Pomegranate Juice and Prostate Cancer
Research Shows That Pomegranate Juice Slows Rate of Growth in Prostate Cancer Cells
Today there are very many alternatives that cancer patients can use when seeking treatment. Nature has always given the best treatment for most diseases and cancer is no exception.
Cancer is a disease that has terrorized the human race. It is a killer disease that to many people may sound a death sentence. It has also proved to be extremely expensive to treat especially through conventional methods. Over the past years cancer treatment had been that of pain and agony. The disease in itself is synonymous to pain plus the treatment that were used in a bid to help the patients ended up adding them more pain if at least it did not kill them at all. In the past years the most known cancer treatments were chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. Cancer treatment through surgery has the same risk as any other medical surgery. It involved removing the tumor cells. On the other hand chemotherapy and radiation therapy are methods that aims at killing the cancer cells therefore reducing their spread or better yet killing them outright. These two methods of treatment also kills the healthy cells and so the patient faces lots of risk in that he may also die from the side effects of the treatment.
For these reasons medical researchers, nutritionists among other bodies have been developing ways of killing the cancerous cells without affecting the healthy body cells. Several alternative approaches to cancer treatment have been developed and some are still developed as doctors are in endless discoveries on better treatment of the disease. Among the recently discovered cancer treatment alternative is the use of pomegranate juice which is specifically effective in treating prostate cancer.
Pomegranate juice is known to have very many antioxidants that may help in fighting very many diseases. However this does not necessarily mean that it can cure prostate cancer or any other type of cancer until a research finding finds out that it does so. Pom wonderful, a company that deals in products made from pomegranate has been promoting their juice as having the ability to fight prostate cancer among other benefits. It therefore funded very many researches to prove that certainly pomegranate juice has ability to fight prostate cancer. However when a company that makes a product funds research about its product, the findings will be perceived as biased.
Studies on this subject
Of all these studies only one study has been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal that looks at the effect of drinking pomegranate juice on prostate cancer. This study was done in 2006 and was funded by Pom Wonderful. The company has often used the findings of this study as a proof of its claims that their juice can help fight prostate cancer. The study involved 46 men who were either treated through surgery or radiation for prostate cancer. These men had rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, which is interpreted as a sign that their prostate cancer had reoccurred. They were given 8 ounces of Pom Wonderful to drink daily for about 2 years. The study found that the men’s rising PSA levels slowed, which shows that the rate of their prostate cancer growth was slowed.
Other studies have also been done. In one of these studies, the scientists grew cells from the most aggressive human prostate cancer in cultured tissues. In this study it was found that prostate cancer reduced the rate of the growth of cancer cells and caused apoptosis in the prostate cancer cells. Researchers again planted prostate cancer cells in mice. Some of the mice were given water that was laced with pomegranate juice while others were not given pomegranate juice. It was found that prostate cancer cell growth was reduced in the mice that were treated with pomegranate juice. By the end of the experiment it was found that the mice that were not treated with pomegranate juice had larger tumors than those that were treated with pomegranate juice. The researchers also did test on men with prostate cancer where it was found that pomegranate juice increased the PSA doubling time. The longer the PSA doubling time the slower the tumor growth rate. This research was not funded by pom wonderful and so is more believable.
Pomegranate has not only been promoted for prostate cancer treatment but has also been found to be potent enough to promote cardiovascular health. When studies were done on test tubes, animals and humans it was found that it has very many benefits in treating cardiovascular diseases. It has the ability to protect bad cholesterol from oxidative damage. Other clinical studies revealed that the carotid artery thickness reduced greatly and blood flow was also improved in those people who drank pomegranate.
These earlier studies have given grounds that pomegranate has very many health benefits and has the potential of mitigating the effects of prostate cancer by reducing the rate of tumor growth. However there is need for more research in this field to ascertain the effectiveness of pomegranate in treating prostate cancer. Meanwhile if you decide to use pomegranate in treating your cancer, discuss with your doctor first.
Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an experienced integrative cancer doctor that has helped many cancer patients in their fight against the disease. She has worked hard not only in treating the disease but also in availing informational support to cancer patients at Awaremed which has become a place called home for many cancer patients. Call on her now and get help on cancer.
Research Shows That Pomegranate Juice Slows Rate of Growth in Prostate Cancer Cells
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