Perna Canaliculus muscle extract may help prevent autoimmune disease

Inflammation and messengers from the immune system associated with inflammation are a major part of the destruction to organs and tissues that occurs in autoimmune disease. These researchers have recently shown that Perna Canaliculus prevents the development of autoimmune diseases such as Systemic Lupus Erythromatosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis in laboratory animals. In the present study it was found that Perna Canaliculus effectively decreased levels of TNF-alpha and various cytokines involved with autoimmune disease destruction, and it nearly abolished the effects of the COX-2 enzyme by inhibiting its activity. This is very beneficial in autoimmune disease and helps inhibit organ damage. The study was performed at the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine at Clemson University and is published in the January 2006 issue of the electronic journal BMC Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

Studies show it is not the caffeine which helps decrease the risk of developing diabetes but probably the polyphenols.

Turmeric may fight cervical cancer caused by human papaloma virus

Infection with certain high risk human papaloma viruses (HPV 16 and HPV 18) leads to the development of cervical cancer. Curcumin, the major yellow pigment in the herb Turmeric, has anti-cancer properties. Adding the Curcumin to cervical cancer cells infected by HPV16 and HPV18 caused the cancer cells to die. Additionally the Curcumin decreased the inflammatory activity in the cervical cancer cells and inhibited COX-2, NF-Kappa B and TNF-alpha; inflammatory components involved with worsening cancer. It is important to point out that Curcumin inhibited the viral oncogenes E6 and E7. Viral oncogenes are the genes the virus uses to transform a healthy human cell into a cancerous cell and E6 and E7 are the viral genes that HPV uses to turn healthy cervical tissue into cervical cancer. The study is published electronically ahead of print in the March 8th, 2006 issue of the journal Molecular Carcinogenesis.