|
A PROMISING CANCER TREATMENT?
Although
not widely realized other than by medical scientists, vitamin D is both a
vitamin and a hormone. One of its properties is to regulate the amount of
calcium in the blood. It also promotes the development of new cells, and
the normal process of cell death which is followed by new cell creation.
Tumor cells, meanwhile, do not develop
into specified activities within the body* nor do they undergo the normal
death and new life process of cells**.
IMAGINE
CANCER CELLS TURNING INTO "NORMAL" CELLS! Like other normal cells, they
would have a specified life term whereas as tumor cells they are immortal.
Vitamin D can do that! Oh--but there is a problem. The amount of vitamin D
to be used as treatment would be toxic. It has now been found (reported in
the Journal of Nutrition) that a low toxicity drug, ibandronate, reduces
the potential for harm of excessive vitamin D. Ibandronate is a newer drug
used for osteoporosis, and one with minor side effects.
The
scientists reporting the effect of ibandronate on vitamin D toxicity were
Drs. Paul A. Price, Jessica R. Buckley and Matthew K. Williamson, Div. of
Biology, U. of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0368.
*Called
differentiation.
**Programmed cell death.
back
to Cancer index

TOP OF PAGE
SEARCH BY SUBJECT -
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THIS MONTH'S HEALTH
BULLETIN NEWS

If you
find Health Bulletin
interesting,
please click here to "Tell a Friend"


click here |