

March 17, 2008 / / 12 Comments

Well, today marks the one-year anniversary of my entry into the blogging world. Has one entire year really gone by since my first post? Amazing!

In my wildest dreams I never thought I would come to have such a consistent, wonderful and loyal readership (ever-growing, too!)…on the contrary, in the beginning, I feared that my blog would encounter a lot of opposition. Well, I am happy to say that my fears were ill-founded.

So let me take this opportunity to thank each and every one of my blog readers for your kind comments, helpful advice and for pointing me in the direction of some of the best research I have done. Without you, without this blog, I would never have discovered the vast majority of these anti-myeloma substances.

My first big "thank you!" goes to Beth for urging me to create a blog. Then: to Sherlock for joining me in my experiments (and for coming up with brilliant new experiment ideas; non per nulla ti chiamo Sherlock!) and for being such a good friend to me in real life; to Roberto, Don Sunshine Sweet Pea, Wally, Cathy, Paul, Sue, Linda, old Bill, LPC, Marcelo, all my Italian blog readers (Carla etc.), my two Lisas and Marys…oh, dear, the list goes on and on. Well, you know who you are!

Last but not least, thank you, Stefano, for being my best friend, for keeping my computer in working order, and, most importantly, for getting me through all the bad times (TAT! You know what that means). But this is going to be a long post, so let’s get going!

I thought it fitting that I celebrate my anniversary by reading a study that has been in my “read” file for quite a while, now. Published in December of 2006, it was co-authored by Prof. Bharat Aggarwal, who gave me a little push in the right direction by encouraging me to try curcumin (January 2006) and has been helpful and supportive ever since. I will be forever grateful to him. Even though there is no way I could ever pay him back, today’s discussion is my itsy bitsy tribute to this wonderful researcher, whom I hope to meet in person someday.

The study (abstract: http://tinyurl.com/yttmdh), published in the “Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology,” is titled: “From ancient medicine to modern medicine: Ayurvedic concepts of health and their role in inflammation and cancer.”

Something I have read over and over again is mentioned in the abstract and discussed more in depth in the first part of the full study, which, by the way, Sherlock sent to me (eh, come sempre, grazie!): “In spite of the billions of dollars spent on cancer research and the availability of the best health care in the world, the reason for such a high incidence of cancer in the United States is unclear. Lifestyle has been named as one of the major contributors to the incidence of cancer. The higher incidence of cancer among immigrants from the Eastern world to the Western world further emphasizes the role of lifestyle.” I have read stories about populations where the incidence of cancer and other ailments is very low; but when members of these communities immigrate to the Western world, they begin developing cancer (etc.). This doesn’t sound like mere coincidence to me.

The study reminds us that the understanding of cancer at the molecular base is still very limited. That means that matters such as cancer prevention and treatment are “still lagging behind.” Good point!

Ayurveda, meaning “science of long life,” “is at least a 5,000-year-old system of Indian medicine (1500–1000 BC) designed to promote good health and longevity rather than to fight disease.” It treats the body AND the mind and spirit: “most diseases connected with the psychophysiologic and pathologic changes in the body are caused by imbalance in three different dosha (ie, vata, pitta, and kapha). The fundamental aim of ayurvedic therapy is to restore the balance between these three major body systems. Any imbalance can lead to inflammation.”

Interesting to note that the ancient concept of inflammation corresponds to the modern one: “redness, heat, loss of function, and swelling.”

Health is “the balanced coordination of body, mind and consciousness.” I have always been convinced that our mental state has a lot to do with how well we respond to treatments of any kind. My mother was told by a friend of hers, a nurse who worked in a U.S. oncology unit, that she could tell which cancer patients would do well just by looking at them. She was always right, apparently.

Ayurveda and cancer. “According to ayurveda, cancer results from lifestyle errors, such as unhealthy foods, poor hygiene, or poor behavior, or from physical trauma, all leading to imbalances of vata, pitta, and kapha, resulting in injury to the inner layer of the dermis (rohini, the sixth layer of the skin) and the formation of abnormal branches of blood vessels.” This part is very detailed and interesting, but too long to post about here. I would be glad, though, to forward the full study to anyone who requests it.

Treatment of cancer. There are three approaches in Ayurveda: health maintenance, restoration to normal, spiritual approach and disease cure. The techniques were (are!) very modern: “The principles of patient safety were foremost, including meticulous aseptic techniques used for surgery (eg, careful boiling of instruments, cleaning of hands). Treatment involves the surgical removal of tumor, herbal remedies, dietary modification, and spiritual treatment (eg, detoxification, rejuvenation, prayers, music therapy, aromatherapy, gem therapy, sound therapy, stress relief, meditation, yoga, and astrology).” Diet and exercise (yoga, e.g.) were also considered to be important, and meditation, which I practise in my own fashion (having never been taught how to do it properly), “leads to emotional and stress release and detoxification of the cellular and tissue memories.”

