CANCER
Medical definition
Cancer is a disease of metabolic imbalance and can originate in a thousand different ways.
Cancer occurs when cells lose their ability to replicate in an orderly fashion, they divide too rapidly and grow without any order. Too much tissue is produced and tumors begin to form. Tumors can be either benign or malignant.
Malignant tumors can invade and destroy nearby tissue and organs. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body and form new tumors.
It is estimated that one in three people will develop a type of cancer at some time in their life and that cancer continues to account for around 25 per cent of all deaths recorded each year. Traditional Chinese medicine has always used garlic as a part of any treatment for the patients who suffered from a tumor or cancer. The search for compounds that prevent cancer has intensified with the mounting evidence that many types of cancer are caused or triggered by factors relating to lifestyle and environment. It is well documented that allicin can strengthen the immune system, which is vitally important for fighting cancer. When I reviewed this important area of medicine I was surprised and pleased to find a considerable amount of data already published indicating that by taking allicin powder capsules regularly you can confer some degree of protection against various stomach cancers, boost your CD4-T cell count and convey some degree of protection.
Interestingly, the medical community has known about this for years and is currently trying to establish which compounds are the most protective, since evidence also shows major benefits from diallyl disulphide, which is a common breakdown component of allicin powder. Many of the breakdown products from allicin have been tested for their inhibiting effect on cancer cells and in most experiments inhibition of tumor growth was established.
Researchers concluded that evidence from laboratory experiments and population surveys is presently not conclusive as to the preventative activity of allicin. However, they also indicated that the available evidence warrants further research into the possible role of allicin in the prevention of cancer in humans.
Anti-cancer effects
In ancient times, garlic was used for the treatment of cancer of the uterus. Numerous reports, including several important epidemiological studies, have entered the scientific literature ever since, asserting that garlic has a favourable effect on various forms of cancer. The following provides an overview of the current research and points of view concerning this very interesting special area of medicine:
Six decades ago, several statistical studies indicated that cancer occurs the least in those countries where garlic and onions are eaten regularly - for instance, in the Provence region of France, Italy, the Netherlands, the Balkans, Egypt, India, and China. A review article, published in 1936, referred to the connection between nutrition and cancer, and especially to the cancer growth-inhibiting effect of leek plants (Allium plants). The practicing physicians of the time were very good observers but knew almost nothing about the scientific background to this phenomenon.
It was thought that the inhibitory action of garlic on putrefaction in the intestines, together with the secretion-stimulating effect, brought about detoxification and an increase in resistance. Stimulation of gastric juice secretion and restoration of the intestinal flora, combined with the resulting prevention of gastrointestinal autointoxication, may help to remove at least one of the possible causes of cancer. Garlic was therefore thought to have potential as a cancer preventative agent. More recently, this idea has again been pursued, not only in Europe, but also in the Third World countries, where the favourable effects of garlic for cancer are well known. For instance, the consumption of black or green tea, as well as of garlic, is known to be a culinary practice, which inhibits tumorigenesis in the lung, forestomach, and oesophagus.
The only known study in which garlic has been used to treat patients with advanced stages of cancer was conducted by Spivak (1962). An aqueous garlic juice preparation was administered in doses of 0.2-2mL intravenously or 1-5mL intramuscularly daily for 3-7 days. Of 35 patients with cancer at various sites (lung, cervix, stomach, lower lip, mammary gland, larynx, and leukemia), 26 showed positive treatment results of differing degrees, though complete healing was not achieved in any case. There is a single-case report, however, of a man whose pituitary tumour shrank by 50 per cent during the 5 months in which he ate 5-7 grams of fresh garlic daily. This was the first case ever reported of reduction of this type of tumor without chemotherapy or surgery.
Some notable success stories have been reported using allicin powder capsules. Especially in Norway where patients with various types of cancer have dramatically improved their CD4-T cell count (remember this is a measure of how efficient your immune system is) – patients going through chemotherapy or radiotherapy tend to have very poorly functioning immune systems since they are effectively destroyed by treatment.
Anti-cancer Effects: Active Compounds
From the many publications that have just been reviewed, it is apparent that the anti-cancer effects of garlic are likely due, perhaps equally, to allicin and allicin-derived compounds as well as unidentified compounds not related to allicin. The following is a summary of the evidence for possible active compounds.
| 1. |
Epidemiological studies from six different countries have consistently shown that garlic consumption is associated with decreased risk of gastrointestinal cancer. Since garlic is mainly eaten cooked (alliinase inactivated) in most of these countries, allicin is unlikely to be the cause of significant gastrointestinal cancer reduction. |
| 2. |
A major decrease in incidence of gastric cancer in China, particularly where large amounts of allicin-yielding fresh garlic are eaten, is associated with the antibiotic effects of garlic and its thiosulfinates (allicin) toward decreasing the amount of nitrate-reducing bacteria in the stomach and hence the amounts of carcinogenic nitrosamines formed. Therefore, allicin does appear to have an important role in prevention of gastric cancer. |
| 3. |
Animal studies have indicated the importance of allicin, since dietary fresh garlic, but not alliinase-inhibited garlic, greatly decreased breast cancer incidence in C3H mice. |
A large number of animal studies with allicin-derived Diallyl disulphide and Diallyl sulphide, most using very large doses (100-200mg/kg) have shown positive effects toward decreasing carcinogen-induced cancer. Although allicin itself has not been tested, these studies indicate that allicin-derived compounds have the ability to affect cancer incidence.
