HealthBeat News

Category: Cancer

  • Cancer Docs Told To "Stop"!

    “Stop” Says The American Society of Clinical Oncology – Stop the useless chemo, needless drugs, and unnecessary scans.

     

    By Nurse Mark

     

    The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently released new recommendations to it’s members, advising them to stop the unnecessary use of chemotherapy in patients with advanced cancers who are unlikely to benefit, to limit the use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor drugs like Neupogen in patients undergoing chemotherapy, and to reduce the use of expensive scans and biomarker testing for the staging of early breast and prostate cancers and for detecting breast cancer recurrences.

    While the actual ASCO report and recommendations are full of “weasel-words” and “yes-but’s” that allow doctors to find ways to continue to do all these things if they wish, this is an important step forward in the humane treatment of people with cancers.

    In recommending that doctors stop chemotherapy in patients with advanced cancers the ASCO has recognized that, in many cases, when the disease is far advanced the treatment is worse than the disease and that for all the toxic side-effects of treatment, a patients life may only be extended by weeks or at most months – and that the “treatment” is likely to make that added time a miserable experience.

    Instead, the ASCO recommends that patients be given “appropriate palliative and supportive care.” In other words, patients should be helped to enable them to enjoy whatever time they may have to live in comfort and dignity.

    They also recommend limiting the use of hideously expensive and potentially dangerous drugs like Neupogen or Leukine (the two brand names available in the US) to those patients who are actually at high risk of developing a condition called febrile neutropenia from the use of toxic chemotherapy drugs – and the ASCO report acknowledges that there is a “clear overuse of these agents” and these drugs are often used inappropriately.

    Finally, three of the ASCO’s “five recommendations” deal with the use (and over-use) of high-tech imaging, scanning, and diagnostic testing.

    For example, they suggest that in patients with early-stage prostate cancer and early-stage breast cancer who have a low risk for metastasis, PET scans, CT scans, and radionuclide bones scans should not be used to determine whether the cancer has spread.

    “These tests are often used in staging evaluation of low-risk cancers, despite a lack of evidence suggesting that they detect metastatic disease or survival,” the report says. “Unnecessary imaging can lead to harm through unnecessary invasive procedures, overtreatment, and misdiagnosis.”

    Not to mention that they are obscenely expensive, often produce false results and cause unneeded anxiety for patients. Oh, and they expose people to huge doses of damaging ionizing radiation…

    Speaking of obscenely expensive, a common theme throughout the ASCO report is an acknowledgement of the need to contain costs. The report goes on to conclude that the five things it discusses: “represents a series of practices in frequent use in common clinical scenarios that are not supported by strong evidence. Reconsidering their use, one patient at a time, is likely to improve the value of care that is provided, which in this case means the desired clinical outcome at the lowest cost to the patient and society.

    So, in summary:

    • No more “chemo ’til the last, dying breath.” Doctors are encouraged to know when to say “enough is enough” and to then concentrate their efforts toward helping their patients find and enjoy the very best possible quality of life – even though that life might be slightly shorter.
    • No more “drug therapy because we can” just on the off-chance that it might prevent a problem. Doctors are being told to assess their patients, and commit drug therapy regimens on those patients actually at risk for the complications that the drugs are intended to treat.
    • No more “willy-nilly” ordering of high-tech scans, imaging, tests, and other esoteric diagnostics. They most often don’t provide any significant information of value, the information that they do provide often does not affect the treatment choices anyway, and they frequently give false positives, resulting in patient anxiety and unnecessary treatment.

     

    The ASCO “fact sheet” can be found here:

    American Society of Clinical Oncology – Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question

    http://www.asco.org/sites/default/files/5things12factsheet.pdf

    And the full report can be found here:

    American Society of Clinical Oncology Identifies Five Key Opportunities to Improve Care and Reduce Costs: The Top Five List for Oncology

    http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/doi/10.1200/JCO.2012.42.8375

  • Patients Lied To About Cancer Diagnosis, Doctor Arrested For Fraud

    By Nurse Mark

     

    When is it wise to get a “second opinion” ?

     

    Almost Always!

     

    No matter how “trusted” the doctor may be, no matter how “nice” and “caring” the doctor may seem, if there is a serious diagnosis involved, or an extended course of treatment, or multiple “scans,” or “tests,” or other “diagnostics,” there is a chance that a doctor might be wrong.

    There is also a good chance that money might be playing a role in a doctor’s advice.

    Many medical conditions involve incredibly expensive diagnosis and treatment – and much of that expense is in the form of profits paid to the doctors performing the diagnosing and treating. In many cases those profits reach to the millions of dollars.

