Nigella Sativa cures cancer

NIGELLA SATIVA – History and Folklore

Nigella Sativa is an annual flowering plant belonging to the family of Ranunculaceae. It is native to the South and Southeast Asia. Some of the common names of Nigella Sativa seed are Black Caraway, Black Seed, Black Cumin, Fennel-flower, Roman Coriander in English, నలుపు జీలకర్ర, నల్ల విత్తనాలు in Telugu, and Kalonji in Hindi.

NIGELLA SATIVA FLOWER

The seed Nigella is used as a condiment in Indian and Middle Eastern Cuisines. Black Seed and Black Sesame are identical in appearance but differ in their taste. Black seeds have pungent, bitter taste and smell.

NIGELLA SATIVA SEEDS / KALONJI / BLACK SEEDS

 The Black Seed has been used as traditional medicine for centuries. The medicinal value of the Nigella seeds is recognized since the time of Egyptian Pharaohs. History expounds that the black seed oil was found in the Tutankhamen's tomb, to assist him in his afterlife. The earliest written evidence to Nigella Sativa dates back to a book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. The traditional branches of medicine like Unani, Ayurveda and Siddha use black seed to cure many diseases. In old Latin black cumin is referred as “Panacea” which means cure for all diseases.

The black seeds and the oil control Diabetes, Hypertension, Cancer, inflammation, Hepatic dysfunctions, arthritis, Kidney disorder, cardiovascular problems and skin troubles.

BLACK SEED MEDICINAL PROPERTIES 

The seed contains essential oils, proteins, alkaloiods and saponin. The pharmologically important constituents present in the oil of Nigella Sativa are thymoquinone (TQ), dithymoquinone (DTQ), thymohydroquinone (THQ), thymol (THY),carvacrol, nigellimine, nigellicine, nigellidine and alphahederin. 

Thymoquinone (TQ) is found to possess anti-oxidant, anti-carcenogenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-mutagenic properties.

BLACK SEED RESEARCH

According to study conducted by Dahri et al., 2005; Nader et al., 2010), Black Seed effectively reduces the threat of atherosclerosis by decreasing the serum LDL cholesterol level and increasing the serum HDL cholesterol level.

Black Seed at a dose of 2gram/day showed significant reduction in Fasting Blood Sugar, Post-Lunch Blood Sugar, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1) without major weight loss (1) .

Black Seeds exhibited anti-convulsive properties in a study conducted on epileptic children. It is observed that the mean frequency of the convulsions decreased significantly during the treatment period (2) .

In one of the in vivo test, scientists inferred that Thymoquinone (TQ) one of the constituent of Nigella Sativa performed better than the allopathic drug fluticason. In another study it is noticed that the bronchodilatory effect of boiled extract of Black Seed on the asthamatic airways of the patients showed considerable improvement (3).

Black Cumin is also used for treating acute Tonsillphharingytis. Black Cumin in combination with Phyllanthus Niruri has found to works as palliative, eliminating the need for pain killers in human subjects. The combination exhibited both anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory effects and proved to be safe and well tolerated by patients (4).

The Black Cumin and its oil were found to promote wound healing in farm animals. A study conducted on placebo-controlled human study of chemical weapons injured patients brought into light the bronchodilator and anti-spasmodic properties of the Nigella Sativa. The boiled extract of black seed reduced respiratory symptoms, chest wheezing, and pulmonary problems and decreased the need for drug treatment (5). 

Black Seed displayed anti-bacterial activity against clinical isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (6)

Black Cumin showcased effective therapy in long-term treatment of opiod dependences (7) and blood-pressure lowering effect in patients with mild hypertension.

BLOOD CANCER

El-Mahdy et al. (2005) in their bailiwick submitted that TQ  exhibited anti-prolifierative effect in human myeloblastic leukemia HL-60 cells. 

In a separate study, Swamy and Huat (2003) revealed that alpha hederin induced death of murine leukemia P388 cells.

BREAST CANCER

The Jackson State University in 2003 published that the aqueous and alcohol extracts of Black Seed was found effectual in inactivating MCF-7 breast cancer Cells in vitro Link to the Study. In two separate studies scientists found that the derivatives reduced carcinogenic effects of DMBA in rats and MCF-7/Topo breast cancer by inducing cell death by apoptosis.

COLON CANCER

The studies by Gali-Muhtasib et al. (2004), & Salim and Fukushima (2003) evidenced that TQ acted as anti-neoplastic and pro-apoptotic against colon cancer cell line HCT116 with no apparent adverse side effects.

PANCREATIC CANCER

According to Chehl et al. (2009), TQ stimulated Apoptosis and inhibited proliferation in PDA (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma) cells.

HEPATIC CANCER

Different concentrations (0-50mg/ml) of Nigella Sativa extract was found to produce to 88% inhibitory effect on human hepatoma HepG2 cell line after 24 hr incubation. Link to the Study

LUNG CANCER

The study by Swamy and Huat (2003) revealed the anti-tumor activity of alpha hederin of Black Cumin against LL/2 (Lewis Lung carcinoma) in BDF1 mice.

SKIN CANCER

Salomi et al. (1991) published that the topical application of N. sativa and Crocus sativus extracts inhibited two-stage initiation/promotion of induced skin carcinogenesis in mice.

FIBROSARCOMA

It is found that TQ augmented MCA treatment significantly (by inhibiting tumor incidence (fibrosarcoma) and tumor burden) by 43% and 34% as compared to group receiving MCA alone. In vitro studies of (Badary and Gamal, 2001) showcased that TQ inhibited the survival of fibrosarcoma cells with IC50 of 15mM. Another in vitro study by (Awad, 2005) reported that oil of black Seed decreased the fibrnolytic potential of the human fibrosarcoma cell line HT1080.

RENAL CANCER

Khan and Sultana (2005) reported the chemo-preventive activity of Nigella Sativa against ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe-NTA)-stimulated renal oxidative stress, hyper-proliferative response and renal carcinogenesis.

PROSTATE CANCER

Kaseb et al., 2007 published his study on the efficacy of TQ in selective inhibiting DNA synthesis, propagation and viability of cancerous (LNCaP, C4-B, DU145, and PC-3) but not benign BPH-1 by down regulating AR (androgen receptor) and E2F-1 (a transcription factor). They expounded that TQ worked effectively in treating hormone-sensitive as well as hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

CERVICAL CANCER

Shafi et al. (2009) studied the black seed function on cervical cancer. They reported that the extracts of black seed, methanol, n-Hexane, and chloroform killed HeLa (human epithelial cervical cancer) cells by inducing apoptosis.

BRAIN CANCER

Research from Ohio state university published a study in 2013 expounding the ability of TQ’s selective inhibition of glioblastoma cancer cells of the brain and spinal cord from making a clone of themselves. They also examined its capability in suppressing the autophagy genes in cancer cells.

So much is packed in the tiny seed that it is rightly called the "The remedy for everything except Death" and "Panacea".  The seed and the oil are edible and are used for seasoning or flavoring and as daily tonics and remedies for aeons. Research has proved that the drug is safe and devoid of any harmful side effects.When used as integrative medicine it produced outstanding results.Let's hope that whatever is holding it back from being marketed as a potential anti-cancer cure be solved in near future. 

If you like the post, please leave a comment. For further alternative cures about cancer refer to the below posts Soursop & Cow Urine Therapy.

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