In the 7^th century, “surgery was considered one of the best methods of treatment for arbuda.” Arbuda is “definite malignancy.” Herbal treatments against cancer “were beneficial only in the beginning stage," but that also depended on the type of tumour involved. The surgical removal of tumours is described in detail…I must say, it’s really incredible to read about such careful sterile practises being used so many centuries ago. I was surprised and very impressed.

The review draws similarities between ancient Ayurvedic and modern Western cancer treatments. Although the different molecular targets “were not known 5,000 years ago, the components of herbs used at that time now appear to target these molecules.” Aha!

The review provides a Table that couples the modern targets of cancer treatment (such as NF-kappa B and COX-2) with ancient herbal remedies. Truly extraordinary. I must have a closer look at this list of herbs as soon as possible. Curcuma longa, of course, is everywhere. The researchers state that the “Development of new synergistic anticancer agents based on these herbs would be beneficial for modern treatment modalities.” Indeed. “The use of Vinca rosea in the treatment of cancer is very well described in ayurveda,” and the modern chemotherapy drug vincristine derives from the plant Vinca rosea, or periwinkle. Just one example.

Differences between modern science and Ayurveda: “Although modern science believes in using a single chemical entity for a particular cancer (eg, paclitaxel, vincristine, etoposide), ayurvedic treatment involves the use of whole plant extracts. It is possible that enhanced toxic effects associated with modern medicine are due to a lack of other components of the plant. Ayurveda usually recommends the use of several plant extracts in combination, which is somewhat similar to the combination of various chemical entities that are currently used for the treatment of cancer.” How about that?

Cancer treatment side effects. The review contains advice on how to “alleviate some of the common side effects associated with modern medical treatment of cancer;” even stress and depression, and how to diminish cancer cachexia: “the ayurvedic regimen rejuvenates the body tissues, tones up the body systems, and acts as a tonic to the body against cancer cachexia.” It also lists herbs that can protect us from the harmful effects of radiation. I already knew about curcumin, but not about ginger, e.g.

Relevance of anecdotes. “Treatment according to ayurveda is very individualized, thereby making it difficult to conduct a large population based clinical study. Thus, not many randomized, controlled, and double-blind clinical trials are available. Many anecdotal and case reports are available that show the efficacy of the herbs and the treatments used. The individualized therapies are sometimes poorly documented, unable to be accepted in the standardized Western field.”

Indeed, this is so true, and it illustrates the sort of opposition I have run into with my own cancer treatment, for instance at the recent conference in Calenzano, where I had a bit of a discussion with the cancer specialist sitting next to me. Will these close-minded attitudes ever change? I hope so. Blog reader Old Bill left me a good quote recently: “What’s wrong with an anecdote if it’s true?” (Beata Bishop). Exactly. And, even more to the point: what’s wrong with hundreds of anecdotes?

I would like to end with a long but significant quote taken from the Conclusion: “Ayurvedic treatments are still followed by 75 to 80% of the rural population of India. As much as 70% of the Indian population is vegetarian, and this may also contribute to the lower incidence of cancer. It also, however, raises several questions about current treatment. Although current treatment tends to be highly focused at the molecular level, it is highly unfocused at the whole organism level, making it reductionist. Ayurvedic treatment of cancer is a holistic approach and is currently preferred. The new wave of ‘‘system biology’’ and ‘‘genome revolution’’ is expected to provide a holistic approach to the treatment of cancer. In spite of it, this approach tends to ignore the relationship between mind, body, and spirit. It is our hope that ayurveda can help fill this gap.”

That is my hope, too.

Curcumin-cancer conference in Calenzano

March 9, 2008 / / 18 Comments

Yesterday I presented my experience with curcumin and my blog in front of a crowd of (mainly) doctors and oncologists. You know how you are a nervous wreck and have scary nightmares the day/night before you have a university exam or a job interview? Then you will understand what happened to me on Friday night. I tossed and turned and barely slept a wink. One of my nightmares was all about how I was delayed (through no fault of my own) and totally missed the conference, arriving there the day AFTER. Typical, huh?

Ironically, my nightmare almost came true. We arrived late, a half hour late. I am never ever (never!) late for anything, so this was very trying for me. What happened was that Sherlock, Stefano and I got totally lost in the maze of roads outside of Florence. It should have taken us about 20 minutes to get there. It took an hour plus. Stefano’s GPS system couldn’t locate the castle of Calenzano, so it kept sending us back and forth, hither and thither. And when we paused to ask the locals where the castle of Calenzano was, we got all sorts of conflicting directions. One woman told us to turn left and go back toward Florence, a couple of guys told us to take a right, then the second left, then…you get the picture. A mess! However, we finally made it to the castle (lovely Medieval castle, by the way, see photos) where we ran into a group of equally frazzled doctors. They were late, too! As a result, the conference began late, so this all ended up being amusing.