    Do you see any potential for problems here?

    Insurance fraud, Medicare fraud, Medicaid fraud, and a medical billing system that hides the true costs of medical care from patients all conspire to attract the greedy and unscrupulous.

    If it were simple greed, if it were simple fraud, it would be bad enough – but it is often more than that. It is often people who are made to suffer for the enrichment of the fraudster. People like you and me. People who have suffered enough already.

    Doctors have been known to tell lies.

    Consider the case of oncologist (cancer doctor) Farid Fata, MD, who was arrested in Michigan on August 6 and charged with Medicare fraud in a federal investigation that, if the charges are true, is a sickening example of medical greed.

    In this federal case investigators allege that Fata bilked patients and insurance companies including Medicare of some $35 million dollars over just two years, “treating” people unnecessarily for cancer.

    That’s right, 35 million dollars! In just two years!

    How could this happen? Federal investigators charge that Fata would see anywhere from 30 to 70 patients a day, and that almost every patient was found to “need” expensive, extended courses of chemotherapy – purchased from the pharmacy that Fata also owns. And of course those patients also needed expensive positive emission tomography (P.E.T.) scans, performed by the imaging company that Fata also conveniently happens to own.

    Further, having established himself as a cancer “expert” Fata felt safe in bestowing false diagnoses of cancer on healthy patients – after all, who would doubt the word of such a respected “expert”? One of Fata’s Nurses told federal agents that “Dr. Fata falsified cancer diagnoses to justify cancer treatment” The Nurse explained that blood cancers were easy to falsely diagnose because Fata could “interpret” blood tests. In other words, he lied to patients to fill his pockets.

    Further, once diagnosed with cancer, Fata would tell patients that they must take chemotherapy drugs “for life” – even if they were in remission or if their cancer was so advanced that they would get no benefit from the toxic drugs.

    But surely this must be an aberration? Certainly this must be an isolated case of a doctor having become consumed with greed and lust for money right?

    Nope.

    In another case, two executives of a hospital in Chicago as well as 3 physicians and a podiatrist were arrested by federal agents in April in a case involving illegal kickbacks for referring Medicare and Medicaid patients and other fraud schemes.

    The worst scam in this case? It seems that the pulmonologist involved would perform an intubation (a procedure where a temporary breathing tube is placed into a patient during surgery) and would then drug the patient so heavily that it would become impossible for them to breathe on their own after the surgery. This would require another surgery to insert a tracheostomy tube through the front of the patient’s neck and of course an extended stay in the intensive care unit on a mechanical ventilator.

    One of the individuals arrested was the president and chief executive officer of Sacred Heart Hospital. He was secretly recorded saying that tracheotomies were their “biggest money maker” and that the hospital could make $160,000 for the procedure if the patient stayed 27 days.

    If that isn’t evil enough, it seems that this particular hospital had a hard time keeping those tracheostomy patients alive – the death rate for the tracheostomy patients of the surgeon involved was 3 times as high as other Illinois hospitals over a three year period.

    Those involved in the arrests are also accused of unnecessary emergency department and hospital admissions, and were paid “kickbacks” for those.

    Does all this sound like the plot for some sort of a medical horror movie? I wish that were so – but it isn’t – it is happening all across America because Big Medicine and Big Pharma are such obscenely profitable industries.

    So, how can you protect yourself or your loved one?

    Easy – insist on a second, and even a third opinion.

    Don’t allow yourself to be pressured or stampeded or panicked into a decision about a course of treatment. In cancer treatment the words “there’s not a moment to lose” or “we must start chemo immediately” are almost always a clear warning that there is something fishy going on.

    Certainly there are conditions where “there’s not a moment to lose” – an acute abdomen or ruptured appendix, a closed head injury, a stroke, a heart attack, an embolism, severe trauma… all of these require urgent and skilled care. But cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, “bone-on-bone” joints, and other similar conditions are what we call “chronic” meaning that they have developed over time – often a long time – and rarely do they need to be treated so quickly that there is no time for a second opinion.

    Even if a doctor is able to convince you that “there’s not a moment to lose” and persuades you to start a treatment regimen immediately, you can still get a second opinion. It’s not “against the rules” to be receiving treatment from one doctor and seek the advice of another doctor about that same issue. And it’s not against the rules to confront one doctor with the conflicting opinion of another doctor.

    Beware of being pressured to undergo scans and tests and biopsies – these are often moneymakers for both the doctors and the hospitals. A sober second opinion from someone with no connection to the first doctor or hospital could end up saving you expensive, unnecessary, and possibly hazardous “diagnostic workups.”

