Friday, October 5, 2012
Fighting Cancer: Another Study Reveals the Cannabis and Cancer Link
Does marijuana cause cancer? Revealing the link between cannabis and cancer yet again, researchers with the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco have released findings that further bolster cannabis as an anti-cancer solution. The researchers have found a compound in the much-talked-about plant could “halt the spread” of many types of aggressive cancers, including breast cancer.
The Cannabis and Cancer Link
Cannabidiol is the compound, and while it fights cancer cells, it does not produce the high feelings commonly associated with cannabis. Instead, it seems to “switch off” the gene responsible for metastasizing breast cancer.
They reportedly found the compound doesn't only stop the breast cancer cells from growing, but even causes them to return back to normal cells, cancer-free.
Further exemplifying the benefits of marijuana and showing the cannabis and cancer relationship, a similar study was published last year after the group found promising results in mice. Now, they say they are “on the verge” of publishing another study on animals that further expands these results.
The preclinical trial data is very strong, and there’s no toxicity. There’s really a lot or research to move ahead with and to get people excited,” said study co-leader Dr. Sean McAllister.
The research is a long way off from developing a medication or cancer-treatment for humans, but it is another step in the right direction. They are said to be developing human trials and look forward to testing it in combination with current chemo therapies. A real measure of success, however, would be found if the natural substance could be used without traditional chemo.
As we reported just a few months ago, the effectiveness of this go-to traditional cancer treatment is highly questionable, furthering the need for a natural alternative. Scientists looking at cancer cells unexpectedly found that chemo actually damages healthy cells and causes them to release a protein that actually increases tumor growth. In addition, it makes the tumor more resistant to future treatment.
This is in addition to all of the side effects brought on by this poison—including the well-known hair loss and nausea, as well as long term cognitive dysfunction.
Other studies have been made over the past decades much like this one linking cannabis and cancer prevention: Manuel Guzman located in Madrid, Spain discovered that cannabinoids substantially inhibit the growth of tumors in a variety of lab animals. In the study he also found that not one of these tested animals endured any kind of side effects seen in many similar chemotherapy treatments. It is becoming increasingly clear that you can sidestep any of the misery associated with traditional cancer treatments and embrace the potent, effective healing powers of THC and cannabidiol (CBD).
Now we just have to cross our fingers that Big Pharma won’t stake her claim on the natural compounds, patenting them, creating perverse versions of them in a lab to bottle and affix with an exorbitant price.
Source: Activist Post
EU sides with Monsanto in 'GMO Cancer Corn' word war
The European Food Safety Authority has rejected a controversial study by French scientists linking GM corn to cancer. Many in Europe are already calling for stricter controls on GMOs, as farmers weigh the lucrative crops against health concerns.
In September, French scientists from the University of Caen released a study claiming that rats fed on a diet containing NK603 – a corn seed variety made tolerant to amounts of Monsanto's Roundup weed-killer – or given water mixed with the product at levels permitted in the United States died earlier than those on a standard diet.
The study elicited calls for stricter controls on already unpopular genetically modified (GM) crops in Europe. France had already issued a temporary ban on another Monsanto corn seed (MON810) in May due to a similar study.
However, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) claimed the study lacked enough specific information on Friday, and asked the scientists who conducted it to provide more details on their testing methods. The move adds to the constant back and forth in the debate over genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The "design, reporting and analysis of the study … are inadequate," the EFSA said in its review, concluding that it could not "regard the authors' conclusions as scientifically sound."
The EFSA took issue with the type of rat used in the study, specifically the albino Sprague-Dawley strain of rat. Sprague-Dawley rats have a tendency to develop cancers naturally over the course of their two-year life span, which was also the duration of the study.
"This means the observed frequency of tumors is influenced by the natural incidence of tumors typical of this strain, regardless of any treatment. This is neither taken into account nor discussed by the authors," the EFSA said.
Gilles-Eric Seralini, the French researcher who conducted the study with his colleagues and published the results in the journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology in London was incredulous at the EFSA’s decision, and stated that he would not release any more information to the EFSA unless it provided justification for its conclusion.
"It is absolutely scandalous that [the EFSA] keeps secret the information on which they based their evaluation [of NK603],” he said.
"In any event, we will not give them anything. We will put the information in the public domain when they do," Seralini said in an AFP report.
