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| particularly of the gastrointestinal tract and lungs. It's great for coughs, both bronchial and dry. |
| Mistletoe (Viscum album) |
| Popular throughout Europe, mistletoe is one of the most widely used plants for hypertension and in the treatment of cancer. It is the main therapy used to treat cancer by anthroposophical physicians. Iscador, a fermented extract of Viscum album, reduces the leukocytopenia produced by radiation and chemotherapy. Mistletoe is tumor-inhibiting and cytotoxic to a number of different tumor types. It also increases natural killer-cells. Viscum's cytotoxic components include viscumin and viscotoxins. Viscumin is a lectin component that causes agglutination of tumor cells. Mistletoe also contains polysaccharides, which stimulate nonspecific immune function, and polypeptides, which have a cytotoxic action on rumor cells only. |
| Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) |
| Vincas, a group of natural alkaloids that possess antineoplastic activity against many cancers, are present in minute quantities in the periwinkle plant. It takes about 500 kilograms of the plant to make a single gram of the alkaloid. The vinca alkaloids include the anticancer agents vincristine and vinblastine. They exert their cytotoxic effects by binding to a specific site on tubulin and preventing polymerization of tubulin dimers, disrupting the formation of micro-tubules, which eventually disappear with continued use. The primary cytotoxic effect of vinca alkaloids is their ability to stop cellular division. The cytotoxic mechanism of the vinca alkaloids is the same as many other plant alkaloids such as colchicine, podophyllotoxin, and taxol. Periwinkle was used traditionally for treatment of diabetes and high blood pressure as well as cancerous tumors. |
| Isatis (Rodix isatidis) |
| Isatis is a commonly used herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is classified as bitter and cooling and is used primarily to remove infections that produce excess heat. This includes viral, bacterial, and fungal type infections. It is |
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