Chinese herbal booster for side-effects
Thursday August 19th, 2010
An ancient Chinese medicine could be used to boost cancer treatment and reduce unpleasant digestive side effects, researchers reported last night.
The medicine is made from a combination of four plants and has been used for centuries to treat intestinal disorders.
Now a laboratory study suggests it might heal the guts of patients damaged by cancer treatment drugs.
The findings, from Yale University, USA, are reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The medicine, Huang Qin Tang, is made from peonies, the skullcap flower, liquorice and a buckthorn tree fruit.
The new study tested a precisely formulated version of the medicine, called PHY906, on laboratory animals.
The study showed the medicine could reduce inflammation of the gut and heal damage in conjunction with a bacterial enzyme found in the organ.
Researcher Professor Yung-Chi Tommy Cheng said: "Chemotherapy causes great distress for millions of patients, but PHY-906 has multiple biologically active compounds which can act on multiple sources of discomfort."
He added: "We will continue to refine these processes to better study and understand the sophisticated nature of herbal medicines. Revisiting history may lead us to discovering future medicines."
'The Four-Herb Chinese Medicine PHY906 Reduces Chemotherapy-Induced Gastrointestinal Toxicity'.W. Lam; S. Bussom; F. Guan; Z. Jiang; W. Zhang; E.A. Gullen; Y.-C. Cheng. Science Translational Medicine August 18 2010
Tags: Alternative Therapy | Asia | Cancer
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