20101027

GRAVIOLA "GUYABANO, GUANABANA" LEAF





The tree grows in Peru, Colombia, and Brazil, as well as countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia with similarly temperate climates. In all of these countries, the fruit is eaten widely; it is often put in shakes, fruit salads, fruit drinks and sherbets.  Graviola is also known as (Annona muricata), also known as soursop, cherimoya, guyababana, guyabano.

Research has indicated, albeit in vitro, that several of the active ingredients (Annonaceous acetogenins) kill malignant cells of 12 different types of cancer including breast, ovarian, colon, prostate, liver, lung, pancreatic and lymphoma.

Originally listed by the National Cancer Institute in the USA in 1976, it was not until 1995 that work gained any momentum. In 1976, as Richard D. McCarthy, MD, reports on the encyclopedic cancer website U.S. Cancer Centers: Cancer Center Information and Research, "The NCI or the National Cancer Institute did some research on the guanabana cancer cure [sic] and came up with some interesting results.

The study . . . showed that the leaves and stems of the plant were incredibly efficient at destroying certain cancerous cells in the body." The results [of the NCI research] were published in an internal report and never released to the public. Since 1976, guanabana has proven to be an immensely potent cancer killer in 20 independent laboratory tests, but as of now, no double-blind clinical trials.

A study published in the Journal of Natural Products, following a recent study conducted at Catholic University of South Korea, stated that one chemical in guanabana was found to selectively kill colon cancer cells at '10,000 times the potency of (the commonly used chemotherapy drug) Adriamycin. '... The most significant part of the Catholic University of South Korea report is that guanabana was shown to selectively target the cancer cells, leaving healthy cells untouched."

Unlike Adriamycin, there was no negative activity on healthy cells; whilst a fourth study from Purdue (1997) stated that many cancer cells which survive classic chemotherapy by developing resistance to chemicals, were attacked none-the-less by the Graviola agents. Dr Jerry McLaughlin, Purdues lead researcher says that many cancer cells, over time, develop a P-glycoprotein pump to expel the chemotherapy agent before it can work. However Annona chemicals bypass this and kill the cancer cell. Dr McLaughlin has a number of videos published on the web about his findings.

Ralph Moss, a respected cancer writer who has been critical of mainstream oncology, comments that "astounding claims concerning cancer cures spread like a virus from Web site to Web site." However, Moss admits that graviola is "of potential importance to the future of medicine". Its increasing popularity indicates that some individuals are not content to wait for the blessing of the scientific establishment.