付２ NEJMへの投稿原稿
【New England Journal of Medicine への投稿原稿 2008年10月31日投稿】
Therapeutic Effect of Curcuma aromatica on Cancer and Diabetes
Yoshinari Matsui1, Tatsuaki Kasubuchi2
1Cooperative Research Center, Yamagata University, Yonezawa 992-8510, Japan
2 Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 997-8555, Japan
Background: The pharmacological actions of turmeric (Curcuma longa) and its principal constituent, curcumin, have been examined with regard to various diseases, including pancreatic cancer, multiple myeloma, Alzheimer's disease, and colorectal cancer; however, their efficacy has not been confirmed. Ground rhizomes of C. aromatica, whose constituents differ from those of C. longa, are said to have significant anti-cancer effects. We therefore investigated the rationale for recommending C. aromatica to patients in the final stages of cancer whose doctors had conceded defeat.
Methods: For a 60-kg adult, 15-50 g of fresh C. aromatica rhizomes or 3-10 g of dried powdered rhizomes were orally administered per day, in three to six divided doses.
Results: Curcuma aromatica showed a protective effective against cancer in 19 cases, which included cancers of the lung, liver, breast, esophagus, pancreas, prostate, kidney, uterus, and rectum. In addition, considerable protective effects against diabetes and other diseases were obtained.
Conclusions: Curcuma aromatica showed anticancer effect by enhancing human immune system. Moreover, our results indicate that an optimum dose of C. aromatica exists. Given that a number of infectious diseases were cured by treatment with C. aromatica, cancer and diabetes might be infectious diseases. The pathogens involved in these diseases may be viroids or viroid-like materials (i.e., naked RNA or DNA).
INTRODUCTION
The pharmacological effects of turmeric (Curcuma longa) and its principal constituent, curcumine, have been examined in pancreatic cancer, multiple myeloma, Alzheimer's disease, and colorectal cancer (1); however, their efficacy has not been confirmed. According to the legend on Okinawa Island in Japan, ground C. aromatica rhizome, whose chemical constituents are different from those of C. longa, is effective in ameliorating liver cancer. Upon learning of this legend in 1989, the first author decided to test the validity of this claim and to investigate the optimal dosage C. aromatica for treatment of his cancer-like symptoms. His symptoms thoroughly disappeared after 3 months.
Shortly thereafter, he began to recommend C. aromatica to patients around him. The patients were limited to those with whom he had direct contact, as he was not a physician but was an expert who had participated in developing a number of anti-cancer drugs.
Beginning in 2003, the second author became convinced that his kidney cancer had been cured by C. aromatica, and both authors began to investigate the underlying mechanism of the curative effect of C. aromatica on cancer and other diseases.
In this study, we investigated the efficacy of C. aromatica in the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Materials:
Wild turmeric (C. aromatica), known as “Haru-ukon” in Japanese, reproduces by vegetative propagation using rhizomes, and it flowers in spring (Fig. 1). It was introduced from India via marine trade route more than 1,000 years ago. Wild turmeric is not widely cultivated in its place of origin (i.e., India and neighboring countries); instead, its main site of cultivation is on Okinawa Island in Japan. The constituents of C. aromatica differ from those of turmeric (C. longa), although both species belong to the same genus. Notably, the curcuminoid content of C. aromatica is less than 10% of that in C. longa (2, 3), while the sesquiterpene content in C. aromatica is 1.5 times more than that in C. longa. The shoots of C. aromatica develop only in spring, and the rhizomes must be stored in a refrigerator or dried. Okinawan islanders consume fresh rhizomes as a ground preparation and dried rhizomes as a tea. The effectiveness of the fresh ground and dried powdered rhizomes are nearly identical, and most C. aromatica rhizomes are sold as a dried powder or tablet for dietary supplementation.
Methods:
For a 60-kg adult, 15-50 g of fresh C. aromatica rhizomes or 3-10 g of dried powdered rhizomes were orally administered per day, in three to five divided doses.
