Cancer chaparral

Chaparral has been used in the treatment of arthritis, cancer, venereal disease, tuberculosis, bowel cramps, rheumatism, and colds. 

Chaparral Larrea tridentata Twigs, leaves Anti-infective, antioxidant, anti cancer Hepatotoxicity Avoid... 

Chaparral can be found in health food stores as capsules and tablets and is used as an antioxidant and anti-cancer herbal product. Leaves, stems and bark in bulk are also available for brewing tea. However, this product can cause severe hepatotoxicity. Several reports of chaparral-associated hepatitis have been reported. A 45-year-old woman who took 160 mg of chaparral per day for 10 weeks presented with jaundice, anorexia, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Liver enzymes and other liver function tests showed abnormally high values (ALT 1611 U L- AST 957 U L, alkaline phosphatase 265 U L, GOT 993 U L and bilirubin... 

Bloodroot is also used sometimes as a cure for cancer, e.g., in a substance called Compound-X, and likewise used is chaparral or creosote bush or greasewood, as it is variously called, and which will be detailed subsequently. At the least, a couple of other reported cancer cures hail from South America, namely, pau d arco and cundurango or condurango, the condor vine, to be further discussed. Still another is called cat s claw, or urn de goto, also to be discussed.)... 

The inclusion of fatty acids is a surprise, but maybe not for that called guaiaretic acid, nordihydro, better known as NDGA or nordihydroguaiaretic acid. It is an ingredient in chaparral or creosote bush, and was formerly used commercially as an oxidation inhibitor in various apphcations (note that oxidation inhibitors are viewed as beneficial for a number of purposes, including cancer suppression). 

Whereas beta-carotene brings to mind carrots, the word retinoid ordinarily indicates a resinlike substance. Resins generally are found in plants, for example, in chaparral or creosote bush. Here, however, it indicates a chemical derivative of retinol, more commonly called vitamin A, a prominent component of carrots. Carrots, not coincidentally, are a folkloric agent against cancer.)... 

On page 682 of Hartwell s book there is a citation for the species Larrea tridentata of the family Zygophyllaceae. This is the common creosote bush, or greasewood, or chaparral of the desertlike regions of the Southwest. It is reported in the praiul-timate column of Hartwell s compilation that a tea made from the leaves and stems of this plant may cure stomach cancer, hver cancer, leukemia, lung cancer, and kidney cancer. This information is buried in the central files of the National Cancer Institute. 

Walters (1993) devotes an entire chapter to chaparral and speaks of its amazing properties for curing cancers. He quotes a Pima Indian This plant cures everything. It is what nature gave us. (Its positive effect on arthritis is noted in Chapto 1.) Walters provides cases of a number of dramatic cures, and concludes with the comment that though this desert shrub remains on the American Cancer Society s Unproven Methods blacklist, it may outlive evrai the ACS s condemnation. 

Although the sale of Chaparral per se is banned, it evidently may still be used in herbal mixtures sold commercially, for example, Jason Winter s Herbal Tea, which contains chaparral, red clover, and an undisclosed root from a flower, and which is reported to cure or benefit cancer patients (Walters, 1993, pp. 139, 140). Red clover, incidentally, is an ingredient of the Hoxsey therapy. 

The University of Utah, previonsly cited, was involved in conducting stndies on Chaparral circa 1970, snpported by the National Cancer Institute. According to... 

Incidentally, the word is that further experimental work by Jonathan Hartwell and his associates showed that Chaparral did not act against cancers in mice, the standard test for efficacy of treatment. This kind of test, however, is not necessarily the last word. It is only one kind of screening procedure, whereas the actual world is more complicated, calling for clinical tests on humans instead. 

John Heinerman goes into considerable detail documenting the case of a Mesa, Arizona man, Ernest Farr, who cured himself of virulent melanoma skin cancer drinking Chaparral tea (Heinerman, 1989b, p. 94). This case is reported in several of the other books cited about alternative treatments for cancer, for example, by Walters (1993). Furthermore, there is at least anecdotal evidence circulating that melanoma has also been cured by using a bit of the tarry extract known as Com-pound-X on the cancer. The cancer literally comes out by the roots. (Milkweed, genus Asclepias, is known to remove external mmors such as warts.)... 

Of special motion is Ralph Moss s informative Herbs Against Cancer History and Controversy, which has chapt on diletmnas in other countries as well as the United States. It does not try to be all inclusive, not having a chapter on either laetrile or creosote birsh (chaparral), for irrstance, which may or may not be referred to as herbs. 

Also mentioned in the Heinerman reference is the use of an extract of St. Johns wort Hypericum perforatum) for hopeless cancer cases. Mention is made of several cases of cancer cured using Chaparral tea Larrea divaricata). 

Heinerman also reviews the work of Dr. Lee W. Wattenberg of the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis. Dr. Wattenberg provided evidraice that selenium-containing diets inhibited cancer in both hiunans and animals. Other inhibitors included creosote oil fractions (from chaparral), thymine (from thyme), and asparagine (from asparagus and other vegetables). 

Heinerman s penultimate chapter is titled Traditional and Clinical Therapies for the Treatment of Cancer. It is divided into sections on Vitamin-Mineral Therapy, Laetrile, Hoxsey Therapy, The Kelley Method, The Gerson Therapy, Essiac, Comfrey, and Chaparral. These subjects are also covraed in the several other books cited herein, such as WaltCTs (1993), Moss (1992), and Pelton and... 

A persistent mmor regarding cancer cures pertains to the previously mentioned Compoimd-X — supposedly a mysterious, secretive, and potent formulation originating with the Plains Indians, or maybe southwestern Indians, or even Canadian Indians. It is supposed to cure both external and internal cancers, but it seems no one wants to talk about it, what is in it, or how it works. Presumably it is a herbal mixture of unknown makeup, although Chaparral and bloodroot may be in it. A rumor is that a pharmaceutical company was once interested, and along these fines a certain toothpaste contains bloodroot (Sanguarine canadensis) as an anticavity agent. 

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