Artemesinin

[Guest bbypookins]

I was surprised when I did a search and found no posts including Artemesinin. My mother has been encouraged by her cousin to try this and I wanted to see if anyone on here had experience with it.

We find out on Tuesday the results of her latest CT. The onc had told her this is last form of treatment they can do. After that, I guess we're on our own. So, of course we're looking into alternative medicine.

Here's the website our cousin directed us to regarding Artemesinin:

http://www.keepblairalive.com/arte.html

Any other suggestions on what she can try?

Thanks-

Kim

[teresag]

Well, I'm not the first to say this here, but have you gotten 2nd and 3rd opinions? If the original onc is out of ideas, a new one might have some.

I don't discourage the use of herbals, but I do take them with a large lump of salt, since there is rarely much information about how they perform other than anecdotal reports.

I see Univ. of Wash. is working on it; or at least they were in 2001, when the press release happened. The investigators are Research Professor Henry Lai and assistant research Professor Narendra Singh - you might get in tough w/ them and see if they have any updated results. Don't be afraid to contact scientists; they LOVE knowing that people are interested in their work, (believe me, I know...) and most of them can talk about their work on a layperson's level.

I think it's interesting that the plant Artemesinin is derived from is named for the Greek goddess of the hunt; counterpart of the Roman Diana. Appears it "hunts down" cancer cells and leaves normal cells undisturbed. Sounds like it has potential.

(BTW, when I saw your avatar, I thought "Oregon coast" - aren't the dunes lovely?) Best wishes to you and your Mom. - Teresa

[Debi]

Kim,

I thought I remembered Cary talking about this on here...and it is something that I am planning on doing myself, just because. Thought you might appreciate more info on it..

http://www.lchelp.com/community/viewtop ... highlight=

[Alisa]

I'm on Artesminim. I found a lot of articles when I did a google search. Try "wormwood". It's a common name for it. wormwood+cancer

[Surveyor]

After reviewing the above posts, I’ve researched Artimisinin. I asked my oncologist today if he had a problem with it and he did not. I’m currently in an “observation” stage of my treatment and do not want to sit by and do nothing. I’ve decided to try the following program for awhile and would appreciate any suggestions or comments:

• First night – take iron supplement pill

• Each morning and evening (on an empty stomach) thereafter for 1 week – take capsule containing 50mg. of Artesunate, 40 mg. of Artmether, and Artemisinin 50 mg. (Pharmaceutical grade). This will be taken with cod liver oil (maybe a little milk and cottage cheese). Twice a day because Artemisinin is metabolized in a few hours.)

• During this week cut back on antioxidants.

• Wait two weeks for “washout of absorption resistance” and start over.

The thrust of the artemisinin argument is that cancer cells have a much higher iron concentration. I’ve been anemic since diagnosis. My blood chemistry is out of whack and I’m subject to blood clots. My thought is that my cancer probably has a high iron concentration. I’ve read that cancer cell surfaces feature greater concentrations of transferring receptors – cellular pathways that allow iron into a cell.

The first day we’ll pump up the cancer’s iron supply. Then we’ll hit it with the artemisinin.

I’ll have another CT scan or PET scan in a couple of months and post the results.

[Alisa]

I don't understand why you would pump up the cancer's iron supply? I think I read somewhere that certain vitamin B's and iron and bad for lung cancer patients? I can't remember exactly what I read and I plan to ask my herbologist at my next appointment. So could you please explain your rationale in taking iron? Thanks.

[Surveyor]

Hi Alisa,

You are right about cancer & iron. (Although, my primary physician suggested iron sulfate pills to help my anemia early in my fight and my oncologist said nothing about it!) I only discontinued it when I read something about it, perhaps on this site. You mentioned vitamin B’s as also being bad for cancer patients – my primary physician had me on B-50 too for awhile, but I discontinued it on my own. However, I’ve never heard that about certain B vitamins. Could you please elaborate on this? I wonder which B vitamins and why.

In my research into artemisinin, one of the suggestions was 100 mg. of ferrous sulfate to pump the cancer up so the artemisinin will really go after it. I appreciate your question. . . I’m new at this and if your reasoning or something you heard is different, I would like to hear your thoughts. My plan is really flexible. Like all of us, I want to get this right the first time. After posting the above last night, I spent quite a bit of time trying to order the Artesunate, Artmether and Artemisinin combination. I ended up ordering just a good grade of Artemisinin – the salesman convinced me that Artesunate and Artmether are so short lived in the body that they do little good. Was this a mistake?

