Can plants help cancer patients? Researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (Israel) have just revealed that 57% of cancer patients complete their allopathic treatment with “natural remedies”. The study (conducted between June 2012 and July 2013) was conducted in 16 countries in the Middle East including Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan, Turkey and Yemen.
There are regional differences: for example, while in Egypt, we trust the virtues of honey, in Jordan, we prefer black cumin. In Lebanon, garlic is favored, when in Qatar, patients supplement their treatment with … camel’s milk.
Problem: some plants would be contraindicated because of their negative consequences on the good progress of the chemotherapy… “Even if the herbal medicine is a medicine qualified as “soft”, it is not without consequences on the health of the patients: it is then advisable to be careful with the plants which one consumes and to seek a medical opinion before starting a complementary treatment, even natural. Especially when you are suffering from cancer, ”explains Prof. Eran Ben-Arye, the main author of this study.
Desmodium, echinacea and propolis
Fortunately, certain plants can help cancer patients to better endure their treatment: this is the case of desmodium (Desmodium adscendens) which protects the liver and prevents nausea. Echinacea (Echinacea spp), it is immuno-stimulating, when the propolis (produced by bees) is anti-infective.
As a reminder, in France, the most frequent cancer in men is prostate cancer (with 71,000 new cases in 2011) ahead of lung cancer and colorectal cancer. In women, breast cancer is the most frequent (with 53,000 new cases in 2011), ahead of colorectal cancer and lung cancer.
These works, published in the medical journal Cancer, were carried out with 300 healthcare professionals specializing in cancer in the Middle East.