    An additional benefit of a “second opinion,” especially one from an holistic doctor (such as Dr. Myatt) is that an experienced holistic doctor can not only offer alternatives to conventional treatment, but if conventional treatment is truly indicated a good holistic doctor can find ways to make that treatment more effective and less toxic or harmful. And, in the case of a scamming doctor like Fata, having an holistic doctor like Dr. Myatt review the case would quickly expose any fraud and save the patient from unnecessary and harmful treatments.

    Finally, having an holistic doctor (like Dr. Myatt) reviewing and overseeing your care can help to keep your specialists “honest” and can save you grief by helping you to coordinate care among different doctors, who often seem to never communicate with each other.

    Learn more about Holistic Health Consultations.

     

    Resources:

    Feds accused Dr. Farid Fata of fraud, prolonging chemo for cancer patients

    Medicare Kickback Bust in Chicago Hinged on Wired Colleagues

  • B12 And Prostate Cancer: A Connection?

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Ahh, the Internet – a wild and woolly place. Full of lies, damned lies, and statistics. Serving up a never-ending smorgasbord of fact, fiction, conjecture, and opinion. Providing “authoritative research” from such diverse locations as one man’s laboratory notes to another man’s easy chair fantasies.

    Our patients and readers are constantly bombarded with well-meaning but often erroneous “medical information” that is often based on the misunderstanding of a research paper or, worse yet, some news reporter’s sensationalized mis-reporting of the results of research.

    This results in endless fear and confusion as folks struggle to sort out the good, the bad, and the ugly in terms of medical information. Fortunately, many people have the good sense to ask Dr. Myatt to help them separate the wheat from the chaff…

    Here is one fellow’s question:

    50 year old male considering b12 supplementation because of tiredness/memory problems but concerned about the link between prostate cancer and b12 levels.

     

    Well, a quick “Google-search” for this subject turns up some frightening posts in places like prostate cancer survivors websites and a vegan chat boards. These posts are based on the the selective reading of a number of studies that have been done on the relationships between B Vitamins and cancers. None of the studies actually say that vitamin B12 causes prostate cancer, though one might be excused for thinking so based on the breathless posts on some of these chat forums.

    What the studies do say, in essence, is that there is little or no correlation between folate or B Vitamins and prostate cancer until the blood levels of these nutrients become very high – at which time there appears to be a small increase in risk for prostate cancer.

    Here are what some of the studies have to say:

     

    First, a 2003 study, funded by the National Cancer Institute:

    Null Association between Prostate Cancer and Serum Folate, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, and Homocysteine

    Serum folate, B6, B12, and homocysteine were not associated with prostate cancer risk. There was no evidence of effect modification by age, intervention group, smoking, body mass index, BPH, or intake of folate, B6, B12, or methionine; however, the association between homocysteine and prostate cancer risk was modified significantly by alcohol intake, with a positive association observed among those who consumed more alcohol and a modest inverse association among those who consumed less alcohol. Consistent with this, an opposite pattern was observed for serum folate (interaction not significant). We observed no material differences in the associations based on disease stage.

     

    Europe, 2008:

    Circulating concentrations of folate and vitamin B12 in relation to prostate cancer risk: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

    CONCLUSION:
    This study does not provide strong support for an association between prostate cancer risk and circulating concentrations of folate or vitamin B(12). Elevated concentrations of vitamin B(12) may be associated with an increased risk for advanced stage prostate cancer, but this association requires examination in other large prospective studies.

     

    And Norway, 2013:

    Serum folate and vitamin B12 concentrations in relation to prostate cancer risk–a Norwegian population-based nested case-control study of 3000 cases and 3000 controls within the JANUS cohort.

    CONCLUSION:
    This large-scale population-based study suggests that high serum folate concentration may be associated with modestly increased prostate cancer risk. We did not observe an association between vitamin B12 status and prostate cancer risk.

     

    Now, I do not consider myself to be an authority on the subject of prostate cancer – but my reading of these studies and numerous others leads me to conclude that unless I’m going to “go overboard” and take very large doses of folate or vitamin B12 I’m not really going to worry about it causing my prostate to become cancerous.

    Indeed, given the very serious consequences of Folate and B12 deficiency (and the fact that I like the “energy boost”) I am personally fond of a product called B-12 Extreme  – a top quality formulation that contains all 4 forms of vitamin B12. I also use Maxi Multi every day which provides me with an optimal amount of folate.

    Please take a moment to read about B-12 Extreme here.

