Posted on 09/01/2010 8:52:09 PM PDT by canuck_conservative
.... Metformin was originally designed for diabetics who overproduce insulin. It works by preventing the liver from breaking down starch into sugar while also stimulating uptake of sugar by the body's muscles, causing blood sugar and insulin levels to fall.
But when a number of studies noticed that diabetic patients taking metformin also had a significantly lower cancer rate, scientists began investigating its cancer-fighting properties.
Dr. Michael Pollak, a professor of oncology at McGill University, said the findings that metformin might be a cancer fighter are "one of the most unexpected and innovative findings" he's seen in years.
"Here we have an old molecule, an old drug, a safe drug that may have an unexpected use in cancer prevention and cancer treatment. The findings represent an unexpected and exciting lead," he said.
These are not the first studies to note metformin's ability to fight cancer.
A study released last year found that combining metformin with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin reduced breast cancer tumours faster than doxorubicin alone, when tested on mice. The drug combo also prolonged remission in the mice longer than chemotherapy alone.
Dr. Pamela Goodwin, a medical oncologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto has three studies underway investigating if metformin can slow or prevent breast cancer in 3,500 women.
She notes that it's been tough getting funding for her studies because metformin is "an orphan drug," a generic drug not backed by any pharmaceutical company. And with no patent, there is no financial incentive for drug companies to fund research.
"We first proposed this five years ago," she told CTV News. "It took us five years of multiple presentations and requests for funding to cobble together funding."
She notes that metformin is a generally safe medication with a long history....
(Excerpt) Read more at ctv.ca ...
Fix a diabetes problem, and you fix a lot of cancer initiators as well.
Mind kills it. Best placebo of all.
If so, you’d expect to see a lot of miracle cures from hypnotists. Typically tests on treatments like this are carried out “double blind,” which means neither the patients nor the doctors know who gets the treatment and who gets the placebo.
You know your body. Are you arguing with me?
Argue schmargue, you are largely if not totally wrong.
I agree with you. It is all in the mind.
What part?.
Expanding on your hygiene point, don’t forget that industrialization gave us water treatment plants and sewers. Those two innovations have probably saved more lives than medicine.
I thought laughter was the best medicine. Has there been a study on the health of people who laugh all the time? :)
The part between your funny ears.
Bump and a handshake sir.
Yes, but the cure rates of cancer are greatly offset by the number of people who choke to death on chewing gum.
“Fix a diabetes problem, and you fix a lot of cancer initiators as well.”
I’m guessing that you’re right about this. I don’t think the metformin itself is directly reducing the cancer, but that its effect in lowering insulin levels is having the effect, because (I think) excessive insulin levels are somewhat carcinogenic. Because metformin increases cellular sensitivity to insulin, less insulin is released by the body to achieve blood sugar regulation. This is just speculation on my part, I’m not a doctor.
ObamaCare will ensure there will be little, if any, research or cures.
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