The conference was enthralling. The speakers presented their research in a very clear and concise manner. First-rate. Their slides were brilliant visual aids. Even my cousin, who reads my blog but otherwise has little knowledge of transcription factors and whatnot, reported that the speeches were easy to follow. Thanks to Sherlock, I taped the entire event and hope that at least some of it of it ends up being comprehensible. The audio in the auditorium (which was full, I would like to add) wasn’t the best, even though that sounds a bit…odd (audio-auditorium…).

Mine was the last speech. Since up till then all the talk had been about prostate cancer, transcription factors, genomes, chemoprevention and whatnot, I decided on the spur of the moment to start with something silly. So my speech began, more or less, “Today I am going to present my case. First, I would like to clarify that I do not have prostate cancer (laughter around the room) but multiple myeloma…” After describing multiple myeloma and my medical background in a few words, I then went on to talk about how I discovered curcumin and why I created my blog. According to Stefano, my aunt and cousin (who were there, too), I got the loudest and longest applause. I was so relieved that I had gotten through my speech without fumbling or falling over the microphone cord, though, that I didn’t even hear the clapping!

After the discussion session, I was approached by a few members of the audience and then by reporters from two Florentine newspapers. The articles were published today. Unfortunately, I am identified as having an "incurable pathology," and the words "multiple myeloma" are not even mentioned.

I met a couple of German researchers, one works in Genoa at the National Institute for Cancer Research, the other in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the University of Munich. They are studying curcumin and its effect on prostate and breast cancers, and are preparing a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to test curcumin on 100 or more cancer patients. Of course, I told them that if they needed a myeloma patient, I’d be on the next train to Genoa! This isn’t going to happen tomorrow, of course. Anyway, very interesting.

Well, I will probably have more to say on this matter once I have read Dr. Benelli’s book on NF-kappaB and listened to the taped conference. For now, this is it.

Avastin: a tale of appalling approval

March 4, 2008 / / 3 Comments

I love the idea of starving a tumour to death by cutting off its blood supply. That is what anti-angiogenic drugs are supposed to do. But first, what exactly is angiogenesis? I have mentioned this process here and there but don’t think I really have dealt with it in much depth. So yesterday and then today, after getting home from work, I looked it up.

From a previous post we know that tumours cannot grow beyond a certain size (the size of a sesame seed, I read!) because of a lack of oxygen and nutrients. But, unfortunately for us, tumours are very adaptable, so instead of kicking the bucket they start secreting a horde of growth factors (e.g., the infamous VEGF, or vascular endothelial growth factor) which induce angiogenesis, or blood vessel growth. The tumour is thus able to receive a constant supply of nutrients and can grow inside of us like a nasty weed. Without the process of angiogenesis, tumours wouldn’t be able to grow or spread.

In 2004, an anti-angiogenic drug called bevacizumab (trade name: Avastin) was approved by the FDA “for use in combination with standard chemotherapy in the treatment of metastatic colon cancer and most forms of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. In 2008, it was approved by the FDA for use in breast cancer, against the advice of its advisory panel.” (source: Wikipedia) Say WHAT??? Against the advice of its own advisory panel???

How could something so bizarre happen? I went to read the February 22 2008 New York Times article (http://tinyurl.com/yu3xx5) dealing with this subject (notice that it’s printed in the “Business” section of the paper…this will make sense as you read on…). An excerpt: “FDA approval for late-stage cancer treatments is usually contingent upon data showing a drug extended, or improved the quality of, patients’ lives. Avastin showed neither in a study, according to Genentech’s application.” NEITHER? Ehhhh?

Genentech, the pharmaceutical company that produces Avastin, showed that this drug “slowed tumor growth, without actually increasing life expectancy.” Contrary to what we read in this particular New York Times article, however, the FDA decision has a lot of breast cancer advocates and organizations very worried. And with good reason. Take a look at this February 16 2008 Science Daily article: http://tinyurl.com/2a33u7 Fatal seizures? Brain swelling? If you aren’t convinced yet, read this NY Times August 24 2007 article: http://tinyurl.com/yvuozf The news is sobering indeed. I wouldn’t go anywhere near Avastin.