    For more information about vitamin B12 please see our Medical White Paper Is Science On The Verge of an ME/CFS Breakthrough? The Vitamin B12 – ME/CFS Connection.

    My conclusion?

     

    I don’t know enough about the fellow who asked this question to be able to make any recommendation specific to him – there could be a dozen other things going on in his life that I’m not aware of.

    However – Tiredness and memory problems can certainly be associated with deficient vitamin B12 levels. Unless there is active prostate cancer going on, sensible supplementation with vitamin B12 would seem a reasonable course of action.

     

    References:

     

    Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 Feb;17(2):279-85.
    Circulating concentrations of folate and vitamin B12 in relation to prostate cancer risk: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. Johansson M, et.al
    Source: Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Urology and Andrology, Umeå University, Sweden.
    CONCLUSION:
    This study does not provide strong support for an association between prostate cancer risk and circulating concentrations of folate or vitamin B(12). Elevated concentrations of vitamin B(12) may be associated with an increased risk for advanced stage prostate cancer, but this association requires examination in other large prospective studies.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18268110
    and
    In conclusion, this study does not provide support for the hypothesis that circulating concentrations of folate or
    vitamin B12 are related to prostate cancer risk. Further prospective studies are needed to investigate the possible
    association between high concentrations of vitamin B12 and increased risk of advanced stage prostate cancer.
    http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/17/2/279
    Access the most recent version of this article at:
    http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/17/2/279.full.pdf

    Int J Epidemiol. 2013 Feb;42(1):201-10.
    Serum folate and vitamin B12 concentrations in relation to prostate cancer risk–a Norwegian population-based nested case-control study of 3000 cases and 3000 controls within the JANUS cohort.
    de Vogel S, Meyer K, et.al.
    Source: Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
    CONCLUSION:
    This large-scale population-based study suggests that high serum folate concentration may be associated with modestly increased prostate cancer risk. We did not observe an association between vitamin B12 status and prostate cancer risk.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23508410

    American Association for Cancer Research
    Null Association between Prostate Cancer and Serum Folate, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, and Homocysteine
    Stephanie J. Weinstein et.al.
    Serum folate, B6, B12, and homocysteine were not associated with prostate cancer risk (Table 1)⇓ . There was no evidence of effect modification by age, intervention group, smoking, body mass index, BPH, or intake of folate, B6, B12, or methionine; however, the association between homocysteine and prostate cancer risk was modified significantly by alcohol intake (p interaction = 0.04), with a positive association observed among those who consumed more alcohol (OR = 1.71 and 95% CI = 0.76–3.83 for highest versus lowest quartile) and a modest inverse association among those who consumed less alcohol. Consistent with this, an opposite pattern was observed for serum folate (interaction not significant). We observed no material differences in the associations based on disease stage.
    http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/12/11/1271.long

  • Potassium Iodide – Protect Your Thyroid From Nuclear Fallout

    When Children Play With Matches…

     

    Update: April 12, 2013

    US Government confirms “North Korea now has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles.” The Defense Intelligence Agency report goes on to say “DIA assess with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles. However, the reliability will be low.”

    Hmmm… they say they are pretty sure that the North Koreans can hit us with nukes as they have promised to do, but that their missiles aren’t reliable.

    It used to be that they didn’t have missiles capable of reaching the mainland of the USA, but now apparently they do – they just aren’t all that “reliable.” So, does that mean they could fall short, or that their aim could be off? Could they shoot for Los Angeles and hit Portland? Either way, remember, our winds tend to travel from west to east…

     

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Radiation worries… Again.

     

    Having been subjected to the macabre annual spectacle of bellicose saber-rattling, posturing and threats from a petulant and perpetually angrily offended North Korea over the last few weeks, with the predictable “show-of-force” response by the US military, we are only left to hope that the post-adolescent “Dear Leader’ will not allow himself to be worked up into such a frenzy that he does something very foolish, and , if he does do something terribly foolish that the rest of the world will not respond in kind – that is, foolishly.

    After all, we all drink the same water and breathe the same air eventually.

    Even North Korea’s long-time friend and protector China is showing signs of alarm at the antics of the well-fed rulers of this starving but nuclear-armed state.

    Now instead of threatening to immediately lob nuclear-tipped missiles at the US west coast and Texas the regime has announced it’s intention to re-activate a broken-down Cold War-era nuclear reactor in a bid to make more plutonium so they can build more bombs. The mothballed reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear plant was shut down many years ago because it was obsolete and not working properly; it’s Soviet scientists and technicians went home and it’s cooling tower was demolished – an appropriate move since it was malfunctioning and beyond repair anyway.

