Extract of bitter melon, a popular nutritional supplement made from a vegetable common in China, India, and South America may protect women from breast cancer. A study at Saint Louis University found that the extract kills breast cancer cells and prevents them from multiplying.
Ratna Ray, Ph.D., professor in the department of pathology at Saint Louis University and lead researcher decided to study bitter melon's impact on cancer cells because other research had shown it lowers cholesterol and blood sugar. It has long been used to treat diabetes in China and India.
In the study, Ray treated human breast cancer cells with bitter melon. The extract killed breast cancer cells but left healthy cells intact.
“To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the effect of bitter melon extract on cancer cells,” Ray said in a statement. “Our result was encouraging. We have shown that bitter melon extract significantly induced death in breast cancer cells and decreased their growth and spread.
“There have been significant advances in breast cancer treatment, which have improved patient survival and quality of life," Ray said. "However women continue to die of the disease and new treatment strategies are essential.
“Cancer prevention by the use of naturally occurring dietary substances is considered a practical approach to reduce the ever-increasing incidence of cancer. Studying a high-risk breast cancer population where bitter melon is taken as a dietary product will be an important area of future research,” Ray said.
But Ray doesn't see bitter melon extract as a miracle cure for breast cancer. “Bitter melon is common in China and India, and women there still get breast cancer,” she said. "I don't believe that it will cure cancer," she told HealthDay News. "It will probably delay or perhaps have some prevention."
According to Health.com, you can cut your risk of developing breast cancer by following these five steps:
• Limit your alcohol intake to two or three drinks a week.
• Exercise at least three times a week.
• Maintain a healthy body weight.
• Do a self-exam every month.
• Have a yearly mammogram after the age of 40.
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