Why am I suddenly interested in this drug? Well, I became concerned after reading a few Science Daily articles about it. It is also being discussed by myeloma patients right now. So today I checked to see if there were any clinical trials, and yes, there are currently seven trials testing bevacizumab on myeloma patients (relapsed and refractory…), mostly in combination with other drugs (bortezomib and so on). And there are 96 breast cancer and Avastin clinical trials. 96? Oh yes, I admit to being concerned, not for myself but for all the patients who are in clinical trials testing drugs with unknown side effects in the long run. And the short-term side effects are scary enough, as we have learned from the Science Daily articles.

A recent Ralph Moss report focused on the Avastin issue: http://tinyurl.com/2edftu An excerpt (but please go read the full report, it’s excellent on many MANY levels): “On Friday, Feb. 22, 2008, top administrators of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug Avastin for the treatment of advanced breast cancer. Avastin, which has already been approved for colon and lung cancer, is controversial because it has never been shown to extend overall survival (OS) in breast cancer patients. It has been shown to improve disease-free survival (DFS) by as much as 5.5 months, but disease-free survival is not by any means the same thing as overall survival. A patient receiving Avastin may have a 5.5 month improvement in disease-free survival yet still die at approximately the same time as someone who did not receive the drug.”

Need I mention that Genentech’s stock, which had been declining, according to a February 23 2008 New York Times article (http://tinyurl.com/26zts4), after the FDA approval…all of a sudden rose more than 8 percent? Money, profit, and more money…but who CARES about the patients??? Certainly not the CEOs whose pockets are being lined with blood money.

Ralph Moss ends his report attacking the FDA’s double standards: on the one hand, this agency is always ready to squash any promising CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) treatments, on the other, it gives a “free pass” to a big pharma company “for a drug that has yet to be proven to do anything significant for breast cancer patients.”

In Moss’ words, the “FDA has once again significantly lowered its standards for drug approval. If it proposed doing so across the board, including taking a more even-handed approach to CAM treatment, that would be the basis for an interesting discussion. But what FDA is doing is permitting a lower standard for the expensive products of Big Pharma, while remaining wary of all non-toxic or non-patentable agents. So, whatever happened to the level playing field that a former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) promised the CAM movement back in 1992? Gone with the wind.”

But wait, it isn’t all doom and gloom out there. Curcumin inhibits angiogenesis. No kidding. There are 85 studies in PubMed dealing with this topic. Not one. Eighty-five. I have read a few of them, myself. Oh, and so does resveratrol. But this is material for at least another post. I will leave it at that…for now.

Concluding thought: do we really need to strangle a tumour with drugs that are toxic, potentially fatal (some women have already died from Avastin) and outrageously expensive?

Need an excuse to drink coffee?

March 2, 2008 / / 5 Comments

Thanks to Sherlock, who sent me the full study that I will be discussing today, and to a Grouppe Kurosawa mailing, I found out something that I had not previously known about coffee. As it did for yours truly, the following should put a smile on the faces of coffee drinkers. This was meant to be a simple brief discussion of a study on caffeine, but it turned into a huge time-consuming bit of research. One thing led to another…I did my best not to go overboard!

An Italian study (see abstract: http://tinyurl.com/3862f5) published in May 2007 in “Molecular Pharmacology” states that caffeine inhibits VEGF and IL-8 (interleukin-8) in human colon cancer cells. Specifically, it inhibits HIF-1 alpha, or “hypoxia-inducible factor alpha.” Let’s take a closer look at HIF-1 alpha before proceeding.

I read that solid tumours are unable to grow beyond a certain size because of hypoxia, which means "insufficient oxygen." What happens is that, as tumours grow, they need more and more nutrients and oxygen. At a certain point, though. the tumour microenvironment just can’t deal with this constant demand (if I got that right…) and becomes hypoxic. Under hypoxic conditions (less than 6% oxygen, I read), HIF-1 alpha, a transcription factor, becomes activated, and it in turn activates genes, dozens of them!, that keep tumours alive and well, via angiogenesis, glucose transport and whatnot. So tumour progression goes hand in hand with the increased activity of HIF-1 alpha.

Is this bothersome transcription factor present in myeloma, I wondered for just a split second? I really didn’t need to do a search to answer that question.

But I did do a search, and, quelle surprise!, it turns out that HIF-1 alpha is involved in myeloma angiogenesis as well. See this Italian study: http://tinyurl.com/36eywf. And see also this very colourful PDF presentation prepared by an Italian team for the 10^th International Myeloma Workshop (Sydney, 2005): http://tinyurl.com/ytwej8 It also shows the involvement of HIF-1 alpha in myeloma angiogenesis.

