Chinese Antitumor Herbal Drugs

There are thousands of herbal drugs, which used for treating cancer in China. But most of them have not yet been studied. Nowadays, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is also become famous alternative treatment for cancer in my country of Indonesia.

Many patients who suffered from cancer, then turned their hopes for healing through alternative medication. Though all the hopes for healing are suppossed to be relied on the Lord, the one who give heal. But that is not closed for us to seek another alternative ways for our life span.

Below are some of plants which often used as antitumor drugs by TCM:

Chinese Plum Yew
There two species of Chinese plum yew that are used as herbs, Cephalotaxus fortunei, and Cephalotaxus hainanensis. Only bark, root and twigs from plum yew tree which able to use as herbs. It is because of the active substance of harringtonine. Harringtonine is the antitumor agent that managed to inhibit the growth of P388 and L1210 leukemia (blood cancer) cells. (Kato T, et al. 1984)

Chinese Happy Tree
It is also known as cancer tree, tree of life, or in Latin as Camptotheca acuminata Decne. The alkaloids isolated from the root, bark fruit, twigs, and leaves of happy tree are known as camptothecine. Camptothecin is a cytotoxic alkaloid which inhibits the DNA enzyme topoisomerase I (topo I). (Ye D, et al. 2012)

Indian Grass Lily
Known by the Botanical name as Iphigenia indica Kunth. Indian grass lily is a small perennial herb which is found in India and Nepal. Colchicine, a promising vascular disrupting agents in cancer therapy, is isolated in the bulb of Indian grass lily. (Crielaard BJ, et al. 2011)

White Turmeric
I had already described about white turmeric benefits in my previous post titled Zedoary, A Life Span For Cancer Patients. White turmeric (Curcuma zedoaria (Berg) Roscoe) possesses curcuminoids, active compounds which had antimetastatic, antitumor and antimigratory activities, in which able to give more life span to cancer patients. (Seo WG, et al. 2005)

Purple Flower
It is also known as Crotalaria sessiliflora Linn. (Latin), Ye Baihe (China), Tanukimame (Japan), or Stalkless Blue Rattlepod. The alkaloids isolated in the whole plant are monocrotaline, which could be used for treatment of cervical, breast and rectum cancers.

Carrots vs Cancers

Carrot (Daucus carota Linn) is a rhizome vegetable which contains high source of Vitamin A. Since I was just a kid, carrot had been promoted in the TV cartoon show by the character of Bugs Bunny, as the rabbit's favorite food.

Eating carrot is good for our eyes, due to rich in Vitamin A. But, have you ever wonder that carrots are able to use as cancer prevention?

Carrots are also considered as herb plant to treat several diseases. Carrots possess the highest sources antioxidant of carotenoids among other fruits and vegetables. Carotenoids, such as α-carotene, β-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and β-cryptoxanthin, have also been associated with protective effects against cancer.

By having a vegetarian will reduce the risk for cancers. A diet of carrots along with other green vegetables may help reduce the risk of developing colon cancer. (Slattery ML, et al. 2000) β-carotene and polyacetylenes in carrots, are also effective in the treatment of leukemia (blood cancer).

The 2011 study had shown that extracts from carrots can induce apoptosis (the process of programmed cell death, or death of a cell in any form) and cause cell cycle arrest in leukemia cell lines. (Zaini R, et al. 2011 & 2012) Carrots also have remarkable anti tumor activity against DMBA-induced skin cancer. (Zeinab RA, et al. 2011)

Daily intake of fresh carrot juice is effective to increase carotenoids and in reducing oxidative stress, in women previously treated for breast cancer. (Butalla AC, et al. 2012) Carrots also possess anticancer agent, in which had shown its significant increase in cell death, and decrease in cell proliferation against human colon (HT-29, Caco-2) and breast (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) cancer cell lines. (Shebaby WN, et al. 2012)

But, daily intake of carrots should be limited, whether by eating raw or as a juice. If you are overconsumption, it can cause carotenosis, a condition where your skin turns orange.

Zedoary, A Life Span For Cancer Patients

White Turmeric

Last week, my wife bought a herbal supplement in capsul form which is made from extracts of the rhizome of zedoary. The supplement had cost my wife IDR 110K, because of the nurse who had promoted it to my wife and my neighbours at monthly housewife gathering. The nurse said that the zedoary supplement is useful for cancer preventing.

