Powerful anti-cancer compound in red onions found to “destroy” cancer tumors

 A study published in Food Research International revealed that red onions contain powerful antioxidants that effectively kill cancer cells. As part of the study, a team of researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, examined five varieties of onions and tested their anti-cancer compounds against lab-grown colon cancer cells. The health experts found that red onions effectively eliminated colon cancer cells. The team also noted that the “Ruby Ring” was the most potent onion variety to kill the malignant cells.

According to the research team, red onions contained significantly high concentrations of the flavonoid quercetin. The experts also noted that red onions were rich in anthocyanin, a compound that fortified quercetin’s scavenging properties. The study also revealed that red onions were equally potent in eliminating breast cancer cells.

“Anthocyanin is instrumental in providing colour to fruits and vegetables so it makes sense that the red onions, which are darkest in colour, would have the most cancer-fighting power. We found onions are excellent at killing cancer cells. Onions activate pathways that encourage cancer cells to undergo cell death. They promote an unfavourable environment for cancer cells and they disrupt communication between cancer cells, which inhibits growth. The next step will be to test the vegetable’s cancer-fighting powers in human trials,” lead author Abdulmonem Murayyan said in ScienceDaily.com.

However, outside expert Dr. Justine Alford was wary of the results. Dr. Alford currently serves as senior science information officer for Cancer Research U.K.

“The researchers found that extracts from certain types of onions could kill bowel cancer cells in a lab, but that doesn’t mean the same would happen in a person’s body which is much more complex. If scientists can tease out which molecules in onions have these apparently beneficial effects, then perhaps they could be investigated as a potential drug in the future,” Dr. Alford told DailyMail.co.uk.

Cornell study demonstrates onion’s anti-cancer properties

The recent findings were reflective of a 2004 study carried out by researchers at the Cornell University. As part of the study, the research team took extracts from 10 onion varieties and shallots and used them against colon cancer cells. The scientists found that the pungent yellow and Western Yellow onion varieties provided the strongest protection against colon cancer cell proliferation. The study also revealed that shallots, the pungent yellow, and Western Yellow onion varieties also offered the greatest protection versus liver cancer cell proliferation.

According to researchers, onions and shallots are excellent sources of phytochemicals called phenolics and flavonoids. The phytochemicals stave off cancer onset by eliminating free radicals and inhibiting the production of reactive compounds that may damage otherwise normal cells. In addition, the research team noted that onions and shallots contain varying levels of these phytochemicals. (Related: Follow more news on anti-cancer compounds at Anticancer.news.)

According to the team, shallots had six times higher phenolic content compared Vidalia onions. On the other hand, Western Yellow onions contain 11 times more flavonoids than Western White varieties.

“Our study of 10 onion varieties and shallots clearly shows that onions and shallots have potent antioxidant and antiproliferation activities and that the more total phenolic and flavonoid content an onion has, the stronger its antioxidant activity and protective effect,” lead author Dr. Rui Hai Liu told the Cornell Chronicle.

The findings were published in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 

Sources include: 

DailyMail.co.uk

ScienceDaily.com

News.Cornell.edu

Pubs.ACS.org

Radiation therapy for brain cancer found to cause significant damage to the brain

Radiation therapy (RT) may be seen as an effective method in treating cancer, but it comes at a high cost. New research shows that RT does not just kill brain tumors, but even the healthy tissue surrounding them, causing significant damage in the brains of patients.

The study was done by researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and published in Brain Connectivity. It found that being exposed to radiation can change the structural networks of the brain, ScienceDaily.com reported. This leads to impaired brain function that is all too often observed in patients who have undergone brain RT.

“RT is a mainstay of brain tumor treatment,” said the study’s lead author Naeim Bahrami. “Unfortunately, a side effect can be incidental irradiation of normal brain tissue and radiation-induced injury, which have been linked to impairment of brain function. As patient outcomes improve, a major concern is managing long-term complications, including cognitive decline and disability.”

Building on previous research that found that RT causes cortical atrophy in certain regions of the brain, the researchers made use of elaborate mathematical models to further examine the effects of RT on patients. The study focused on 54 patients with brain tumors. The thickness of their brain cortex before and after RT was estimated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The researchers’ findings showed that RT caused the brain cortex to thin at a faster rate than that of Alzheimer’s disease. RT was also seen to have caused a greater separation between regions of the brain that need to work together to carry out important functions such as memory-making and recall.