Back to the Italian study on caffeine (see abstract): “Pretreatment of cells with caffeine significantly reduces adenosine-induced VEGF promoter activity and VEGF and IL-8 expression.” (Wait…adenosine? Uffa, another thing to look up…) Here we go: simply put, adenosine is a natural chemical, a neurotransmitter, released by brain cells to make us sleepy. The more we stay awake, the more adenosine gets released. But I should point out that adenosine is present also in all cells of the body, and, aha!, has the function of protecting cells from damage under conditions of hypoxia. And it protects solid tumours from the attacks of NK cells and T-lymphocytes, as can be seen in this abstract (“International Journal of Oncology,” March 2008): http://tinyurl.com/yu7o72. It seems to be involved in a lot of mischief! Well, ok, not all the time!, for instance it mediates the damage caused by strokes…

Enough. You can read more about the importance of adenosine on the Grouppe Kurosawa public blog (February 29 post): http://tinyurl.com/23fbgo. The main thing we need to know is that, when adenosine is released, HIF-1 alpha and VEGF, the very best friends of cancer cells, are activated.

I started going through the Italian caffeine study with my usual (exaggerated!) attention to detail, then I decided that that didn’t make any sense. Do we really care that much about how this all works? Naaah. The important thing is the study’s clear message (well, to me, a morning coffee drinker, at least!): DRINK COFFEE! (yes, yes, YES…!).

Okay, just a few points (can’t help it, sorry!

Hypoxic tumour cells are resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Eh!
Hypoxia stimulates IL-8, which is involved with cancer progression (including myeloma progression, as we know from a previous post).
HIF-1 “contributes to tumor progression and metastasis.”

This, according to the authors, “is the first report examining the in vitro effect of caffeine on hypoxic cancer cells.” Their “data suggest three potential chemopreventive targets for caffeine: 1) HIF; 2) VEGF and IL-8; and 3) cell migration.” They add: “our results indicate that, in tumor colon hypoxic cells, adenosine increases VEGF promoter activity via the HIF-1 pathway and that caffeine is able to block this effect.”

Now, while the cancer cells studied here were not myeloma ones, there is quite a bit of common ground, as we have seen (VEGF, IL-8 etc.). So I will be interested to read future studies on this topic. In the meantime, I will enjoy my usual morning homemade cappuccino with much more gusto!

Oh, I just can’t resist adding this lovely titbit at the end.

Guess what other substance inhibits HIF-1 alpha? Any ideas? Yes! CURCUMIN! (I always check…). See this abstract, published in “Oncology Reports” in 2006: http://tinyurl.com/2aooud It suggests that “curcumin may play pivotal roles in tumor suppression via the inhibition of HIF-1 alpha-mediated angiogenesis.” And a “Molecular Pharmacology” 2006 study (full text: http://tinyurl.com/27q93o) also suggests that curcumin inhibits tumour growth by targeting this transcription factor.

HAH! Now I have TWO good reasons to be happy today!

Foods that fight cancer

February 28, 2008 / / 3 Comments

Today’s post is about two books that I will add to my Recommended Readings page. Ah, I would like to thank Sherlock publicly for having found these books. Bravissima!

1. The first is titled “Foods to fight cancer,” by Richard Béliveau and Denis Gingras. Fascinating book, I must say. I haven’t studied all of it (yet), but it’s extremely well done, easy to follow, and has heaps of examples, great charts and colourful photos. First-rate job. If you have just been diagnosed with any sort of cancer, buy this book. Actually, eh, just buy this book, period!

Okay, we have all heard that bad diets are…bad for us, right? I myself have been guilty of following a terrible diet in the past, particularly when I was in college and grad school. My diet is still not perfect, but it’s a LOT better than it used to be. Ah, but read this: according to Béliveau and Gingras, your poor dietary habits give you a 30% chance of developing cancer. THIRTY PERCENT? I should have eaten more broccoli and Brussel sprouts when I was younger! Drat. But the shocking part for me is that 30% is also the risk factor percentage assigned to smokers (I have never smoked, by the way)! So if you smoke AND have a poor diet….yikes! Hereditary factors, which most folks believe are high risk factors for cancer, amount only to 15%.

In Part One, the researchers explain what cancer is, how to prevent cancer growth, indeed how to prevent cancer itself. How?

With FOOD. Consider this: even at a one part per thousand dilution, garlic is very toxic to medulloblastoma cells, a very aggressive type of brain tumour. Garlic, one of my favourite foods.

Part Two is devoted to nutraceuticals, that is, foods with anti-cancer potential. Members of the cabbage family, garlic and onions, soy, turmeric, green tea, berries, omega-3, tomatoes, some fruit, resveratrol and (saved the best for last!) chocolate (!) all have separate chapters. My favourite chapter title: “Cancer hates cabbage.” Hehe.