RESULTS
One of the authors learned in 1989 that the locals on Okinawa Island used ground C. aromatica rhizomes as a cure for liver cancer. At that time, he was suffering from symptoms of rectal cancer, including melena and acute rectal pain, and had no confidence in chemotherapy or operative treatment, based on his previous experience. Alternatively, he began to search for galenical therapies and began taking 30 g of ground fresh C. aromatica rhizomes every day. Surprisingly, he recovered fully within 3 months; however, suspecting that the cancer would recur, he continued taking the ground rhizomes. At about the same time, his acquaintance’s 85-year-old mother recovered from end-stage liver cancer following the consumption of fresh ground C. aromatica rhizomes.
Based on these incidents, he began recommending C. aromatica to patients with end-stage cancer who had been abandoned by their doctors. Following the ingestion of C. aromatica, the patients’ symptoms were dramatically improved in almost all cases. To date, the consumption of C. aromatica has been effective in 19 patients with cancers of the lung, liver, breast, esophagus, pancreas, prostate, kidney, uterus, and colorectum (Table 1). In addition, some patients with cancer also experienced considerable recovery from diabetes. Furthermore, patients with infectious diseases such as MRSA, herpes, melancholia, respiratory infection, pyorrhea, pemphigoid, Sjogren’s syndrome, and allergic rhinitis have reported recovery from their conditions.
On the basis of these results, we tested the effect of C. aromatica rhizomes in cancer patients with infectious diseases. The fresh and dried rhizomes were nearly equally effective, but the powder or tablet form of dried rhizomes is more convenient, as it makes ingestion of the correct amount easier and reduces the bitter taste of fresh rhizomes. Fresh rhizomes contain typically about 80% water by weight, and thus 10 g of fresh rhizomes correspond to 2 g of dried rhizomes. An extremely low (<1 g per day) or high dose (>15 g per day) of the powder produced an insufficient effect.
An important feature of the curative process is that continuous intake prevented recurrence of the disease. For example, in those patients with terminal lung or liver cancer who had recovered within 3-5 months, the cancer replapsed within 3-5 months after discontinuing of intake. In the case of diabetes, it took about 1-2 years for the disease to return after discontinuing of intake. In the case in which chemotherapy was used following successful treatment with C. aromatica, the patient ultimately died due to the immune system disorder.
Although the mechanism by which C. aromatica is able to cure these diseases is unknown, we found that not only cancer but also many other diseases, including diabetes, MRSA, herpes, melancholia, coughed-up sputum, bad breath, Sjogren’s syndrome, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, allergic eczema, asthma, hepatitis C, ademonia, empyema, herpes zoster, and glaucoma, were concurrently cured. The blood sugar and hemoglobin A1c (H-A1c) levels in patient No. 11 (Fig. 2) illustrate the effect of C. aromatica on diabetes.
These findings suggest that C. aromatica significantly enhances the immune system, leading to recovery from disease. The optimum dose of dried rhizome powder was 1 g per 10 kg of body weight, taken orally three to six times per day.
DISCUSSION
Curcuma aromatica appears to have significantly enhanced the immune system in the patients, leading to recovery. However, no specific drug has been shown to stimulate the immune system. Although the effective constituents of C. aromatica are currently unknown, we suggest that its effects were caused by a multi-site reaction involving multiple constituents. It is unclear whether curcumine is one of these constituents, because the curcuminoid content of C. aromatica is less than 10% of that in C. longa. The identification of the effective constituents will be addressed in a future study.
Based on our results, we also propose that cancer and diabetes are infectious diseases and that enhancement by C. aromatica enabled the immune system to recognize the pathogen (e.g., in cancer or diabetes) as a foreign body and to suppress it. However, these diseases have not been proven to be infectious, and no pathogens have been identified. If the pathogen were a microorganism or virus, it would likely have already been identified. Thus, these pathogens may be organotropic in nature. This is supported by the fact that cancer recurred in the same organs after remission and that diabetes returned after discontinuing of intake of C. aromatica.
