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Herbs can aid cancer patients
Chemotherapy said to be easier
Enquirer.com
BY TIM BONFIELD
About
50 Greater Cincinnati cancer patients and their relatives received a
modern introduction Saturday to an ancient herbal formula from India
that proponents say can help reduce the side effects of chemotherapy.
The
two-part product, Maharishi Amrit Kalash, is a paste and a tablet that
includes extracts of 44 herbs and fruits. Amrit Kalash is already sold
at some local health food stores as an “herbal super
antioxidant” that can boost energy, improve feelings of wellness
and resist the physical effects of aging.
On Saturday, however,
a large group gathered at the Wellness Community headquarters in
Kenwood to hear what Amrit Kalash can do for cancer patients. They
heard from Dr. Hari Sharma, a professor emeritus from Ohio State
University, and Dr. Christine Horner-Taylor, a plastic surgeon who does
reconstructive surgery for breast cancer patients.
Dr.
Horner-Taylor told the group she has become a believer in ayurvedic
medicine, a traditional Indian system of medicine with roots tracing
back 5,000 years. She personally takes Amrit Kalash, practices
transcendental meditation and has sought treatments at ayurvedic
clinics. “I tell all of my patients about this now,” Dr.
Horner-Taylor said. “(In Western medicine) all we are taught is
how to treat disease. We have no idea how to help people stay
healthy.”
Dr.
Sharma said Amrit Kalash is an antioxidant that's “1,000 times
stronger, weight-for-weight” than vitamins C or E. In animal
tests, Dr. Sharma said the product prevented breast cancer tumors from
forming and sometimes eliminated tumors. However, Dr. Sharma said there
have not been similar findings in humans.
Instead,
human testing has involved a few hundred cancer patients in India, all
of whom were taking chemotherapy. The patients were tracked primarily
to see whether Amrit Kalash reduced toxic side effects.
Even those benefits sounded attractive to many in the audience.
Dr.
Horner-Taylor wept as she introduced Betsy Malone, a 35-year-old breast
cancer patient from Burlington, Ky., who went through chemotherapy
treatments last year.
After seeing Ms. Malone six weeks after
she started on the supplement, Dr. Horner-Taylor said, “I
couldn't believe it when I saw her. She was radiant.”
Ms.
Malone said she struggled through her first round of chemotherapy
without the supplement. But with the supplement, later doses were easy
to handle.
“I haven't missed a day of work. I almost feel better now than before I started my chemotherapy,” Ms. Malone said.
After
recently completing treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Jane Oka of
Western Hills said she plans to try Amrit Kalash to see whether it will
help with lingering side effects, such as foods burning her mouth.
“It sounds as if it could really change your life,” Ms. Oka said.
The Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/03
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