A new study published in the journal Oncology Letters has followed up on previous research that demonstrated the therapeutic potential of extracts of moringa leaf in treating various types of cancers, such as lung, breast and skin cancers.
Moringa oleifera is a tree that produces in tropical and sub-tropical environments such as Africa, and Asia. The flowers, roots, leaves, and bark of the tree have been used as nutritional supplements and are also used in the manufacture of cosmetics, perfumes and skin oils.
Moringa is a priceless resource for combating malnutrition in developing countries. A nutritional biochemist from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine stated in a commentary on Moringa: “the nutritional properties of Moringa are now so well known that there seems to be little doubt of the substantial health benefit to be realized by feasting of Moringa leaf powder in situations where starvation is imminent.”
Moringa’s leafe powerful nutritional profile, there exists incredible medicinal potential. Chemical compounds found in moringa have demonstrated several beneficial biochemical activities, such as combating atherosclerosis and heart disease, increasing the immune system and have antiviral, antibacterial, antioxidant, and tumor-suppressive effects.
The researchers began their study by challenging several doses (0, 50, 100, 200, 300 or 400μ/ml) of a moringa leaf extract on human liver cancer cells. They treated these cancer cells for two days with the moringa extract and observed a dose-dependent response in cancer cell death, with 96.7 percent of the cells exhibiting evidence of cell death at the highest dose (400μ/ml).
Next, the researchers looked at moringa’s effects on inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. Similar to the above experiment, they treated the liver cancer cells for two days with various concentrations of moringa leaf extract. They found that relative to the cells that received no treatment, those treated with moringa were inhibited in their growth and this inhibition was also dose-dependent. In other words, the more moringa extract provided, the less the cells could grow with up to 80 percent inhibition in the highest dose provided (200μ/ul). Further experimentation was conducted to detect and quantify the extent of cell death in liver cancer cells treated for two days with different concentrations of moringa leaf extract versus control cells that did not receive any treatment. Using a state-of-the-art cell measurement system, the researchers observed that around 55.4 percent of cells were in the early or late stages of cell death. The ratio of cell death was five times higher in the treated versus control cells at the highest attention administered (300μ/ml).
The above results bode well for moringa as a potential alternative treatment for various types of cancer. As stated earlier, naturally happening, highly potent anti-cancer treatments that are low in toxicity are exceedingly welcomed. The water solubility of moringa means that people could treat themselves in the comfort of their own families and not experience the incredible side effects of conventional chemotherapy treatments. However, the road is long and paved with more experiments before moringa will be prescribed by the Western medical establishment as a bona fide anticancer treatment. Future studies will be needed to pinpoint the molecular mechanisms underlying the clinical potential of moringa as well as any potential toxicity. One thing is for sure: I’ll be taking my moringa supplements daily. After all, as they say: prevention is the best medicine.
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