From The December 2000 Issue of Nutrition Science News

NIH Studies Botanicals, Cancer Treatments

Washington—Recently awarded government grants will accelerate research on herbal remedies as well as nonconventional cancer therapies, two new areas of focus for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a component of the National Institutes of Health, based here.

On the botanical front, two new research centers are being funded with $1.5 million each per year for five years. One, at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., will study the health effects of polyphenols—a diverse group of chemical components widely distributed in plants. Researchers will study antioxidant activities and other mechanisms of action for these plant parts as they relate to heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and cognitive decline.

A second center, at the University of Arizona, Tucson, will host studies on the anti-inflammatory action of ginger, turmeric and boswellia. The three botanicals are widely used in Ayurvedic medicine, the 5,000-year-old medical tradition of India.

"These centers will critically evaluate various botanicals presently in use and provide valid information to aid the American public in making informed decisions," says Stephen Straus, M.D., NCCAM director.

On Oct. 5 NCCAM announced it would fund five additional research proposals, all dealing with alternative and complementary means of fighting cancer.

Two studies will evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of certain herbs and dietary supplements. Another will evaluate the safety and efficacy of PC-SPES, a mixture of eight Chinese herbs that recently published studies show reduce signs of tumor growth in men with prostate cancer. A fourth project examines how prayer affects African-American women with breast cancer, specifically in regard to immune and neuroendocrine function and cancer recurrence. The fifth will examine hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a pure oxygen treatment, for addressing head and neck tumors.