    So, let’s see: a dangerously obsolete, malfunctioning, incomplete nuclear reactor, long inoperative and “mothballed’, being forced back into service by a regime hell-bent on having a nuclear arsenal with which to hold the world ransom. What could possibly go wrong?

    This causes me to think of a child playing with matches – which might not be so bad on it’s own, but my mental image is of a child playing with matches in the middle of a fireworks factory, next door to an oil refinery. This is something with the potential to not end happily or well…

    Like the child playing with matches, I don’t think North Korea really wants to hurt itself – but accidents happen.

    Nuclear accidents.

    As we saw with the Fukushima disaster in 2011, nuclear accidents a half a world away affect us here. After all, we all drink the same water and breathe the same air eventually. Fukushima showed us very clearly that global wind and water currents will bring those poisons to us soon enough.

    During the Fukushima disaster people around the world wisely stocked up on thyroid-protective Potassium Iodide or “anti-radiation pills” as they are sometimes erroneously called. So many stocked up that supplies ran low and panic buying ensued, with price gouging by unscrupulous sellers. We refused to raise our prices here at The Wellness Club and we did our best to maintain supplies for our customers – though we did sell out eventually. Should there be another nuclear accident we are now re-stocked and we will hold our prices as before. But my suggestion is that if you were not able to lay in a supply of this thyroid-protective supplement before, please consider obtaining your supply now, before something bad happens.

    If you did obtain your Potassium Iodide and have some on hand good for you – store it carefully (away from heat and humidity) and it will keep almost forever – it is a mineral after all and doesn’t really go bad no matter what the “expiry date” on the package says. Similarly, if you want to get a supply now to have on hand “just in case” you can do so without worrying that it will somehow “expire’ and your money will be wasted. Minerals like potassium, iodide, sodium, and the like are, well, minerals – they don’t go “bad” over time.

    Please click here to learn more about Potassium Iodide and it’s ability to protect your thyroid gland from the effects of radioactive fallout from a nuclear disaster.

    And for those who might have forgotten how the Fukushima disaster played out, here are some of our HealthBeat News articles from that time:

    Nuclear Disaster Still In The News

    HealthBeat Special – 3/25/2011 – Radiation Fears Not Subsiding

    Fukushima – Worse Than Chernobyl?

    Iodine For Nuclear Radiation Protection

    Nuclear News Updates

    The Japanese Gift That Keeps On Giving – Radioactive Fallout From Fukushima

     

    And let’s all pray for maturity, wisdom, and tolerance on the Korean peninsula so that no one feels compelled to ‘push the button”!

  • The "Swiss Army Knife" Of Supplements

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Wouldn’t it be great if there were one supplement that could serve a variety of health-improving functions?

    What about a supplement that could:

    • lower and stabilize LDL (bad) cholesterol
    • help in weight loss
    • lower and stabilize high blood sugar
    • reverse metabolic syndrome and diabetes
    • reduce inflammation
    • exert powerful broad-spectrum antimicrobial and antifungal effects
    • have antiarrhythmic effects on the heart
    • be useful in treating congestive heart failure
    • treat fatty liver disease
    • treat a wide variety of cancers
    • treat polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
    • protect the kidneys of diabetics
    • helps prevent formation of cataracts in diabetics
    • help to protect the brain during and after a stroke
    • even mimic the beneficial effects of exercise in the body

    What one substance could do all these things?

    Berberine!

    Long overshadowed by other, more commercially popular herbs Berberine has become the subject of a number of recent research studies that are proving it to be one of the more versatile and popular natural supplements.

    What is berberine?

    Berberine is an alkaloid that is found in such plants as Oregon grape, barberry, tree turmeric, goldenseal, Phellodendron amurense, Chinese goldthread, prickly poppy, Californian poppy and others. Berberine is usually found in the roots, rhizomes, stems, and bark of these plants.

    Why the sudden interest in Berberine?

    Dr. Myatt and some other naturopathic practitioners have successfully used this herb in their practices for a long time – perhaps Big Pharma is just now taking notice and wondering if they can muscle in with a synthetic version but needs to fund the research that will justify their efforts.

    Let’s look at the details of Berberine’s “magic” and the research that is being done:

    Berberine and cholesterol:

    Big Pharma, smarting from the failures of it’s dangerous statin drugs, is suddenly very interested in Berberine and is investigating it as if it is a drug to be patented and marketed. Here is just one of a number of studies:

    This study was published in Phytomedicine in July of 2012 and is titled “Lipid-lowering effect of berberine in human subjects and rats.”

