Chinese medicine herb can fight against bowel cancer

The U.S. government's policy on cancer is far from perfect. When it comes to this deadly disease, the strategy proposed is simple: chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. Just in the U.S.A, cancer takes the lives of almost 600,000 people every year, making it a significant nationwide threat. Consequently, $100 billion worth of taxpayers' money is funding these traditional and almost obsolete methods of dealing with cancer every year. All of this is done despite the official recognition that chemo and radiation can actually cause the disease.

On the other hand, some scientists and cancer patients have been trying to find other ways of dealing with the disease for decades. Sometimes, we don't need to look further than nature.

Alternative medicine is a viable solution
It's not uncommon for herbal remedies not to be taken seriously. People would normally dismiss an individual who openly claims ginger helps prevent cancer and the formation of tumors. But would things change if that individual was part of a team of researchers that dedicated entire years to studying the effects of herbal medicine on cancerous tissue? What if he had consistent proof that ginger does make a difference? There are thousands who have done the same thing.

Yet you don't see ginger or the host of other herbal remedies for cancer on national TV. Studies are published, the research community acknowledges these efforts and findings, but little changes in terms of public view or in terms of administrative procedures. It would cause too much of an inconvenience to change a system that's already running smoothly. The policy stays the same, and most people conform to a regular doctor's advice.

Cancer can be prevented
Those who are fed up with current views on cancer have taken it upon themselves to prove beyond any doubt that chemo and radiation are not the way to treat this disease. In fact, there are a multitude of herbal remedies that can help you fight cancer even before it develops. Sometimes, you can even prevent it altogether.

For instance, Chinese medicine does not adhere to the boundaries and prejudices we draw between alternative or herbal remedies, and the ones you buy at a regular pharmacy. They are less fixated on current practices and more willing to test compounds that are found in nature – plants known for their beneficial properties.

While Chinese researchers were exploring natural remedies for malaria, they stumbled upon a plant that is so effective it can potentially revolutionize modern oncology: artesunate. Derived from sweet wormwood, this plant has shown virtually no side-effects and incredible results in a small British study for colon cancer.

Only one of the 23 patients that followed the treatment had reoccurring cancer after three and a half years, compared to six cases in the placebo group. That's an improvement of roughly 84 percent without any harmful consequences. British researchers are eager to test these findings on a larger scale. At the moment, they are conducting a study involving 140 patients, which will demonstrate the effectiveness of artesunate in preventing the multiplication of cancer cells after surgery.

The cure in our backyard: natural and affordable
For less than $2 per pill, artesunate will have a definite impact on how the world views cancer. Its mother plant, sweet wormwood, has been used in Chinese medicine to treat high fever for at least 2,000 years. The very same herb brought the Nobel Prize in Medicine to Chinese scientist Tu Youyou in 2015, for her discovery that it can be effectively used to treat malaria.

The potential of artesunate is comparable to that of aspirin, according to Professor Sanjeev Krishna of St. George's London University, the person responsible for the first trial.