We suspect that the pathogens have already been seen but have not been recognized as pathogens. These pathogens must have been treated as the misread, deleted, intercalated, and displaced genes in living organisms. We propose that these unknown pathogens are viroids or viroid-like substances, that is, naked RNA or DNA. Viroids were first identified as pathogens in plants in 1971 (4, 5, 6) and may also exist in animal cells, where they may cause the above-mentioned diseases and decreased immunity. The immune system is well suited to combat viroids and viroid-like substances because it can recognize minor differences in gene distribution and has the ability to deal with foreign substances. Therefore, because it enhances the immune system, C. aromatica may be one of the best agents for treating these types of diseases.
Additional testing in patients with end-stage cancers is needed to confirm the effects of oral treatment with C. aromatica. Moreover, the efficacy of C. aromatica should be tested in patients with other difficult-to-treat conditions, including HIV and Alzheimer's disease, which involve degradation of the immune system. The clarification of the pathogens involved in these conditions and their routes of infection will help establish eradicative treatments.
Our results offer a new perspective on medicine and the ability to treat or cure disease.
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3. Tonnesen, H.H., Karlsen, J., Grislingaas, A.-L., Balakrishnan, K.V.N., Ayyappan, P. & Verghese, J. Studies on curcumin and curcuminoids, XXI. Variation in the content of curcuminoids in Curcuma longa L., and Curcuma aromatic Salisb. From India during one season. Z Lebensm Unters Forsch 194, 570-572 (1992)
4. Agrios, G.N. Viroids. In “Plant Pathology” 5th ed. (Elsevier Academic Press, Amsterdam, 2005)
5. Diener, T.O. & Raymer, W.B. Potato spindle tuber virus: a plant virus with properties of a free nucleic acid. Science 50, 378-381 (1967)
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Acknowledgements:
We thank Drs. Nobuhiro Fusetani and Ryuhei Sasaki, and Hiromasa Nakachi and Yasuhiro Mochizuki for their assistance.
Author Contributions: Y.M. detected the phenomenon. Y.M. and T.K. promoted the project, discussed the results, analyzed its causes, and commented on the manuscript.
Correspondence:
Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to Y.M.
Figure Legend
Figure 1. Curcuma aromatica (A) A flower. The plant grows to about 1 m tall. (B) Rhizomes (one hill). (C) Cross-section of a rhizome (bright yellow).
Figure 2. The changes in blood sugar and HA1c after the treatment of dried powdered rhizomes of C. aromatic.
Table 1. Effects of the ingestion of dried Curcuma aromatica rhizomes
I An anti-cancer drug and the rhizome were used together.
II Ingestion of the rhizome was aborted.
Abbreviations: GIST: gastrointestinal stromal tumor, T: Terminal cancer, A: Diabetes, B: High blood pressure, C: Ademonia, D: Periodontal abscess, E: Bullous pemphigoid, F: Common cold, G: Herpes, H: Flu, I: Hepatitis C, J: Depression.
Table 1
Figure 1
(A)
(B)
(C)
Figure 2
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【NEJMによる掲載不可の通知】
Subject: New England Journal of Medicine 08-09155
Dear Prof. Matsui,
I am sorry to inform you that your submission,"Therapeutic Effect of Curcuma Aromatica on Cancer and Diabetes," has not been accepted for publication in the Journal. It was evaluated by members of our editorial staff. After considering its focus, content, and interest, it was our editorial decision not to consider your submission further. We are informing you of this promptly so that you can submit it elsewhere. Thank you for the opportunity to consider your submission.
Sincerely yours,
Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D.
Editor-in-Chief, New England Journal of Medicine
Distinguished Parker B. Francis Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical
School
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