Curcumin and EGCG
 

Hi,

Has anyone made use of curcumin, a constituent of turmeric, or EGCG, a major constituent of green tea.

Both have many studies showing benefit for cancers and combination with treatments. Among their mechanisms of action are decreasing NF-Kb, a DNA transcription factor known to suppress cancer cell or cancerous stem cell death (apoptosis). Or, in other words, allowing . They both have other mechanisms that benefit health. Curcumin is being combined with cytotoxic therapies because it sensitizes cells to the chemo-drugs or reverses resistance.

They are being looked into for MDS, really for any blood or even solid tumor. Because aberrant inflammatory pathways are so significant in cancers, illnesses in general, and autoimmune problems, these are even being looking into in the world of blood/marrow transplant.

Wondering if anyone has used these and at what doses.

With my doctor's permission, i was trying to take the the study doses of curcurmin along with some green tea extract. It was easy enough to get to the study levels of curcurmin, the green tea extract was pretty expensive. I did not notice any negative effects. My MDS stayed steady for about 4 years before I had to have a transplant. I took the curcurmin and green tea extract for several months. There really wasn't any improvement on or off for me. I know that there was a doctor at MSKCC who was doing a study several years ago, but haven't seen anything updated in several years.

Papaya leaf tea and platelet levels...
 

Recently I've read about Papaya leaf tea and possible positive effects on platelet levels. Has anyone else heard of this? I've tried using this as a replacement for my occasional evening green tea. IMO the taste is the same, but others have found some honey is needed to sweeten it. :cool:

Sufficient Vitamin D is also important for platelets.

Hi - I believe Dr. Azra Razza at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in NYC dis some research a while ago using curcurmin with MDS patients - I'm not sure if she is still doing any work with it or how her research went.

I tried using it in a very unscientific way and did not see any improvement with my blood counts - and I never consulted with Dr. Razza, although I thought about it - but you might consider contacting her to see what happened with her research.

http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/hematol...t_us/azra_raza

Good luck.
Paul