Turmeric in herbal medicine

Turmeric is found only under cultivation. Its original home is believed to be either the South or Southeast Asian region.

Turmeric is used an herbal medicine for rheumatoid arthritis, chronic anterior uveitis, conjunctivitis, skin cancer small pox, chicken pox, wound healing, urinary tract infections and liver ailments.

Turmeric

It is an antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals and therefore protects against cancer. Turmeric is also used for digestive disorders; to reduce flatus, jaundice, menstrual difficulties and colic; for abdominal pain and distension.

Turmeric rhizome is used externally in China and Cambodia for cutaneous afflictions and internally against colic, amenorrhoea, and congestions. In Cambodia, the leaves are considered antipyretic.

In Japan, China and Papua New Guinea, the root is used as a stimulant. Other names for turmeric include curcuma, Indian saffron, Indian valerian, jiang huang, radix, red valerian and turmeric.
Turmeric in herbal medicine

Garlic in ancient medicine

Garlic is ones of world’s oldest medicines that have been employed not only for flavoring but also as a medical herb for its prophylactic and therapeutic actions.  It is truly an ancient medicine, being used by more cultures and over a longer time period than any other medicinal plant.

It was an important medicine to the ancient Egyptians listed in the medical text Codex Ebers (ca 1550 BC), especially for the working class involved in heavy labor. The Codex Ebers contained over 800 medical formulations, 22 of which contained garlic.

The earliest recorded use of garlic was in about 3000 BC by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia and by people of ancient India.

There is evidence that during the earliest Olympics in Greece garlic was fed to the athletes for increasing stamina. The Greek physician Hippocrates was a strong proponent of the use of garlic for treatment of infections, parasites, pneumonia and cancer.

In ancient Chinese medicine, garlic was prescribed to aid respiration and digestion, and most importantly, for treating diarrhea and worm infestations.

Three ancient medical traditions in India, i.e., Tibbi, Unani, and Ayurveda, made an extensive use of garlic as a central part of the healing efficacy of plants.

The Roman also extolled the virtues of garlic. Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist, describe in his Historia Naturalis how garlic could be used for gastrointestinal disorders, dog and snake bites, scorpion stings, asthma, madness, convulsion and tumors.

The anticancer properties of garlic also have been recognized since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians used garlic externally for the treatment do tumors and Hippocrates and physicians in ancient India are reported to have used garlic externally for cancer treatment.
Garlic in ancient medicine

Cinnamon potential agent against cancer

Cinnamon, used in cooking throughout the word, comes from a tropical evergreen tree that reaches a height of between thirty and sixty feet.

In massive doses, it aided in the treatment of cancer. It has been regarded as a folk remedy for indurations) of spleens, breast uterus, liver and stomach) and tumors (especially of the abdomen, liver, and sinews).

Cinnamon contains the antitumor agent benzaldehyde.

Two chemicals extracted from cinnamon camphornin and cinnamonin, have been shown in laboratory tests to stop the growth of liver cancer and melanoma cells.

Compounds in cinnamon are known to deactivate plasmin, a substance that allows cancer cells to infiltrate surrounding tissue.

In a study published in 2010 in BMC Cancer, researchers from India reported that they used aqueous cinnamon extract from the bark of Cinnamomum cassia to kill human cervical cancer cells.

Cinnamon extract was shown to induce apoptosis in the cervical cancer cells through increase in intracellular calcium signaling as well as loss of mitochondrial membrane potential.

The researchers concluded that ‘cinnamon extract could be proposed to be a potent anticancer drug candidate in cervical cancer’.

Cinnamon also stimulates the body’s production of tumor necrosis factor or TNF, an immune-system chemical that fights cancer.

Cinnamon bark can contain the fungus Antrodia cinnamomea, producer of a substance that has been shown to kills leukemia cells in animal testing.
Cinnamon potential agent against cancer