Zedoary (white turmeric), or in Latin known as Curcuma zedoaria (Berg) Roscoe, is a native plant from my own country of Indonesia. Zedoary has a fragrance of mango, but the taste is similar to ginger. Zedoary is also known as a source of terpenoids, or isoprenoids, large and diverse class of naturally occurring organic chemicals.

In Indonesia, zedoary, or temu putih in Bahasa Indonesia, is sometimes used as a spice in Indonesian cuisine, such as goat curry and chicken curry. But, temu putih is also considered as herb plants to treat scabies, rash, dyspepsia, disorders of the digestive tract, flatulence (excessive stomach or intestinal gas), diarrhea, and cancer. It is also is used as appetizer, tonic, blood purifier and for cosmetic industry.

In 1998, a study had resulted that curcuminoids, active compounds derived from Curcuma zedoaria, which were identified as curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin, were demonstrated to be cytotoxic (quality of being toxic) against OVCAR-3 (human ovarian cancer) cells. (Syu WJ, et al. 1998)

Based on the experiment to test the anti metastatic (the spread of cancer to other parts of the body) effect of zedoary with B16 melanoma (tumor) cells, it had been proven that zedoary is useful in the inhibition of cancer metastasis. The study also indicated that zedoary possesses anti migratory (invasive) effects on B16 melanoma cells, in which will be able to give more life span to cancer patients. (Seo WG, et al. 2005)

The methanolic extract of the rhizome of Zedoary had resulted in the isolation of several anti inflammatory agents such as furanodiene, and furanodienone, in which were able to suppress the induced inflammation of mouse ears, by 75% and 53% at a dose of 1.0 μM. These results are comparable to indomethacin, a non steroidal anti inflammatory drug which is often used as anti inflammatory agent to reduce fever, pain, stiffness, and swelling. (Makabe H, et al. 2006)

In Japan, the rhizome of Curcuma zedoaria is used to treat hangover, loss of appetite and nausea. Recent study using blood alcohol concentrations of drunken mice, resulted in curcumenone, an active substance of Curcuma zedoaria, were able to decrease the level of blood alcohol concentrations by increasing liver alcohol dehydrogenase activity. (Kimura Y, et al. 2013)

Fresh white turmeric root is also sold per pound on Amazon.com.

Fresh White Turmeric Root

List of 50 .edu Blogs for Building Backlinks (2)

Having backlinks from .edu sites are treasures for webmasters. But, spammer webmasters had caused troubles to the .edu sites admin. Due to spam comments, many .edu blogs had closed their blogs account, or changed the URL address.

To minimize spam comments, several .edu blogs have turned off the comment form. Some .edu blog also can only be commented by registered users, such as students, teachers, and staff.

The new .edu blogs list below is the second chapter of my previous post List of 50 .edu Blogs for Building Backlinks. The .edu blogs in the list below are different from the previous list.

Most .edu blogs will only give you nofollow backlinks. But, having many nofollow backlinks will not harm to your sites. It would be considered as natural link building. Having many .edu backlinks will get your sites more visible, gain more trust and reputation from the search engines.

Just remember one thing! Do not spam! Place your site URL only on the available form, and do not use an anchor text of your URL on your comments! Also, use your real name and not keywords of your products or anything else!