Toward the end, there is also a chapter on supplements. Béliveau and Gingras rightly point out that it’s easier for us to take a vitamin pill than modify pre-existing unhealthy eating habits. These are short-cuts, they write. We would do better (and they explain WHY, of course) by leading a healthier lifestyle. Okay, I agree that we cannot "just eat anything and then get off the hook by taking a pill," but I must point out that, in order to obtain my daily eight grams of curcumin, I would have to consume an enormous amount of turmeric, the spice from which it is extracted. Turmeric contains only 5-8 % of curcumin. I don’t need to whip out my calculator to figure out how much turmeric I would have to consume in my food. I can tell that it would simply not be possible. I do agree, though, that, for instance, we should eat broccoli and garlic and not take broccoli and garlic-based supplements.

2. The second book, by the same authors, is titled “Cooking with foods that fight cancer.” I haven’t yet really examined the first part, which is an introduction to cancer, but I have tried a couple of the recipes: the broccoli soup and the tomato and apple soup. I would suggest adding less water to both recipes, unless you like watery soup. I also always add more turmeric than the amounts listed. Eh!

I will leave you with a couple of fascinating titbits from book 1:

1. “Turmeric was already featured in the list of over two hundred and fifty medicinal plants mentioned in a series of medical treatises dating from 3000 BC, written in cuneiform on stone tablets, collected by King Assurbanipal (669-627 BC)…”

2. “Turmeric content in mustard is about 50 milligrams per 100 grams; a North American or British adult would have to eat four kilograms (about nine pounds) of mustard per day to have a turmeric intake similar to that of an Indian!”

Fabulous news!

February 25, 2008 / / 6 Comments

A MMA and Beating Myeloma list friend sent me a fabulous bit of news yesterday morning via e-mail, as follows:

I was diagnosed with MGUS. Feb.06, m-spike 0.03, went up to 0.07, and then I took control, took all your advice and listened to my body. I worked my way to 5 grams of curcumin among other things. Reduced stress, soaked in 104 degree water twice a day. Last test before Dr’s appointment: 0.02. The day of appointment I had another test, just got it back: "NO monoclonal protein detected by the current electrophoresis study.

HURRAY!!!

I asked her for permission to post her story here. She very kindly (thank you!) consented, also providing me with the details of her protocol.

She takes the following: Andrew Weil’s Daily Multivitamin, Daily Antioxidant, Immune System Builders that include ashwaganda, cordyceps, astragalus, Siberian ginseng – the quantities are prepackaged in an AM and PM dose.

She also takes: Life Extension Super Curcumin with Bioperine 800 mg, 3 pills in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. Lysine: 1000 mg, 1/day. Resvera Wine Complex 500 mg, which contains: grapeseed extract, ellagic acid, & resveratrol, 1/day. Guggul Plex 340 mg, 1/day. Zyflamend softgels by New Chapter, 1/day. Yaeyama Chlorella 400 mg., by Yarrow Formulas, 1/day.

She writes: I am anemic if I am not careful and I take Slow FE- 47.5 mg. slow release iron- doesn’t upset my stomach.

Every morning and afternoon, she soaks in a 104 degree hot tub for 35 to 45 minutes and, she adds, there I do nothing but soak- it was hard to learn.

She adds: “I eat lots of veggies, some fruit and meat 2 or 3 times weekly (salmon, or whatever I’m craving, meatloaf last week, buy organic whenever I can). If I crave an old evil food, I eat it- it’s usually not as satisfying as I remember, and it takes care of the craving, although I recently made a German chocolate cake.

Lots of nuts, focusing on walnuts- make my own chocolate bars by roasting walnuts and pouring Ghirardelli’s chocolate (bought at Trader Joe’s) over top, keep it in my freezer for a quick fix.

No coffee, diet anything, fast food. Use real butter (organic) and olive oil- did notice a difference for the better when I gave up Smart Balance. Try to keep all food real—very little pre-prepared. In spring and summer frequent my local farmer’s market. Juice carrots every other day, and buy Green food juice at Trader Joe’s. Drink tons of water.

I have early retired, and I now do projects that used to take 1 day. I now spread them out over 3 or 4 days. If I’m fatigued, I do nothing.

I’m careful to avoid stress, I have started saying no to volunteer situations.

I’m 58, I have neuropathy from the waist down -large areas of no temperature feeling- reflexes not strong below the waist- My doctors are now saying fibromyalgia just because they don’t know. But if I listen to my body I can do anything I want, just slower with planning- I used to be a construction worker and have worn out my spine.

Hope this helps.

Upon rereading this post, I must admit that the list of things that she takes is quite daunting. I don’t take anything except for curcumin, quercetin, flaxseed oil, black cumin oil and an occasional multivitamin (heavy on the B vitamins). That’s my current intake. My list pales in comparison with hers. Hmmm.