The research highlighted the need to further improve the process of RT to minimize, if not eliminate, the damaging side effects, or, better yet, come up with an alternative, non-harmful treatment altogether.

Radiation therapy: Worth the side effects?

Brain function impairment is an RT side effect that is specific to brain cancer patients. People who have other types of cancer may experience different side effects depending on the parts of the body that were exposed to radiation. Many of them are so painful or debilitating that they require additional doses of other medicines to manage or treat. They also compromise the lifestyle and outlook of cancer patients.

According to Cancer.net, those who received RT for cancers in the head and neck area may experience dry mouth, mouth and gum sores, difficulty swallowing, jaw stiffness, nausea, swelling the arms and legs (lymphedema), and tooth decay.

At the same time, those whose chest area were exposed to RT may experience shortness of breath, difficulty swallowing, soreness of breasts or nipples, and shoulder stiffness. It can also lead to radiation pneumonitis, a condition characterized by cough, fever, and fullness of the chest. Untreated, radiation pneumonitis can result in radiation fibrosis, which is a permanent scarring of the lungs.

Pelvic RT may cause inconvenient and painful side effects, including diarrhea, rectal bleeding incontinence, and bladder irritation. It can also compromise sexual performance and fertility in both men and women.

Meanwhile, other RT side effects can be expected across the board, no matter which part of the body the radiation was targeted at. Common RT side effects include skin problems (wherein the skin becomes dry, itchy, and blistery), fatigue, and long-term side effects such as the development of a second cancer.

Read up on how to prevent cancer the natural way on AntiCancer.news.

Sources include:

ScienceDaily.comCancer.net

Cancer Diagnoses / Why I Chose the Holistic Approach

As soon as I received my cancer diagnosis, I started to educate myself. I wanted to understand as much as possible what was happening to me, analyze all the facts and make a rational decision.

I gathered information from different physicians and clinics in various geographic areas. I read books, including “Cancer Step Outside the Box” by Ty M. Bollinger, “Beating Cancer with Nutrition” by Patrick Quillin, and “The China Study” by Thomas and T. Colin Campbell. I visited a wide range of websites and read what seemed like hundreds of articles. I attended lectures, read postings on discussion boards, and more. I know this may not be realistic for many cancer patients but I do believe a patient must be empowered to make the best choice for them once they understand all the facts.

I gathered all the facts, laid it all out, prayed, and meditated. I know this may not be realistic for many cancer patients but I do believe a patient must be empowered to make the best choice for them once they understand all the facts. I know that some people are just too ill to do all of this homework, that they really need an advocate to handle this for them, I was grateful to be able to look at all the statistics, read all the information, and make my own decision. Because ultimately I think that if we really sit with ourselves and spend time with ourselves in stillness, and truly focus on the facts that are laid out there, we will know what we need to do.

And the thing that was resonating with my mind and spirit and inner being was the holistic approach. This is what made sense to me. I just couldn’t grasp the idea that just by removing a body part healing would take place. I knew that my body was created in perfection and there is a reason why I developed cancer. I decided to embark myself on the road less traveled and went on quest to find to cause and cure of my cancer.

This conviction was reinforced in my consultations with various medical specialists, especially the surgeons. When I would ask these specialists questions about why I had cancer, how my diet may have impacted my situation, or what additional steps I could proactively take to improve the situation, they had no answers. None. Nada. Zip. The answers I got were along the lines of “It’s just bad luck, maybe something in your genes. But that’s okay. We’ll just remove it and treat it and then you’ll continue going on living your life as you always have.”

But this just did not make sense to me. God did not create us to get cancer. There must be external and/or internal influences of some sort. Take food, for example. If you look at the things that mankind is now doing to our food—pesticides, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and other toxic things—it seems to me that this must have an impact on our bodies today. If you compare how food was grown and produced 50 years ago to now, you’ll see it was completely different. It’s no coincidence that cancer rates were much lower then.

Nutrition is just one factor. It seemed to me that there must be many more. I have now learned that cancer is a multifactorial disease and a cancer diagnoses is the result of an acquired deficiency. The question is to what?

I felt that I had to take responsibility for what was happening to me, and be responsible for making changes for my health. Because I wanted to live, and I believed that if I had been doing things right in the first place my body would not have developed cancer. So why would I want to go right back to whatever it was that got me here? Wouldn’t that approach increase the chances that I would get cancer again?

The truth is, throughout this entire education and fact-gathering process, the one thing that kept resonating with me was the holistic approach. It made sense. The conventional medical approach did not. So the holistic approach is what I chose.