1. Medical Billing and Coding Online Blog
   http://www.allenschool.edu/blog-online/
2. Ross Pendergraft Library & Technology Center
   http://blogs.atu.edu/library/
3. Senate blog
   http://academic.aucegypt.edu/wpmu/senate/
4. Facts from the Stacks
   http://blogs.bellevue.edu/library/
5. The Berkeley Blog
   http://blogs.berkeley.edu/
6. Library Sleevefacing
   http://blogs.bgsu.edu/librarysleevefacing/
7. Science at Brandeis Blog
   http://blogs.brandeis.edu/science/
8. 24700
   http://blog.calarts.edu/
9. Ask Doctoral Advising
   http://blogs.capella.edu/askdoctoraladvising/
10. HeartSong
    http://blogs.cedarville.edu/heartsong/
11. College of Charleston Admissions
    http://blogs.cofc.edu/admissions/
12. Colgate University News
    http://news.colgate.edu/
13. Climate Law Blog
    http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/
14. COBBlog
    http://cobblog.cord.edu/
15. AgSci Major News
    http://blogs.cornell.edu/agsci/
16. Cornell Fellows
    http://blogs.cornellcollege.edu/cornell-fellows/
17. Official Blog of CSN President Dr. Michael D. Richards
    http://blog.csn.edu/
18. Career Services
    http://blogs.cwsl.edu/career
19. WDCV-FM
    http://blogs.dickinson.edu/wdcvfm/
20. Undergraduate Admission
    http://press.emerson.edu/undergraduateadmission/
21. Emory Anime Club
    http://blogs.emory.edu/animec/
22. Department of Marriage and Family Therapy @ Fairfield University
    http://blog.fairfield.edu/mft/
23. Hue Too
    http://blog.fitnyc.edu/huetoo/
24. The Pollak Library Blog
    http://libphp2006.fullerton.edu/blogs/news/
25. Colleen Curran \'11
    http://cmcurr11.me.holycross.edu/
26. IE Business School
    http://master-international.blogs.ie.edu/
27. The Sheridan Libraries Blog
    http://blogs.library.jhu.edu/wordpress/
28. KCAI Alumni Blog
    http://blogs.kcai.edu/alumni/
29. Wailele a me Wailani
    http://blogs.ksbe.edu/anchung/
30. Livin' Loyno
    http://blogs.loyno.edu/loynoreslife/
31. LSU Libraries Special Collections Blog
    http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/
32. Arts Alive
    http://blogs.luc.edu/artsalive/
33. Fishing in the Bay
    http://blogs.mbs.edu/fishing-in-the-bay/
34. Newman Ambassadors
    http://ambassadors.blogs.newmanu.edu/
35. PowerSchool
    http://blogs.edutech.nodak.edu/powerschool/
36. Be Well
    http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/bewell/
37. Dr. Andy Newcomb
    http://blog.richmond.edu/anewcomb/
38. Notes on Design
    http://www.sessions.edu/notes-on-design/
39. Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
    http://apanews.si.edu/
40. AHA!@Stanford
    http://aha.stanford.edu/
41. Health Sciences Libraries
    http://blogs.lib.ucdavis.edu/hsl/
42. UF Forensic Science Blog
    http://blog.forensicscience.ufl.edu/
43. Monday Morning
    http://mondaymorning.web.unc.edu//
44. UNM Anime Club
    http://anime.unm.edu/
45. Assessment Matters
    http://assess.blogs.unr.edu/
46. Going Places
    http://goingplaces.blog.usf.edu/
47. UVM Blogs
    http://blog.uvm.edu/
48. Darden School of Business Admissions Blog
    http://blogs.darden.virginia.edu/admissions/
49. Ethics and Climate
    http://blogs.law.widener.edu/climate/
50. Willamette World News
    http://blog.willamette.edu/worldnews/

Search engine optimization (SEO) method by blog commenting on .edu and .gov sites is still the best way to get free backlinks from high pagerank and authority sites. But, SEO is also just an opinion. No one ever knew that more backlinks from high pagerank and authority sites, will get your sites on top of search engine result pages (SERPs) for your keywords.

I once saw a new born blog with only one post, which was able to be on page 1 Google result for certain queries that I typed. How come? The Google search algorithms was responsed to the only indexed post of the new born blog from its post title.

Blog title, page title and post title are all important for your sites, or blog posts to be on page 1 SERPs. And again, SEO is an opinion, if you believe that having many backlinks from .edu and .gov sites, will drive traffic to your sites by being on page 1 SERPs for your target keywords, you better check above .edu blogs! But, please! Do not spam!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia

The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia

I do not consider myself a fan of the Zelda video game series. I once played The Legend of Zelda on my Nintendo console, back in 1994. But, Zelda series has been the best game in the world for the past two decades. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, the book which is written by Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, and Akira Himekawa, has become the #1 Amazon best sellers books.

The book is translated in English and edited by Patrick Thorpe. It has 280 pages and its 1st edition is published by Dark Horse on January 29, 2013. The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, which had been waiting its English version from the original Japanese book published by Shogakukan in 2011, had already received many compliments from Zelda fans around the world.

