Natural Cell Health with
Zyflamend
By Melissa Lynn Block – Healthy Living
Article
A lot of exciting research is underway
at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. The
research of Robert A. Newman, Ph.D., is especially intriguing to
anyone interested in herbal chemoprevention-the use of select herbs
and nutrients to prevent the growth of cancer.
Dr. Newman holds a contract with the
National Cancer Institute to perform assays, determine any toxicity,
and assess the pharmacokinetics (the absorption, distribution through
the body, and elimination from the body) of substances with promise as
cancer drugs. This is a necessary step for getting an investigational
drug application approved, which in turn is a necessary part of
mounting a phase I clinical trial—a trial where a small number of
human subjects are used in early testing of a new drug.
When those strengths are substantial
and worth further investigation, the medical mainstream and the media
tend to stand up and take note. This is what has been happening with a
specific combination of herbs called Zyflamend (from New Chapter,
Brattleboro, Vermont).
 Zyflamend
is, according to alternative physician and co-founder of the
Alternative Medicine Integration Group Richard L. Sarnat, M.D., the
best-selling general herbal formulation in the natural products
industry.
Why? First of all, Zyflamend is
a unique herbal formulation designed to promote healthy inflammation
levels—a factor now recognized as an important element in the health
of virtually every body system, including the cardiovascular, nervous,
respiratory, skeletal, and metabolic systems. Unlike most drugs
prescribed for this purpose, Zyflamend causes no harm to the
gastrointestinal system.
Who stands to benefit? Anyone
who is at risk for excess inflammation and the conditions for which
that inflammation can predispose you. Basically, this amounts to…every
adult in the modern world. Because of the processed foods we consume,
the amount of stress we endure, and the general imbalance of “good” to
“bad” fats in the diet (more on this in a bit), virtually every person
is at risk of excess inflammation. As we move into the later years of
life, our bodies naturally ramp up the inflammation, which suggests
that older people can benefit even more from a general blanket of
protection from unhealthy inflammation.
There are two kinds of inflammation:
acute and Chronic. Acute inflammation is the kind that happens
when you get a splinter, injure a joint, or catch a nasty flu. Your
body recognizes something as foreign and possibly dangerous; it sends
out an army of immune cells and fluids that collect in the area of
infection or injury, causing swelling, redness, pain, and (possibly)
loss of function. It’s an aggressive approach designed to rid the body
of the invader as quickly as possible and to enable the tissue to
heal. Chronic inflammation is a slow-burning version that’s
related to acute inflammation; in fact, it can result from
incompletely resolved acute inflammation, but it involves different
kinds of immune cells and sometimes lingers on for years, even
decades. Allergies, asthma, eczema, psoriasis, and autoimmune diseases
(like Crohn’s disease, lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis) are believed to
be linked to chronic inflammation, as is heart disease. Even the
growth of some cancers has been associated with inflammation, and
treatments designed to reduce inflammation may help slow the growth of
such cancers.
Levels of biochemicals called
eicosanoids play a significant role in chronic inflammation.
Enzyme families—the cyclooxygenase, or COX enzymes, and the
lipoxygenase, or LO enzymes—do the job of transforming the “bad”
omega-6 fats in your diet into inflammatory eicosanoids.
Pro-inflammatory eicosanoids fuel the fires of inflammation, which
suggests that we can reduce their levels through diet (by reducing
intake of omega-6 fats, and by eating more
“good” omega-3s, which are made only into anti-inflammatory
eicosanoids in the body) and with compounds that inhibit specific COX
and LO enzymes.
A combination of herbs (processed using
New Chapter’s breakthrough supercritical technology, which uses a
dense form of carbon dioxide to extract and concentrate herbal
constituents by about 300-fold) is packed into each Zyflamend capsule.
These herbs were carefully selected according to current research into
the effect of plant extracts on markers of inflammation.
Because excess oxidation, or the
production of free radicals without adequate antioxidants to
neutralize them, usually goes hand-in-hand with the genesis and ill
effects of inflammation, both factors should be addressed by any
general inflammation support therapy, and Zyflamend’s components fit
this description.
Combined as Zyflamend, these herbs have
been found to regulate cancer cell proliferation, reduce cancer
spread, and promote apoptosis. Test-tube studies performed at the M.D.
Anderson Cancer Center find that Zyflamend reduces the activity of
pro-inflammatory LO enzymes in prostate cancer cell lines. (Prostate
cancer cells have been found to over-express these same enzymes, and
the activity of these enzymes is strongly linked to faster growth and
spread of prostate cancer.) Researchers have also found similar
anti-LO activity when prostate cancer cells are exposed to Zyflamend,
and see far-reaching implications for prostate cancer prevention with
this herbal combination.
While it’s nice to know that all of
these herbs potently inhibit inflammation in vitro (test-tube studies)
and in studies of animals, the main thing we need to know as humans
with health concerns is: When we swallow this herbal combination, will
it promote our health? Will it help us feel better and live longer,
and will it protect against the conditions we most dread? To answer
these questions, we need solid results from clinical research studies,
where actual living, breathing human beings use the supplement and
actual living, breathing, advanced-degree-holding scientists track
their progress and write it up in the form of a published,
peer-reviewed research study. This is what’s happening with Zyflamend,
particularly in the area of prostate cancer research:
-
 In
a case report written up by Aaron Katz, M.D.—Columbia University
urologist and world-renowned urologic surgeon—a patient who went
through the research center’s Phase I Zyflamend trial is described.