[Alisa]

Most doctors/oncs don't look into the connection between vitamins and supplements and cancer, so an onc wouldn't necessarily be concerned with a lung cancer patient taking Vitamin B or any other vitamins (except during chemo or radiation treatment).

Now, I can't remember where I read about certain B vitamins and lung cancer being negative. I did print it out and showed it to my specialist and he said, "Yes, I agree and that's why I never put that in my protocol for you." I think it might have been PubMed or a like type journal. I know others on another list I am on say that they think or read that B vitamins and folate are good for lung cancer patients. I am going to try to remember to discuss this with my herbologist when I see him next. I have so many questions that I don't know what I am going to cover this next visit.

I forget how many mg. of artemisin I take, but I take 2 capsules twice a day, per my specialist's instructions, along with many other supplements, vitamins and mushrooms.

[Alisa]

I forgot to answer your question about Artesunate and Artmether. I never heard of them, so I can't answer about the combination with them and artemisinin. They sound so similar though that I am assuming it's a similar type of wormwood.

Also, I never heard of "pumping up" cancer to attack it. I'd be nervous about that. I never thought cancer needed to be pumped up to attack it. If it's there, it's there. Did you think of this on your own, or was "pumping up" recommended to you?

Do you live near NYC? If so, I can recommend my herbologist/specialist to you.

[Surveyor]

Hi Alisa,

Unfortunately, I’m on the West Coast (been hanging out in Calif. & Oregon most of my life). I’ll be looking more into herbs and would appreciate any comments & thoughts you have.

http://www.westayhealthy.com/alt.html says a little about artesunate & artemether

http://www.arrowheadhealthworks.com/artemis.htm says a little bit about taking iron

The B vitamin thing. . . on page 5 of this site there is a lot of information under the post “Long and numerous articles.” Under the category of cancer and supplements: http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-153.shtml at the bottom under abstracts, clicks will get you to an article on “Human research on Cancer and Dietary Supplements” where the following was said:

1. A study was conducted on non-small cell lung cancer patients over age 60 that had already had the primary tumor(s) surgically removed. The prognosis for this type of cancer is grim. The doctors compared vitamin users to nonusers and measured blood folate as an indicator of folic acid intake. The median survival for the nonusers was only 11 months compared to an astounding 41 months for the vitamin users. Supplement users, in other words, survived almost four times longer than nonusers. In those patients with higher blood levels of folate, there was a 68% improvement in survival. Because the doctors adjusted for other mortality factors, the findings of this study suggest that cancer patients should take vitamin supplements (Jatoi et al. 1998).

2. A more specific study looked at a group of transitional cell bladder cancer patients. One group was given BCG (tuberculosis vaccine) immune-augmentation therapy plus the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamins. The second BCG-treated group received the RDA plus 40,000 IU of vitamin A, 2000 mg of vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, 100 mg of vitamin B6, and 90 mg of zinc. After 5 years, the tumor recurrence rates were 91% in the group receiving the low-potency RDA vitamins, but only 41% in the mega dose vitamin group. In this study, large doses of vitamins resulted in a 55% reduction in tumor recurrence (Lamm et al. 1994).

The above looked interesting to me. However, I’ve heard that you need to be careful of large doses of vitamin A. Something about it accumulates in your liver or somewhere. At least vitamin B-6 might be worth considering!

[Surveyor]

I’m on my fourth day of taking 200 mg. or artemisinin in the morning and evening. My wife decided she would take the same dose – she thought it might get rid of any parasites. We both have muscle aches, lower back pain, queasy stomach and a general lackadaisical feeling. I honestly feel like I’m back on chemotherapy. I’m going to complete the five days, but will be very glad when it is over!

Anyone else have similar results?

[Alisa]

No, I've been taking it for at least one year and never had a problem. Could it be something else?

[Summer]

Hi. My partner is also considering taking Artemisinin. We've had the good fortune to find a Pharm. D. doctor employed in our traditional HMO who is a connection to the holistic world for us. He has a wealth of info on complementary medicine and is an advocate for holistic therapies in tandem with conventional medicine. In his opinion - unless the patient's biopsied tumor stains for iron, Artemisinin may not work. Apparently some cancers show high concentrations of iron, others not. So we're waiting on the result of the stain test to see if we'll proceed.

We are also considering taking an antiangiogenesis drug, Tetrathiomolybdate , that induces a mild copper deficiency, starving the tumor. We saw promising reports of a study conducted at the University of Michigan.