    Our previous studies demonstrated that berberine, an alkaloid originally isolated from traditional Chinese herbs, prevented fat accumulation in vitro and in vivo. […] But more interestingly, the treatment …500 mg berberine orally three times a day for twelve weeks… significantly reduced blood lipid levels (23% decrease of triglyceride and 12.2% decrease of cholesterol levels) in human subjects. […] Tests of hematological, cardiovascular, liver, and kidney function following berberine treatment showed no detrimental side effects to this natural compound. Collectively, this study demonstrates that berberine is a potent lipid-lowering compound with a moderate weight loss effect, and may have a possible potential role in osteoporosis treatment/prevention. (1)

    Weight Loss and berberine:

    It is worth noting that the study quoted above also showed that berberine exhibited “a moderate weight loss effect” – something else that Big Pharma would like to be able to put into a pill! (A pill that doesn’t cause heart attacks or diarrhea, that it…)

    Berberine and Blood sugar and Diabetes:

    Given the health disasters encountered with recent diabetes drug offerings, it is no surprise that Big Pharma would love to figure out how to synthesize something with berberine’s safety and effectiveness. Here is one study (slightly edited for clarity)

    “Efficacy of berberine in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus” was published in Metabolism in May of 2008:

    Berberine has been shown to regulate glucose and lipid metabolism in vitro and in vivo. This pilot study was to determine the efficacy and safety of berberine in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

    In study A, 36 adults with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomly assigned to treatment with berberine or metformin (0.5 g 3 times a day) in a 3-month trial. The hypoglycemic effect of berberine was similar to that of metformin.

    Significant decreases in hemoglobin A1c (from 9.5%+/-0.5% to 7.5%+/-0.4%, P<.01), fasting blood glucose (from 10.6 to 6.9), postprandial blood glucose (from 19.8 to 11.1), and plasma triglycerides (from 1.13 to 0.89) were observed in the berberine group.

    In study B, 48 adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus were treated supplemented with berberine in a 3-month trial.

    Berberine acted by lowering fasting blood glucose and postprandial blood glucose from 1 week to the end of the trial. Hemoglobin A1c decreased from 8.1 to 7.3. Fasting plasma insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index were reduced by 28.1% and 44.7%, respectively. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased significantly as well. Functional liver or kidney damages were not observed for all patients.

    In conclusion, this pilot study indicates that berberine is a potent oral hypoglycemic agent with beneficial effects on lipid metabolism.

    In summary, that berberine is a potent oral hypoglycemic agent with modest effect on lipid metabolism. It is safe and the cost of treatment by berberine is very low. It may serve as a new drug candidate in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.(2)

    Berberine and Metabolic Syndrome:

    Wouldn’t Big Pharma just love to come up with a drug that could stave off the damaging effects of this latest health epidemic! It seems however that Mother Nature has beaten them to it…

    A study titled “Berberine reduces insulin resistance through protein kinase C-dependent up-regulation of insulin receptor expression” published in Metabolism. 2009 Jan states:

    Natural product berberine (BBR) has been reported to have hypoglycemic and insulin-sensitizing activities; however, its mechanism remains unclear. This study was designed to investigate the molecular mechanism of BBR against insulin resistance. […] Our results suggest that BBR is a unique natural medicine against insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome.(3)

    Berberine to reduce inflammation?

    “The anti-inflammatory potential of berberine in vitro and in vivo.” was published in The Cancer Letter in 2004 and states in part:

    Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid, has a wide range of pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammation […] (4)

    And Berberine as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial? The drug companies wish they could offer something as safe and effective as this supplement…

    A paper titled “Effect of berberine on Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm formation” published in 2009 in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents says:

    berberine at a concentration of 15-30mug/mL was shown to inhibit bacterial metabolism. Data from this study also indicated that modest concentrations of berberine (30-45mug/mL) were sufficient to exhibit an antibacterial effect and to inhibit biofilm formation significantly (5)

    So, it’s effective against bacteria… but how about viruses? It turns out that maybe Big Pharma is barking up the wrong tree with their “flu vaccines”…

    An article titled “Inhibition of H1N1 influenza A virus growth and induction of inflammatory mediators by the isoquinoline alkaloid berberine and extracts of goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis)” [Note: goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is another name for berberine] published in International Immunopharmacology, November 2011 states:

    We found strong effectiveness at high concentrations, although upon dilution extracts were somewhat less effective than purified berberine. Taken together, our results suggest that berberine may indeed be useful for the treatment of infections with influenza A. (6)

