Fake News and Alternative Medicine
To be patentable, an invention has to be new. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies invest heavily in order to create new-to-nature molecules they can successfully patent, and once the resulting monopoly has been secured, turn it into lucrative medicine. Natural substances are not new, therefore they are not supposed to be patentable.
That is why there is very little money and interest from the pharmaceutical companies in natural compounds. This has nothing to do with the effectiveness of natural compounds. Overall, it is only fair to say that some natural compounds are effective and some are not. If there is evidence that some product or treatment shows promise, one would think that it would be embraced by mainstream science as a way to deal with ever-increasing health care costs and long waits at the hospital for conventional treatment. But think again: Cancer is a multi-billion dollar business per year, and with that much money involved, it is no surprise that pharmaceutical companies are going to protect their brand at all costs by relabeling everything natural as quackery. “Desperately ill patients clinging to false hope may refuse surgery or give up their medicine and die” warns the pharmaceutical industry. However, blanket rejection of every natural treatment only screams conflict of interest. And for those who have been told their condition is terminal, alternative medicine with quality products may offer precious hope they thought was lost, and more.
As David Steinman put it: “By considering complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies that have been proven in the laboratory and in clinical trials, to offer benefits to cancer patients with no toxicity, clinicians are able to offer more options to their patients and improve their overall care.”1
Beware of substances only backed by unverified testimonials. Look instead for compounds where the mechanisms of actions have been studied and published in reputable scientific journals (for example, Columbia University’s experiments show that Pao pereira induces apoptosis, where-as Rauwolfia vomitoria induces cell-cycle arrest. Those are two well-documented ways to effectively kill cancer cells). When you find a study, download it and check to see if the name of the company selling the product is disclosed as the source of the compound which has been tested: more that often, cheap companies “borrow” the science made by serious companies and present the results as if they have been obtained with their own product. There are currently five or six companies listing the studies done at Columbia University and Kansas University Medical Center as if they have been conducted with their own compounds. And when tested, it appears that their compounds do not have much to offer compared to the one that was used by the universities. Sometimes it is not even the same herb!
REFERENCE
1- Steinman D. Two powerful unique herbs, Rauwolfia & Pao, protect prostate cell DNA and promote all facets of prostate health. Doctor’s Prescription for Healthy Living. 2008; 11(12): 18-20