anyone heard about graviola

[Neel]

Hi ppl,

Just wanted to know if anyone here has any expereince abt this plant graviola or its extract. Heard that it is useful in treatment of cancer.

regards,

Neel

[Neil Cuadra]

I found information at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, WebMD.com, and CancerHelp UK.

There have been no large-scale studies of graviola in humans but it's been used for many years for a variety of ailments. For example, graviola extracts have been used to treat viruses and parasites. In test-tube studies it's been able to suppress some kinds of cancer cells or help anti-cancer drugs stay effective, but with a risk of nerve dysfunction from some of the many acetogenins graviola contains. WebMD says the nerve risk makes graviola unsafe.

None of the cited research reports are recent so there's insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about possible benefits for MDS. CancerHelp UK is the most blunt, saying "there is no evidence to show that graviola works as a cure for cancer" and warning that many Internet sites that make unsubstantiated claims about graviola.

Unfortunately, funding for studies of complementary and alternative medicines are scarce so our knowledge about graviola and other plants advances slowly.