    What about the cardiovascular actions of berberine? Well, here is a paper that is oddly enough titled “Cardiovascular actions of berberine” that was published in the fall 2001 issue of Cardiovascular Drug Review that says, in part:

    The cardiovascular effects of berberine suggest its possible clinical usefulness in the treatment of arrhythmias and/or heart failure. (7)

    Can berberine really treat fatty liver disease? The Chinese are very interested, and published the following article in 2011: “Research on therapeutic effect and hemorrheology change of berberine in new diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes combining nonalcoholic fatty liver disease” in which the authors conclude:

    Berberine can obviously improve the conditions of new diagnostic T2DM [type II diabetes] patients with non alcoholic liver lesions, effectively reduce hemorrheology indicators, and has good application prospect. (8)

    Am I going to make claims that berberine can treat a wide variety of cancers? No, I’ll let the researchers do that…

    The article “The natural alkaloid berberine targets multiple pathways to induce cell death in cultured human colon cancer cells” in the European Journal of Pharmacology, August 2012 says:

    The results of the current study demonstrated that berberine has the ability to cause cell cycle arrest, induce apoptosis and inhibit inflammation in colon cancer cells. The magnitude of the effects observed suggests that berberine may be worth considering for further studies of its potential applications for improving health, either as a preventative or a potential treatment. (9)

    The journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology in July 2006  published an article titled “Inhibitory effect of berberine on the invasion of human lung cancer cells via decreased productions of urokinase-plasminogen activator and matrix metalloproteinase-2” that reported:

    These findings suggest that berberine possesses an anti-metastatic effect in non-small lung cancer cell and may, therefore, be helpful in clinical treatment. (10)

    “Berberine-induced growth inhibition of epithelial ovarian carcinoma cell lines” was the article in Journal of Obstetrical and Gynaecology Res. in March of 2012 that said:

    Berberine treatment can inhibit proliferation through a cell cycle arrest in OVCAR-3 and SKOV-3 cells. Thus, berberine may be a novel anticancer drug for the treatment of ovarian cancer. (11)

    And another: “Berberine suppresses the TPA-induced MMP-1 and MMP-9 expressions through the inhibition of PKC-α in breast cancer cells” was published in the Journal of Surgical Res. July 2012 edition and states:

    The TPA-induced PKC-α phosphorylation is suppressed and then the MMP-1 and MMP-9 expressions are also inhibited by berberine. Therefore, we suggest that berberine may be used as a candidate drug for the inhibition of metastasis of human breast cancer. (12)

    Sounds like there is some good evidence of anti-cancer effects in those studies…

    Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) responds well to berberine too – as is shown in this January 2012 article in the European Journal of Endocrinology titled “A clinical study on the short-term effect of berberine in comparison to metformin on the metabolic characteristics of women with polycystic ovary syndrome”

    Berberine (BBR) is an isoquinoline derivative alkaloid extracted from Chinese medicinal herbs that has been used as an insulin sensitizer. BBR may have a potential therapeutic value for PCOS. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of BBR in comparison to metformin (MET) on the metabolic features of women with PCOS. […] Intake of BBR improved some of the metabolic and hormonal derangements in a group of treated Chinese women with PCOS. Main effects could be related to the changes in body composition in obesity and dyslipidemia. (13)

    Can berberine really protect the kidneys of diabetics from diabetes-induced damage? An awful lot of lab rats seem to think so – there are a number of studies that have been done that show a powerful protective, even healing effect on the kidneys of lab rats that have been damaged by diabetes. One such study was published in the June 2012 issue of Phytomedicine titled “Ameliorative effect of berberine on renal damage in rats with diabetes induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin” and says:

    The results revealed that berberine significantly decreased fasting blood glucose, insulin levels, total cholesterol, triglyceride levels, urinary protein excretion, serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in diabetic rats. The histological examinations revealed amelioration of diabetes-induced glomerular pathological changes following treatment with berberine. In addition, the protein expressions of nephrin and podocin were significantly increased. It seems likely that in rats berberine exerts an ameliorative effect on renal damage in diabetes induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin. The possible mechanisms for the renoprotective effects of berberine may be related to inhibition of glycosylation and improvement of antioxidation that in turn upregulate the expressions of renal nephrin and podocin. (14)

    Berberine really protects against the brain damage of a stroke? These researchers think so, and they presented their findings in the December 2008 issue of the Neuroscience Letter in the article titled: “Neuroprotective effects of berberine on stroke models in vitro and in vivo”:

    We found that berberine improved neurological outcome and reduced ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced cerebral infarction 48h after MCAO. The protective effect of berberine was confirmed in in vitro study. Berberine protected PC12 cells against oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced injury. The results showed that berberine inhibited reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and subsequent release of pro-apoptotic factor cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factors (AIFs) evoked by OGD. Findings of this study suggest that berberine protects against ischemic brain injury by decreasing the intracellular ROS level and subsequently inhibiting mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. (15)

    There is evidence that berberine can help to prevent the formation of cataracts in diabetics. A 2002 report in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry revealed that berberine is an aldose reductase inhibitor.