At any rate, she will continue to monitor her blood situation every four months for the next year, then will go to every six months. She believes that getting rid of stress has really helped her, as well as ignoring the reports that we shouldn’t build our immune systems. Well, this approach clearly worked in her case! In her own words: I do believe our society demands multi-tasking, major stress, the need to buy more, have more. I think my efforts at doing nothing helped reset my immune system and yes, I ignored those reports that you don’t want to build your immune system.

Speaking of immune systems. Incredible but true: yesterday I began feeling a bit ill. And it just so happens that tomorrow Sherlock and I are supposed to go to the hospital lab to have our Biocurcumax tests done. But this morning I am having chills and, can you believe it?, a low-grade fever. Needless to say, I am quite annoyed! But not too surprised, since all of my students have been ill, with fevers and colds and terrible coughs…SIGH! Che pazienza che ci vuole…Well, unless I get worse, I will go have my tests done anyway. Oh, bother!

Update on the Consumer Lab curcumin report

February 24, 2008 / / Leave a comment

A blog reader who uses the curcumin manufactured by Ageless Cures sent this company an e-mail expressing her concern about the recent Consumer Lab report (see my February 8 2008 post for details; there you can also read a message by an Ageless Cures representative: I would like to mention that I did NOT get in touch with Ageless Cures…but I must say this message made me feel like a VIP). Anyway, my blog reader received an immediate reply with reassurances that Ageless Cures was looking closely into the matter and working with Consumer Lab to figure it all out.

A few days ago she received another message from Ageless Cures, including a certificate of analysis of a 500 mg batch. I just checked, and the same certificate can be downloaded from the Ageless Cures website, and also the certificate of analysis of the 1000 mg batch.

The curcumin lot analysed by Consumer Lab was a 500 mg batch that had been discontinued in June 2007. Ageless Cures informed my blog reader that it transferred the manufacture of its 500 mg capsules to an FDA certified facility in October 2007. That seems to take care of that problem.

I admit that I can’t help wondering why Consumer Lab tested a discontinued batch of curcumin in the first place? That makes little or no sense at all. Hmmm. Moreover, it did not test the popular 1000 mg pill (odd, eh?), which is manufactured in an FDA, GMP (which means “Good Manufacturing Practices,” not “Greater Manchester Police” 🙂 ) and BBB (must be “Better Business Bureau”) certified facility. More hmmms.

Well, anyway, here follows the message my blog reader received from Ageless Cures (she authorized me to publish it; I have edited out some parts of it, such as personal references):

“Attached is the Certificate of Analysis of Curcumin 500mg and Super Curcumin 1000mg products performed by Internationally recognized Testing Labs Eurofins Scientific. Every batch manufactured by Ageless Cures is being tested and results posted on www.agelesscures.com. A copy of the COA is being enclosed with every order effective FEB 10th, 2008.

The test results show that the Active Curcumin levels (curcuminoids) meet or exceed the label specifications within tolerance. This same batch products manufactured in NOV-DEC 2007 are being shipped to customers. The same test methods purportedly used by Consumer Lab, HPCL (High performance Liquid Chromatography) is used to test the products for Active curcuminoids.

Certificate of Analysis Summary

Curcumin C3 Complex 500mg – 90 Capsules. Lot# 151011. Exp Date:12/2011. TEST RESULT: 512 mg of Active Curcumin (curcuminoids)

Super Curcumin C3 Complex w/Bioperine 1000mg. Lot# 101044. Exp Date:1/2011. TEST RESULT: 975mg of Active Curcumin (curcuminoids) + Bioperine.

Ageless Cures strongly feels that our customers are entitled to know the quality of products being purchased from us. We buy the most expensive organic Curcumin, manufacture in a FDA, GMP and BBB certified facility, maintain stringent quality standards and market directly to keep prices low.

The Consumer Lab report is a small blip which pertained to a specific small batch which we ceased to market long back and have also changed manufacturing to an FDA certified facility. We are also looking into the testing methods used by Consumer Labs and have been working with them to present all our products for voluntary testing.”

From the very beginning, I always found it odd that Consumer Lab, a For Profit Organization (…), didn’t test the Doctor’s Best curcumin (very popular among us curcumin-takers; I have taken it, too) or the more popular NSI curcumin brand. It instead tested some obscure (to me, at least!) curcumin brands.

Odd, yes.

Report of tainted curcumin…

February 8, 2008 / / 19 Comments

Yesterday I read a Google Alert concerning a recent report by Consumer Lab (“a leading provider of consumer information and independent evaluations of products that affect health and nutrition”) on some tainted curcumin brands. You can read the CNN story here: http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Research_270/Consumers_Warned_of_Lead_in_Some_Turmeric_Supplements.shtml

Needless to say, I was alarmed by the mention of an incredibly high amount of lead found in a “popular” curcumin brand and by the news that some brands did not provide the amount of curcuminoids stated on the label. Yikes! In order to view the report, I subscribed to Consumer Lab for an entire year. Interesting website. I am now glad I subscribed. I will be checking out other supplements as well.

