Thursday 30 August 2012

Triphala (Three Fruits) - Anti-Cancer Natural Drug


Triphala, a traditional ayurvedic medicine, has significant anti-cancer properties, which raises the hope for its wider use for cancer treatment in future, scientists claim.



With triphala inhibiting growth of cancerous tumours, scientists said it may be used for both therapeutic and preventive cancer treatment in the long run, after successful trials on animals and humans, which may take several years to complete.

Triphala is a non-toxic fruit-formulation, used in India since long as a household ayurvedic product to tackle chronic intestinal disorders and keep the heart healthy.

“The most important conclusion from our experiment is that we found about seven mg of chebulinic acid (the active molecule in Triphala) present in the dose used on mice, that may be responsible for its anti-cancer effect,” Sujit Basu, associate professor at the Ohio State University, who led a team of researchers, told Deccan Herald.

Generally available in the market as a powder, triphala is a combination of three fruit-amla (Emblica officinalis), haritaki (Terminalia chebula) and bibhitaki (Terminalia bellerica)-in equal amount.

Basu and his colleagues used commercially available triphala powder for the experiment. They administered it to cancer-afflicted mice, at a dose of 100 mg per kg of body weight, for seven days. Laboratory analysis showed significantly less growth in cancerous cells in mice who were administered triphala.

Experiments were also conducted with cancer cell lines, which too yielded promising results. The ayurvedic medicine, as well as its main active constituent, the chebulinic acid, block the action of a body chemical called vascular endothelial growth factor (VGEF) that plays a critical role in tumour formation.

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