As we age the lining of the carotid arteries thicken (intima media thickening).
This just like hardening of the arteries increases the risk of stroke and heart
attack. In this new, 3-year long study, young adult patients between the ages of
40 to 46 had the thickness of their carotid artery lining measured via precise
Ultrasound-B Imaging; a technique accepted world wide for detecting earlier
stages of arterial damage.
The patients had a level of thickening of their artery lining that was too high
for their age bracket; this is because they had metabolic syndrome (overweight,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, blood sugar issues, etc) and are at
high-risk for developing heart disease and diabetes. They all also had a low
antioxidant status.
The patients were split into two groups and both were placed on a heart-healthy
diet that was rigorously overseen by clinicians (Lyon Heart Diet). Over the next
two years one group was supplemented with 500mg of GliSODin each day and the
other group stayed on the diet but without the supplement. At the end of the
study the diet only group saw no change in antioxidant status and they had a
slight but significant thickening of the carotid artery lining. This is
significant because it shows that even though diet and lifestyle are modified,
if there is existing inflammation in the blood vessel walls the life-style/diet
changes are not enough to halt the progression of damage.
However, in the group that added GliSODin supplementation to their diet the
antioxidant status significantly improved with a corresponding reduction in
lipid peroxidation. Incredibly, the GliSODin group showed a significant
reduction in the thickening of the lining of their carotid arteries within the
first year of supplementation that improved to a highly significant reduction in
the thickening of the carotid artery lining by the second year; the GliSODin
didn?t just prevent further thickening, GliSODin actually reversed existing
cardiovascular damage. The study was performed by researchers from the National
Association of Medical Prevention in France, and is published in the current
issue of the journal European Annals of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2007,
39(2).
More evidence that EGCG may help prevent invasive bladder cancer
In previous studies in different animals, EGCG from Green Tea inhibited the
growth of bladder tumors. In a laboratory test, EGCG even at modestly low levels
inhibited the growth of invasive bladder cancer cells by 50%. EGCG also
inhibited the ability of the bladder cancer to invade and spread. When human
bladder cancer was transplanted into mice, feeding them EGCG prior to and during
the establishment of bladder cancer decreased the growth of the tumor by greater
than 50% with no detectable toxicity to the animals. The study was performed at
the Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Massachusetts and is published in the March
8th. 2007 issue of the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry.
Using EGCG with Celebrex strongly inhibits the growth of prostate cancer
tumors; allowing for a lower-safer dosage of Celebrex
COX-2 inhibitors are commonly prescribed to treat the pain and inflammation of
arthritis. COX-2 inhibitors are promising cancer preventing agents. However,
toxicity concerns show that other-newer strategies are needed; recently even
Celebrex has been shown to increase the risk of heart attack. One approach to
overcome this limitation is to use lower doses of COX-2 inhibitors in
combination with other established agents with complementary mechanisms.
In this study mice lacking immune function were implanted with human prostate
cancer. If EGCG was given alone it inhibited the growth of prostate tumors by
42%, Celebrex inhibited their growth by 57%. However, adding the two together (Celebrex
with EGCG) inhibited the growth of the prostate cancer tumors by 81%. The dosage
of Celebrex needed to achieve this inhibition of tumor growth was just 200mg
because of the addition of Green Tea. When Celebrex was used alone for colon
cancer prevention they typically had to use an 800mg dose.
The combination of Green Tea with Celebrex also lowered PSA levels and growth
factor levels significantly. The study is published in the March 1st, 2007 issue
of the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