I cannot publish the curcumin report here, for obvious reasons, but I can tell you (without getting into trouble, I hope!) the following: the “popular” brand reported by Consumer Lab is no longer available. It was the NSI, or Nutraceutical Sciences Institute, Superior Turmeric Curcuma Longa Non-Irradiated (400 mg per capsule). In the beginning, I confused it with the NSI curcumin that I have taken on occasion. Luckily for me, these are two different products. Phew! (I still have quite a bit of this particular brand in my cupboard!)

Another brand that was found to contain an excess amount of lead was Solgar. Surprise.

But my biggest surprise was to see that Ageless Cures Curcumin C3 Complex contained only 49,3% of “claimed curcuminoids.” I have never bought or used this brand, but I know that other curcumin-takers take it. Another brand that did not pass the Consumer Lab test was Physician Formulas, which had a very low content of curcuminoids. And Vibrant Health did not specify the “plant part” used in its product, so it failed the test as well. Never heard of either of these.

I would like to point out that most curcumin brands, of the ones that were tested, passed the Consumer Lab test. About two-thirds. I was very disappointed, though, to see that the brand that I usually take had not been tested. Drat. Oh well…

IL-17 and medical day: stability!

February 6, 2008 / / 2 Comments

Well, the answer to yesterday’s question is as follows: yes, we can. Curcumin inhibits IL-17. Figures, huh? There are three (possibly more) studies that mention the IL-17-inhibiting role of curcumin. The abstracts can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/2rn3jy (a 2003 study), http://tinyurl.com/ynvkdj (a 2005 study). Thanks to Sherlock, I read the full study of the third abstract, a 2004 study published in “Cellular Signaling” and titled, get this: “Interleukin-17 signal transduction pathways implicated in inducing matrix metalloproteinase-3, -13 and aggrecanase-1 genes in articular chondrocytes” (see abstract: http://tinyurl.com/2lfy7t).

All these studies tell us that curcumin inhibits IL-17. Simple as that.

Haematologist appointment. Stefano and I went to see my haematologist at noon today. I asked her outright to classify me. She said that I am definitely not MGUS, no way. My IgGs are too high, and let’s not forget the 40% bone marrow biopsy result (from last year). So it’s official: I’m "smouldering," which means, among other things: "to exist in a state of suppressed activity." Heh. She examined my tests more in detail and pronounced me stable. Stable as a rock. So, all good news.

I asked her what the half-life of a myeloma cell is. She replied that it depends on a variety of factors, such as the type of myeloma and its proliferation rate. It can be calculated using cells from a BMB. She told me that a myeloma cell can live up to several months. MONTHS? Drat, now I am almost sorry I asked!

She confirmed that I am taking the correct amount of vitamin D. She also told me NOT to stop taking curcumin when I get a cold or an infection of any sort. Even though it inhibits NF-kB, she said that stopping cold turkey (odd expression, that one, when you think of it) is not a good thing. Good to know.

Let’s see. I am going down my list of questions and scribbles right now, not necessarily in order of importance. Oh, speaking of importance, this is exciting: I gave her the myeloma stem cell study (she had read the abstract, not the full study) and the DMAPT study, and she is going to find out about the DMAPT trial that should be starting soon in the UK to see if I qualify for it. She is going to contact the researchers that she knows personally. I am at a loss for words. Can’t wait to hear back from her. Gulp!

She is going to push the lab technicians to get more details on my “old” bone marrow samples, which would be fantastic. And, last but not least, she is going to try to attend the upcoming presentation in Calenzano, where I will be giving a brief speech. She is leaving for a conference in Turkey that evening, so it’s iffy. Even if she isn’t able to make it, however, she is sending five people from her lab to the presentation. Five? Fabulous.

Last but not least. For the first time, she wrote that I am stable "perhaps" due to curcumin. And that I should continue with the same treatment. (When my GP read those two sentences this afternoon, he got very excited.)

As we stood up to leave at the end of the visit, she asked me to explain why there are cases of myeloma in India, if curcumin is so effective. I answered that there are only a handful of cases compared to the Western world, and besides, I managed to add with a straight face, those folks undoubtedly didn’t use turmeric in their diet. My husband let out a snort, and she gave me a big smile and shooed us out of her office. Hehe. I love my haematologist. Good sense of humour.

Yes, today was a good day.

Margaret's Corner

Tag: curcumin