The study builds on Dr. Katz’s extensive laboratory research
demonstrating that Zyflamend slows growth of prostate cancer cell
lines and may reverse a pre-cancerous prostate condition called
prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN). In this case report, a
70-year-old African-American man had been diagnosed with high-grade
PIN and had entered a study at Columbia that involved taking this
herbal anti-inflammatory mixture three times a day. At the end of
the trial, no PIN was detected; the patient’s follow-up biopsy
revealed only healthy prostate tissue.
-
In a more recent analysis of the
subjects in this study, prostate specific antigen (PSA, a marker of
prostate cancer cell growth) decreased in 13 of the 26 men (age 40
to 75 years) enrolled, a far higher percentage than would be
expected without intervention. Twelve of those men saw their PSAs
decrease by more than 10 percent, and seven of them had a decrease
of over 50 percent. Of one 66-year-old patient, Dr. Katz remarked
that “he was weakly staining for COX- 2 at the beginning of the
trial, and at 18 months, he was cyclooxygenase-negative…he was
positive for NF-kB, a molecular switch for cancer, at the beginning
of the trial, and negative for NF-kB at the end.” In other words, at
least two markers of high levels of dangerous inflammation were
reduced. This particular patient started out with multiple areas of
PIN, and by the end of the study, he had none. Dr. Katz categorized
these early results as “extremely positive.”
Women stand to benefit from this
synergistic combination of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant herbal
extracts as well. Anything that safely promotes healthy inflammation
levels, without sending the body into imbalance as many
anti-inflammatory drugs may, can be expected to protect joint, brain,
breast, and cardiovascular health—body systems that are known to be
adversely affected by excess inflammation. Much scientific evidence
points to a role of over-expression of COX, LO, and inflammatory
cytokines in heart disease and ovarian and colon cancer, all of which
are very real concerns for women. Some experimental evidence of breast
cancer cell inhibition is also established for Zyflamend.
Although the medical world is raving
about this product, it is only now poised to enter the mainstream and
be used in a complementary fashion by full-fledged medical doctors.
Dr. Newman of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center said: “It is our belief
that a combination of plant-based products obtained through a unique
extraction process may provide a product where multiple components
interact synergistically at relatively low doses. We think that this
is a strategy for control of inflammation that may be more appropriate
and perhaps even safer compared to the single, targeted high-dose
pharmaceutical agent."
Many of the herbs in Zyflamend affect
eicosanoids as well as other body chemicals that mediate inflammation.
They include:
This bright yellow-orange spice from
the root of Curcuma longa has made health headlines for years due to
worldwide research into its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and
cancer-fighting compound curcumin. Study after study reveals that
it’s a potent immunomodulator that positively affects transcription
factors, cell cycle proteins, kinases, and cytokines—all of which
affect inflammation and cancer risk.
A relative of turmeric, this pungent
herb has documented pain-killing and anti-inflammatory effects. It
has been found to help promote healthy blood sugar levels, which
would further reduce the body’s inflammatory load (hyperglycemia
creates a lot of free radicals and inflammation). Animal research
shows that ginger extract reduces levels of the eicosanoids
prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and thromboxane, both big accelerators of
inflammation.
The catechins in green tea (notably,
epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG) reduce biochemical markers of
heart disease and reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
cholesterol. EGCG has enormous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
power, as demonstrated in animal, test-tube, and human studies.
Holy basil has demonstrated
significant anti-inflammatory effects in studies. It inhibits the
formation of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids made from arachidonic acid
by the action of COX and LO enzymes.
Another culinary herb that packs
plenty of antioxidant activity. At least 31 antioxidant phenolic
acids and flavonoids have been identified in oregano.
This fragrant culinary herb, when
supercritically extracted (as New Chapter does to craft Zyflamend
and its other herbal supplements), has potent anti-inflammatory and
anti-tumor activity.
In this combination of two plant
extracts lies a rich store of a phytochemical called berberine.
Berberine is a natural anti-inflammatory that reduces PGE2. Most
recently, studies have found that berberine induces apoptosis, or
cell death, in human colon cancer cell lines. A direct link between
colon cancer and chronic inflammation has been accepted in medicine
for years now; drugs that inhibit the COX-2 enzyme have been
extensively studied as colon cancer chemo preventives.
This herb (actually, a weed) happens
to be the world’s richest source of resveratrol, the phytochemical
also found in red wine that has generated huge buzz for its disease-
preventive actions in the body. A large body of research supports
the role of resveratrol in resisting cancer, inflammation, and heart
disease. These actions are attributed to resveratrol’s antioxidant
and anti-inflammatory proper ties, which appear to have something to
do with its effect on cytokines, immune mediators of inflammation.
This traditional Chinese medicinal
herb is rich in a compound called baicalin, which has been tested
for activity against pro-inflammatory COX and LO enzymes. Baicalin
is a strong dual inhibitor of these enzymes.
More product information on Zyflamend
products by New Chapter can be found by clicking on the following web
links:
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