Tu Youyou, the discoverer of the antimalarial drugs artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin, is a lifelong researcher at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. In 2015, he received a lot of attention for winning the Nobel Prize.
Along with it, a variety of artemisinin health products are also on the shelves.
As we all know, winning the Nobel Prize is a great honor, however, with the fame of the Nobel Prize, will the efficacy of artemisinin be magical?
1. Can artemisinin health products really fight cancer?
The American journal Science Daily published an ex vivo experiment conducted by Henry Lai, a research professor in the Department of Bioengineering, and Narendra Star, an assistant research professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington.
The study pointed out that artemisinin, an extract from the Chinese herbal medicine Artemisia annua, has a strong ability to kill cancer cells, and after 16 hours of contact with it, it can effectively kill breast cancer cells without causing significant effects on normal cells.
And with artemisinin winning the Nobel Prize, artemisinin health products that claim to be able to fight cancer are also emerging in an endless stream, so is artemisinin really so magical?
Ma Jinping, a professor at Guangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that for artemisinin, the current relatively clear role is antimalaria, but the anti-cancer effect has not yet been confirmed.
According to the above-mentioned study at the University of Washington, the artemisinin used is extracted from the Chinese herbal medicine Artemisia annua, which is not equivalent to artemisinin health products, so you should not generalize, let alone think that simply eating natural Artemisia annua can achieve anti-cancer effects.
As artemisinin became more and more famous, so did the controversy surrounding it, and many people began to discuss whether it belonged to traditional Chinese medicine or Western medicine.
In this regard, Kong Lingyi, vice president of China Pharmaceutical University, explained: artemisinin itself is a pure compound extracted from Artemisia annua, and from this point of view, it belongs to traditional Chinese medicine; However, most of the artemisinin currently used in clinical practice is its derivatives, such as dihydroartemisinin, artemether, etc., which belong to chemical drugs and should belong to the category of Western medicine.
It can be seen that artemisinin is both a traditional Chinese medicine and a Western medicine.
In general, we should look at artemisinin rationally, many studies are using extracts, for the various artemisinin health products on the Internet, we should not blindly follow the trend, the effect may not be as you expect.
2. Is traditional Chinese medicine reliable in the treatment of cancer?
Regarding the treatment of cancer, both Chinese medicine and Western medicine have been "hot", so how about the treatment of cancer with traditional Chinese medicine?
In this regard, Li Lianda, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said: Traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine have their own advantages in treating cancer.
Western medicine can directly kill cancer cells, which can be understood as dispelling evil spirits; Traditional Chinese medicine mainly kills cancer cells by regulating the body's own conditions, and this method is to straighten and improve symptoms, improve the quality of life of patients, and prolong their life cycle.
Therefore, it is unrealistic to cure cancer through Chinese medicine alone, and the combination of the two is the best.
Regarding the role of traditional Chinese medicine in cancer treatment, Professor Lin Lizhu, vice president of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, also gave a similar view.
Professor Lim Lai Chu believes that Chinese medicine and Western medicine complement each other, and the importance of Chinese medicine is different in the treatment of different cancers.
Generally speaking, once cancer is diagnosed, TCM can immediately intervene in the treatment, but in the whole process of treatment, TCM mainly plays a leading or auxiliary role, and it has to be determined according to the specific situation of the patient.
In addition, for the side effects caused by Western medicine treatment, Chinese medicine also has various ways to deal with them, such as taking Huoxiang Zhengqi pills and applying an umbilical cord to stop diarrhea for diarrhea; If you have a rash, you can take Jingfang Siwu decoction + anti-rash and anti-itching decoction to wash externally.
In short, Chinese medicine plays an important role in the process of cancer treatment, but if you want to have a better anti-cancer effect, it is often more appropriate to combine Chinese and Western medicines.
3. Reduce the risk of cancer, starting from a little bit of life
In recent years, there has been a high incidence of cancer, so it is necessary to be vigilant and do a good job in cancer prevention. Zheng Ying, chief physician of the Department of Cancer Prevention of Fudan University Cancer Hospital, reminded that reducing the risk of cancer starts from these little things in life.
1. Choose a healthy diet
There is a close relationship between diet and cancer, and if you want to prevent cancer, you should pay more attention to your diet, according to the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents", which recommends the following: a variety of foods, mainly cereals; Eat more fruits and vegetables, milk, and soybeans; Eat fish, poultry, eggs, and lean meat in moderation; Less salt, less oil, less sugar.
2. Keep exercising and maintain a healthy weight
Actively participate in sports on weekdays, brisk walking, running, swimming, etc., choose one you like, persist longer, and persist in exercise for a long time, which will help improve immunity and play a certain role in preventing cancer. At the same time, manage your weight, as obesity is associated with a variety of cancers.
3. Don't smoke and avoid second-hand smoke
Smoking is one of the causes of many types of cancer, especially lung cancer, so it's best not to smoke. People who do not smoke should pay attention to avoid second-hand smoke and third-hand smoke, because these smokes also contain carcinogens, and they are easy to cause cancer if they are exposed to too much.
4. Drink alcohol in moderation
The safest amount of alcohol consumption is 0, and if you drink too much alcohol for a long time, it can lead to the occurrence of liver cancer and other cancers, so if you want to prevent cancer, it is also important to control the amount of alcohol you drink, and it is best not to drink at all.
In general, for the prevention and treatment of cancer, it is best to do it from various aspects of lifestyle and diet, rather than thinking about relying on some health products alone, which not only wastes money, but also easily delays the disease.
After getting cancer, the most correct thing to do is to go to the hospital in time to receive standardized treatment, and the specific treatment method will be handed over to professionals!
Resources:
[1] "Major Discovery: Artemisinin Can Fight Cancer, or Revolutionize Cancer Treatment". Chinese Journal of Community Physicians.2016-01-27
[2] "Debunking the true face of the "anti-cancer miracle drug"! These rumors you may still be chasing ......". Life Times.2017-07-26
[3] "Don't make any noise, artemisinin is both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine". China Biotechnology Net.2015-10-09
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