    …berberines and palmatines may be useful as lead compounds and new agents for aldose reductase inhibition. (16)

    Aldose reductase plays a role in diabetic cataract formation, and inhibition helps prevent cataract formation.

    Inhibition of aldose reductase could significantly prevent progression of existing cataracts. (17)

    And finally, surely nothing but grunting, sweating exercise can produce the beneficial effects of exercise in the body, right? Well, that may not be entirely true – it looks like berberine might just be able to have some of those same beneficial effects. In a December 2012 article titled “Clinical Applications for Berberine” Dr. Jacon Schor states:

    Berberine activates AMPK in a manner similar to how exercise stimulates increased strength and weight loss. Thus, any condition that would be favorably impacted by a patient losing weight and/or exercising more may be impacted favorably by oral berberine supplementation. It makes sense to consider using berberine in patients with insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, heart disease, dyslipidemia, cancer, depression, and other neuropsychiatric diseases. (18)

    So, is berberine “the defining miracle of the 21st century”? Maybe not. But is sure is looking like an effective and safe “Swiss Army Knife” for treating a wide variety of medical conditions. What has been presented here is only a tiny sampling of the research available on this amazing substance!

    Dr. Myatt recognized the value of berberine a very long time ago, and she makes a high potency, pharmaceutical grade berberine available to her patients – and to you. Find Berberine + Ultra here.

     

    References

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    2) Jun Yin, Huili Xing, and Jianping Yeb. Efficacy of Berberine in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. Metabolism. 2008 May; 57(5): 712–717. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/

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    8.) Xie X, Meng X, Zhou X, Shu X, Kong H. [Research on therapeutic effect and hemorrheology change of berberine in new diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes combining nonalcoholic fatty liver disease]. [Article in Chinese] Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2011 Nov;36(21):3032-5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22308697

    9) Chidambara Murthy KN, Jayaprakasha GK, Patil BS. The natural alkaloid berberine targets multiple pathways to induce cell death in cultured human colon cancer cells. Eur J Pharmacol. 2012 Aug 5;688(1-3):14-21. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22617025

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    11) Park KS, Kim JB, Lee SJ, Bae J. Berberine-induced growth inhibition of epithelial ovarian carcinoma cell lines. J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2012 Mar;38(3):535-40. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22381105

    12) Kim S, Han J, Lee SK, Choi MY, Kim J, Lee J, Jung SP, Kim JS, Kim JH, Choe JH, Lee JE, Nam SJ. Berberine suppresses the TPA-induced MMP-1 and MMP-9 expressions through the inhibition of PKC-α in breast cancer cells. J Surg Res. 2012 Jul;176(1):e21-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22381172

    13) Wei W, Zhao H, Wang A, Sui M, Liang K, Deng H, Ma Y, Zhang Y, Zhang H, Guan Y. A clinical study on the short-term effect of berberine in comparison to metformin on the metabolic characteristics of women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Eur J Endocrinol. 2012 Jan;166(1):99-105 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22019891

    14) Wu D, Wen W, Qi CL, Zhao RX, Lü JH, Zhong CY, Chen YY. Ameliorative effect of berberine on renal damage in rats with diabetes induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin. Phytomedicine. 2012 Jun 15;19(8-9):712-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22483555

    15) Zhou XQ, Zeng XN, Kong H, Sun XL. Neuroprotective effects of berberine on stroke models in vitro and in vivo. Neurosci Lett. 2008 Dec 5;447(1):31-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18838103

    16) Lee HS. Rat lens aldose reductase inhibitory activities of Coptis japonica root-derived isoquinoline alkaloids. J Agric Food Chem. 2002;50(24):7013-7016. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12428952

    17) Kawakubo K, Mori A, Sakamoto K, Nakahara T, Ishii K. GP-1447, an inhibitor of aldose reductase, prevents the progression of diabetic cataract in rats. Biol Pharm Bull. 2012;35(6):866-872. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22687477

    18) Schor Jacob, Clinical Applications for Berberine, 12/5/2012, Natural Medicine Journal (online) http://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/article_content.asp?edition=1&section=2&article=384