Several years ago, I told you about Harry S. from North Carolina. When he was 89 years old, he found out he had lung cancer. Harry decided at his age, he wasn’t about to undergo surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. Instead, he decided to try an Asian herb to treat his cancer.
Harry bought a bottle of this particular Chinese herb and started taking two capsules, two times daily. After three months, he went to see his doctor, where he requested an X-ray to see if “anything was happening.” After the films came back, Harry said the doctor was “quite shocked and quite confused.” He studied the X-ray and couldn’t believe what he found ... absolutely nothing! The cancer disappeared....
How is this possible? Could one single herb fight cancer so effectively it causes tumors to disappear?
Well, some might think Harry’s story is a fluke. So let me tell you about Derrick. When Derrick was in his late 40s, his doctor did a biopsy and found lymphoma. Derrick was shocked. He was young and in great shape. How could this be? But there it was – an ugly egg-sized mass on the left side of his head.
Derrick, like Harry, didn’t want to use chemotherapy, so he went to see a doctor who gave him the same Chinese herb that Harry took. Derrick took the herb for two weeks and gave up because it didn’t look like it was doing anything. All he noticed was a little depression in the center of the lump and it looked like the lump had grown slightly at the edges. He decided to wait and see what happened.
Four weeks later, Derrick called his doctor with shocking news: The tumor was gone!
A few days later, Derrick walked into his doctor’s office with a big smile on his face. The skin where the mass had been was smooth. He said, “I had lots of people praying for me, I have faithfully followed your recommendations on diet, which were extremely important, but I’m convinced the herbal product I took was the key.”
So what is this herb? It’s artemisinin.
Artemisinin is the active agent of the southeastern Asian herb Artemisia. This is a very powerful antimalarial herb — and it’s great for fighting parasites in general.
But in recent years, researchers have found that it fights cancer as well. One study, in fact, compared the antitumor activity of the herb artemisinin to three specific cancer drugs (Taxol, 5-fluorouracil or 5-FU, and cisplatin). The researchers found that artemisinin had stronger antitumor effects than all three of the drugs.
That’s right! The artemisinin killed cancer cells better than the toxic drugs. Imagine fighting cancer more effectively than chemotherapy drugs and never suffering even one side effect. Sounds impossible. But it’s not. In fact, while Harry and Derrick show you just how effective this herb is at fighting cancer, the science is even more convincing. Why artemisinin is so effective at killing cancer cells...
Researchers at the University of Washington have found that cancer has an Achilles’ heel – iron. Cancer loves iron. It has a rapacious appetite for it. And that lets artemisinin target cancer cells. Here’s how....
As I mentioned earlier, artemisinin is a powerful anti-malaria treatment. Malaria loves iron. The malaria parasite collects high iron concentrations as it metabolizes hemoglobin in the blood. Cancer acts in a similar way. It loves iron too.
Because they multiply so rapidly, most cancer cells need more iron than normal cells to replicate DNA. To facilitate that, cancer cells have inlets on their surface, known as transferrin receptors, in greater numbers than other cells. Those receptors allow quick transport into the cell of transferrin, an iron-carrying protein found in blood.
Because artemisinin works so well against malaria, the University of Washington researchers wondered if it might have the same ability to kill cancer cells. So they bound artemisinin to transferrin and tried to use the combination of the two ingredients to fool the cancer cell. It worked! “We call it a Trojan horse because the cancer cell recognizes transferrin as a natural, harmless protein,” the lead researcher said. “So the cell picks up the compound without knowing that a bomb – artemisinin – is hidden inside.”
Once inside the cancer cell, the artemisinin reacts with the iron, spawning highly reactive chemicals called “free radicals.” The free radicals attack other molecules and the cell membrane, breaking it apart and killing the cancer cell.
How effective is this new compound? Artemisinin alone is an effective cancer-cell killer. It kills approximately 100 cancer cells for every healthy cell, about 10 times better than current chemotherapies.
