Garlic and prostate cancer

A team of research scientists at New York’s Cornell University have determined that garlic may effectively kill off human prostate cancer cells.

Prostate cancer is a deadly disease that affects many older men. The prostate is a small organ (about the size of a walnut) that is wrapped around the uretha where it plays an important role in the reproductive system.

Prostate cancer strikes many older men prompting doctors to check for it early and often if their patients report any early symptoms such as trouble urinating or pain while urinating. Prostate cancer can be deadly and treatment usually involve intense radiation and chemotherapy and may even involve surgery.

The best way to battle this disease is to take preventative step in getting it in the first place. The earlier you detect it the better the chances are of finding a affective treatment for it. Getting regular checkups and eating a prostate healthy diet are key steps in stopping the prostate cancer death.

One thing that scientists found to include in your prostate friendly diet is garlic. Certain studies have indicated that this powerful l herb is not only fit to fight bacteria, fungi and viruses, but also capable of killing off cancer cells.

In one study conducted at the Memorial Sloan Cancer Center, human prostate cancer cells were cultured over a 24 hour period then exposed some of the petri dishes to a saline solution that contained 50 ppm of one of the two  garlic components: S-Allycysteine or S-allymercaptocysteine. Both of these sulfur based components are found in aged garlic. The second component displayed the ability to cut the number of cancer cells down by half within 6 to 8 days. This powerful garlic component even displayed an inhibitory effect on the cancer cells for several more days even after it was rinsed away. The other aged garlic component: S-Allycysteine also showed potential prostate cancer cell killing power, but was nowhere near as effective as A-Allymercaptocyseine.

Researchers believe that the compounds ability to generate the antioxidant gluthione is an important factor  in the findings. Glutathione is believed to  take away certain protiend that the prostate cancer cells need in order to proliferate. It should be noted that while only aged garlic components were studied (the research was partially funded by a Aged Garlic Supplement company) the powerful antioxidant Glutathione can also be made from selenium which is found in abundance in all forms of garlic.