Please pass the GMO?
The French study caused waves of alarm across Europe, and even prompted a ban on the NK603 corn in Russia. A group of Russian scientists who oppose GMOs are hoping to conduct their own rat experiment, set to begin in March of 2013. They expect that their year-long experiment will show whether the controversial cultivation process has effects as dangerous as the French study claims.
In an effort to conduct their study as publicly as possible, Russian researchers from the National Association for Genetic Safety (NAGS) came up with the idea of web cameras installed in cages with the test rats, which will broadcast all stages of the experiment online. The unique reality show will be available on the internet 24/7 worldwide.
“This is a unique experiment,” project author Elena Sharoykina told RT. “There hasn’t been anything like it before – open, public research by opponents and supporters of GMO.”
Many GM crops are banned or controversial throughout Europe. France has strict regulations of GM crops, while GMOs are completely banned in Germany, Greece, Austria, Luxembourg, Hungary, and the UK over health concerns. GM crops are altered to be resistant to pesticides, a development which has caused an increase in the use of chemicals that have been linked to cancer and birth defects.
Still, the crops are attractive to farmers, Arkady Zlochevsky, president of the Russian Grain Union, told RT. For example, the Monsanto GMO NK603 corn in question has been modified to be resistant to Monsanto's “Roundup” weed-killer, making the product easier and cheaper to grow with delivering better yields.
“The seed may be more expensive, but the development is significantly cheaper,” he said, stating that European GMO farmers find a 20 per cent increase in profit combined with a highly-marketable, top-quality product.
Study versus study
The EFSA’s criticism of the French study echoed that of numerous other experts across Europe that refuted the results. But as more and more studies emerge on both sides of the issue, the harder it becomes to identity where fact meets fiction.
Zlochevsky told RT that “There is no reliable proof of the ills of GMO; so far there have only been attempts to prove it.”
Monsanto’s study published in 2002 on corn strain NK603 concluded that “NK603 is as safe and nutritious as conventional corn currently being marketed,” and the specific proteins in the corn genetically altered to make the corn pesticide resistant “are not toxic to non-target organisms, including humans, animals and beneficial insects.”
But a study published recently in the UK by a genetic engineer from London’s King’s College of Medicine signaled that GM foods pose a more serious threat than advocates of research would have the public believe.
“GM crops are promoted on the basis of ambitious claims – that they are safe to eat, environmentally beneficial, increase yields, reduce reliance on pesticides and can help solve world hunger," said Dr. Michael Antoniou, author of the report, which claims that research into GM crops is incomplete and tests on the effect of their consumption are not comprehensive enough.
Regulatory industries worldwide rely on companies selling GM products rather than independent testing, stipulates the paper.
Director of corporate communications for Monsanto, Phil Angell, summed up his company’s take on the issue in a report by food author Michael Pollan for New York Times Magazine in 1998: "Monsanto should not have to vouch for the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job."
Europe-wide ban on Monsanto GM corn imminent in wake of French study linking it to cancer
The study, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, revealed for the first time that rats fed Monsanto's NK603 GM corn treated with Roundup (glyphosate) herbicide for longer than 90 days developed deadly tumors at a much higher, and much quicker, rate than rats not exposed to these products. Similar health consequences were observed in rats fed NK603 GM corn without Roundup, as well as in rats exposed to just Roundup, revealing more about the true toxicity of these two highly-pervasive food technologies.
What the study suggests, in other words, is that GMOs are far from innocuous, and that they pose some very serious health threats when consumed for long periods of time. Since there have never been any other long-term studies on the safety of GMOs -- and definitely none that have ever proven them to be safe -- it makes logical and scientific sense to adopt the precautionary principle in light of the available evidence, which is heavily stacked against the continued purveyance of GMOs.
"'Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GMO food,' including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system," says the Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT). "The AAEM (American Academy of Emergency Medicine) asked physicians to advise patients to avoid GM foods."
And this latest study out of France only affirms what groups like IRT have been warning about for years -- that GMOs are not safe, that independent research clearly illustrates their potential health risks, and that no long-term safety studies have ever definitively proven that GMO consumption is safe or beneficial to human health.
"While previous studies have usually lasted only about three months, Seralini's (French GMO study) lasted two years, the average rat's lifespan, and the illnesses developed later in the period covered," says RFI.
Source: Natural News