When the researchers added a small chemical tag of iron to artemisinin, the cancer-killing effect of artemisinin went through the roof. Instead of killing just 100 cancer cells for every healthy cell, it now killed an incredible 12,000 cancer cells for every healthy cell.
As you may know, many cancer drugs fight tumors by inducing apoptosis. Apoptosis is a fancy name for programmed cell death. Normal cells go through apoptosis when they start to fail. But cancer cells are unique. They don’t go through apoptosis. That’s why it’s so hard to kill cancer — the cells don’t want to die. So the idea behind chemotherapy drugs is to help the tumor cells die. Unfortunately, these drugs also have terrible side effects. But the artemisinin/iron combination is highly effective – more so than any cancer drug – without any side effects.
Of course, the cancer industry wasn’t too happy about these results. The University of Washington recently put out the following statement: “The Department of Bioengineering and University of Washington do not advocate the use of artemisinin to treat cancer.... Research on artemisinin and cancer is still in very early stages. Human use of artemisinin should be considered experimental and taking artemisinin or any other drug should be approached with extreme caution and responsibility. Always consult with your physician before beginning any new therapy or treatment.”
I agree with the last half of their statement. If you have cancer, find a doctor who uses artemisinin to treat cancer. That’s what Dorothy did. Clinical study proves artemisinin kills cancer...
Dorothy was a colon cancer patient who participated in a clinical study with Dr. Sanjeev Krishna at St George University London in 2010. Dr. Krishna published the study online at EbioMedicine. Dorothy was one of 20 colon cancer patients who took either a new anti-cancer drug called Artesunate (an artemisinin derivative) or a placebo. They took the pills for two weeks before colon surgery to remove the tumor.
Five years later, Dorothy and all the patients who took the Artesunate were still alive and well. Only one of them had experienced a recurrence. Compare this to the placebo group, which had six cancer recurrences and three who died. The Artesunate was clearly an effective cancer killer.
While not every cancer patient will see this incredible result, if you have cancer, definitely consider taking artemisinin. It won’t cause any adverse effects (unless you happen to be allergic to it). And it could kill the tumor. Make sure you take a high-quality product as confirmed by a lab analysis (your supplier should be able to produce one). One of the best is made by Nutricology.com.
If you’re taking artemisinin on your own (not using doctor-administered IVs), then it’s best to take artemisinin on an empty stomach with some natural fat to enhance absorption. Any iron present from residual food may neutralize the peroxides. Whole milk, cottage cheese, or yogurt have ample fat to enhance absorption. These foods also have low iron levels, so they won’t interfere with the herb. You also could take simultaneously some cod liver oil (for its omega-3 and vitamin D) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). These will also assist with absorption, as well as provide some additional therapeutic benefits. Two nutrients work synergistically with artemisinin...
Also remember that artemisinin is not a singular therapy. You should use it in conjunction with a comprehensive cancer management strategy. An integrative medicine physician or an open-minded oncologist can help you with this. Two other nutrients you can use in this cancer management strategy show particular synergy with artemisinin and can make this treatment work even better. The two nutrients are vitamin C and curcumin.
I’ve told you about the amazing power of IV vitamin C for killing cancer. IV vitamin C produces pro-oxidant effects in the blood. Combining these effects with the oxidizing effects of Artemisinin makes both treatments more effective in killing cancer cells. In fact, many alternative doctors are using this combination with incredible results. They deliver the artemisinin first, followed by the vitamin C. And some are adding alpha lipoic acid (300 mg IV) to the vitamin C, which heightens the vitamin C effect.
Curcumin isn’t as well defined in its ability to kill cancer cells. But doctors have seen it work synergistically with artemisinin to fight malaria more effectively. So many doctors are adding it to the artemisinin treatment to see if it fights cancer cells. There’s every reason to think this will work, as curcumin has known anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer abilities. A number of laboratory studies on cancer cells have shown that curcumin does have anti-cancer effects. It seems to be able to kill cancer cells and prevent more from growing.