Cancer and Opium

See also The Cure for Cancer - 60 Books on CDrom (Alternative Cures & Treatments)

From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure By William Thomas Fernie 1897 ("Dr. Herbert Snow, resident physician at the Brompton Cancer Hospital, says (1895) he has found: 'after a long experience, Opium exhibits a strong inhibitive influence on the cancer elements, retarding and checking the cell growth, which is a main feature of the disease. Even when no surgical operation has been performed, Opium is the only drug which markedly checks cancer growth: and the early employment of this medicine will usually add years of comfortable life to the otherwise shortened space of the sufferer's existence.'")

120 years later this is still recognized:

From http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/01/scientists-identify-opium-poppy-genes-that-make-promising-cancer-drug/

"The opium poppy is a fertile plant: not only is it the source of illicit heroin and the painkiller morphine, but its derivatives can also be used to make the antidote to overdoses of these drugs, naloxone. The fruitful flower, formally known as papaver somniferum, also gives rise to a drug called noscapine, a promising cancer-fighting agent already used in some countries as a cough-suppressant."

From http://www.cancerdefeated.com/newsletters/Cough-Suppressant-Now-a-Proven-Cancer-Remedy.html

"Noscapine has been used for years in over-the-counter cough medicines. But taken in high doses, it becomes a near-perfect cancer treatment — operating almost like chemotherapy, but without all the consequences....The best source of noscapine is opium-producing poppy plants, but it can also be found in tomatoes and cabbage leaves."

From http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Gene-secrets-of-opium-poppy-unlocked-20120531

"Scientists have unravelled exactly how opium poppies produce a non-addictive compound that can both suppress coughs and kill tumour cells, paving the way for improved production of the medicine. Opium poppies, the source of illicit heroin, are also important for producing medical painkillers such as morphine and codeine, along with noscapine, which has been used for decades as a cough suppressant. More recently, researchers have found noscapine is also a potent anti-cancer agent, prompting clinical tests into its role in fighting blood cancer."

From http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112546826/genes-responsible-for-cancer-fighting-substance-in-opium-poppies-discovered/

"Scientists studying opium poppies say that they have pinpointed the genes responsible for producing a compound which can be used as a cough suppressant and cancer-fighting agent. According to Reuters reporter Ben Hirschler, researchers at the University of York and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) located a cluster of 10 genes which they claim are responsible for the creation of noscapine within the poppies. Noscapine has been used for many years to fight coughs, and recent studies have shown that it is also a 'potent anti-cancer agent' that can "kill tumor cells," he added."

From http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/07/24/opium-powerful-medicine-for-pain-relief.html

"Of all plants used in the field of medicine, none has been as widely employed – nor has helped to save as many lives and ease suffering – as the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. The plant and its derivatives have been used since antiquity. Cultivation of opium poppy dates to the Neolithic Age, and remnants of opium date back as far as 10,000 years, to ruins of Swiss lake dwellers. Sumerian images of opium date back to 4,000 BC. The ancient Minoans, whose culture flourished in Crete during the Bronze Age, employed opium and its sap as medicine. Several narcotics, known collectively as opiates, derive from opium – including morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine and noscapine. In total, as many as fifty alkaloids are present in opium poppy."

From http://www.naturalnews.com/042001_health_benefits_poppy_seeds_natural_medicine.html

"There was a study done by Dr. Javier M. of NW University in Chicago that examined the effects that oleic acid has on cancerous cells. The results of the study showed that oleic acid helps block HER-2/neu, which is a gene that can potentially increase the risk of cancer. Because poppy seeds are filled with oleic acid, they may also help protect against cancer."

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The Cure for Cancer - 60 Books on CDrom (Alternative Cures & Treatments)