The Natural Path

Review Finds that the Best Prostate Treatment is Also Safe

Saw palmetto berry is the best treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia, or enlarged prostate. And now a review of forty studies on saw palmetto berry has found both that the herb is well tolerated and that there are no drug interactions.

• Drug Safety 2009;32:637-47

Simple Herbal Tea Lowers Blood Pressure

Sixty-five people with pre- or mild high blood pressure were simply give three cups a day of hibiscus tea. At the end of six weeks, systolic blood pressure--the most important measure--was reduced by a significant 5.5%. In the group given the placebo drink, there was no reduction at all. This study adds to the already existing evidence that hibiscus lowers high blood pressure.

•  J Nutr 2010;140:298-303

Breast Cancer, Chemo and Curcumin
This study added curcumin to the chemo drug docetaxel in men and postmenopausal women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Of the fourteen people in the study, the authors say that most of them experienced some improvement. Seven had their tumour markers decrease and four had them decrease up to 50%. There was no progression of the disease in any of them, and there was an antiangiogenic effect, reducing the growth of the new blood vessels the tumour produces to feed itself.

Though this study was primarily designed to test the safety of adding curcumin and not as an efficacy study, the authors call the efficacy results encouraging.

• Cancer Biol Ther 2010;9:1-7