Photo from NinDB.

The 1st video games from Zelda series on above image, was The Legend of Zelda that I often played 20 years ago on my Nintendo console. Though the game was still in 2D version, but the Link's adventures was becoming addicted to be played until nowadays.

So, for the big fans of Zelda series. The book The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia is a must have book. It would be considered as the holy bible of Zelda's fans around the world.

The Amazing Folk Medicine of Cabbage

Cabbage had been used for a long time as folk medicine. It reminded me to a kids song when I was young. A song by Melissa, which titled Abang Tukang Bakso. Here I write you some of the lyrics.

Abang tukang bakso! (Meat ball seller Man!)
Mari mari sini!! (Come come here!!)
Aku mau beli!!! (I want to buy!!!)

Abang tukang bakso! (Meat ball seller Man!)
Cepatlah kemari!! (Get here quick!!)
Sudah tak tahan lagi. (I cannot wait any longer)

Satu mangkuk saja. (Just only a cup)
Dua ratus perak. (Two hundreds rupiah)
Yang banyak baksonya!!! (More meat balls!!!)

Tidak pake saos! (Do not use tomato sauce!)
Tidak pake sambel!! (Do not use spicy sauce!!)
Juga tidak pake kol!!! (Also do not use cabbage!!!)

Cabbage is also known as kol, kubis, or kobis in Bahasa Indonesia. From above kids song lyrics, Indonesian people, especially children, were built their mind to hate this amazing vegetable. In my home town of Sidoarjo nowadays, it is hard to find the meat ball sellers who still use cabbage as vegetable addition.

Fresh cabbage, or Brassica oleracea var. capitata, contains β-carotene, fiber, water, protein, fat, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, potassium, and vitamins (A, C, E, thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinamide).

Cabbage also contains compounds of cianohidroksibutena (CHB), sulforaphane and iberin, which stimulate the formation of glutathione, an enzyme which disposes the toxic substances in the body.

Just like starfruit, cabbage is also an antiscorbutic agent, due to rich in vitamin C. The active substance of histidine in cabbage, together with sulforaphane, can inhibit tumor growth. For colon and rectum cancer prevention, protecting the body from radiation hazards, and also increasing body resistance against cancer.

The amino acid content in cabbage is also efficacious of lowering high cholesterol levels, calming nerves, and generating stamina. Cabbage is also useful as natural laxative. (Sentra Informasi IPTEK)

The Anti-Cancer Studies

Recent study on 2-pyrrolidinone, an active compound present in cabbage, resulted in 2-pyrrolidinone to have potential anticancer effects, which will lead to the development of new anticancer agents for arresting cancer cells growth in vitro. (Thangam R, et al. 2013)

Sulforaphane, an isothiocyanate formed by hydrolysis of glucosinolates found in cabbage, is reported to possess anticancer and antioxidant activities. In the study to evaluate the comparative antiproliferative activity of various sulforaphane fractions (standard, extract and purified) against human epithelial carcinoma HEp -2 and and Vero cells, had resulted in the same antiproliferative effects. (Devi JR, et al. 2012)

A study in 1999 had shown the healing effect on tumor and not just only for prevention. The extract of Brassica oleracea var. capitata juice was tested on Ehrlich ascites (EA) solid tumors of Mus musculus BALB/C mice. The result was Brassica oleracea var. capitata had a healing effect as well as a protective effect on EA solid tumors of mice. (Yurtsever E, et al. 1999)

The Folk Medicine

In England, cabbage is used to compress ulcers and to treat abscesses. In World War I, cabbage was used to treat trench foot. As European folk medicine, cabbage is often used to treat rheumatism, sore throat, hoarseness, colic, and melancholy.

Cabbage has also been used in the United States, to treat hangover, to treat abscesses, to prevent sunstroke, and to treat fevers. Cabbage is also used to sooth sore feet, and to relieve croup (laryngotracheobronchitis) by placing or tied around the neck. Cabbage juice is used as poultices to treat warts, pneumonia, appendicitis, boils and ulcers. (Gabrielle Hatfield 2003)

Reference:

Encyclopedia of Folk Medicine: Old World and New World Traditions by Gabrielle Hatfield