Artemisinin

Artemisinin 100 MG - 300 VCAP or Qinghaosu by Allergy Research Group, Nutricology.

Pure artemisinin or Qinghaosu, the active constituent of the herb Artemesia annua (sweet wormwood). Good quality Artemesia annua contains 0.3-0.5% artemisinin, so pure Artemisinin provides hundreds of times more of the active constituent artemisinin than the whole herb itself. Research has shown artemisinin to be particularly beneficial in balancing the microbiology of the GI tract.

Artemisinin (Qinghasu) a pure unadulterated extract of the herb Artemesia annua, thought to be about 3000 times stronger than the whole herb itself.

Artemesia is a plant that grows in Southeast that Dr. Rowen has used in the past to treat intestinal parasites. It is also considered a safe malaria treatment. When Dr. Rowen discovered a report by Drs. Henry Lai and Narenda Singh, bioengineering professors at the University of Washington, that indicated that the herb "might provide a safe, non-toxic, and inexpensive alternative for cancer patients", he started using it with cancer patients. Dr. Lai and his colleague, Dr. Singh, had found its use dramatically killed breast-cancer cells and leukemia cells while leaving normal breast cells and white blood cells unscathed.

According to Lai, it is believed to work because when artemisinin or any of its derivatives comes into contact with iron, a chemical reaction ensues, spawning charged atoms that chemists call free radicals. Cells need iron to replicate DNA when they divide, and since cancer is characterized by out-of-control cell division, cancer cells have much higher iron concentrations than do normal cells. What Lai did was to pump up cancer cells with even more iron and then introduce artemisinin to selectively kill them. Lai theorizes that more aggressive cancers such as pancreatic and acute leukemia which are characterized by more rapid cell division and thus higher iron concentrations may respond even better.

Dr. Rowen also reported on an article that appeared about a year ago in a major cancer journal demonstrating significant artemisinin anticancer activity in a wide variety of laboratory cultured cancer cells. Cancers resistant to common chemotherapy drugs showed no resistance to artemisinin. (International Journal of Oncology 18; 767-773, 2001 by Efferth, et al.)

One of the patient's Dr. Rowen worked with was a 47-year-old female with stage-4 breast cancer with mets to the spine.. She used IPT, high-dose nutritional therapy, dietary changes, dendritic cell vaccine, multi-step oxygen therapy, and more. All of her symptoms regressed, but the CT showed no change. When artemisinin derivatives were added, greater results were obtained.

A Dr. Hoang of Hanoi, Vietnam, reports that 50-60 percent of 400 cancer patients have achieved long-term remission utilizing artemisinin together with a comprehensive integrative cancer strategy. Among these patients is a 47 -year-old female who, presented with terminal liver cancer from hepatitis B and abdominal ascites (massive swelling from liver failure) , was just days or weeks from death. Today; two-and-a-half years later, she is alive and well with no signs of any disease! Dr. Singh is currently following many cancer patients. While not reporting remissions or apparent cures, he says all patients are responding and have at least stabilized. He has found no type of cancer unresponsive to artemisinin derivatives in his studies. Dr. Hoang recommends treatment for two years. Cancer could be like the malaria parasite. If just one cell remains, it can find its way back. Thus, as in malaria, although the parasite is cleared in a few days, prolonged treatment best prevents relapse.

This treatment is said to be non-toxic, so you can continue taking it indefinitely with no expected side effects, though it does depend on the form of Artemesia one uses. There are three common Artemesia derivatives - Artesunate is water soluble and may be the most active and the least toxic, but it has the shortest life within the body. Artemether is oil or lipid soluble and has the longest half-life. It also has the most toxicity (but this is related to rather high dosages, which are not necessary. Its big advantage is that it can cross the blood-brain barrier to reach cancers in the nervous system.

Artemisinin is the active parent compound of the plant. It has an intermediate half-life, is very safe, and also can cross the blood-brain barrier. The first two are slightly altered semi-synthetic derivatives of artemisinin, the concentrated and purified active agent. Dr. Singh reports that a combination of the forms may be the very best treatment due to these different properties (based on a lab experiment). Thus, he feels the best preparation will contain artemisinin and artemether to provide a dose of 0.5-2 mg/Kg of each form once daily before bed (away from any residual iron left in the stomach from the evening meal). Dr. Hoang used 500 mg twice daily of oral artemisinin with good success. The product is best taken on an empty stomach with some natural fat to enhance absorption. Any iron present from residual food may neutralize the peroxides. Milk is one of the few foods with minimal iron. Whole milk, cottage cheese, or yogurt have ample fat to enhance absorption.

Additionally, Dr. Rowen stated that he adds cod liver oil (for its omega-S and vitamin D) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) to this therapy. He says that, with the exception of patients very near death, taking artemisinin or derivatives have stabilized, improved, or remitted every cancer patient he has followed. Medical literature also seems to suggest that oxygenating the system might make the products effective. Administration of certain chemotherapy agents (IPT), which kill cells through free radical mechanisms, is another option.

Artemesia herb products are not the same as the concentrated forms of the derivatives described above. The highest concentration of artemisinin (the active agent) in the raw herb in best of conditions does not even get beyond one-half percent. Dr. Singh tested some products, finding perhaps only 10-20 percent of anti-cancer activity against cultured cancer cells compared to pure artemisinin. Allergy Research Group distributes a high-grade artemisinin confirmed by independent lab analysis, so this is the one Dr. Rowen recommended.

Please note: Dr. Rowen warns that this is not a singular therapy and should be used in conjunction with a comprehensive cancer management strategy, together with the help of an integrative medicine physician or an open-minded oncologist.

Caution:
Not indicated for pregnant or nursing women. Long term administration (greater than 2 or 3 months) should be monitored by a healthcare practitioner. Combining with antioxidants or iron may theoretically decrease effectiveness. Detoxification reactions may be experienced by some individuals.

Quality Artemisinin
As a leader in the field of nutritional supplements, and as a company whose products are regarded as the "Gold Standard" in the industry, we are familiar with small competitors making groundless attacks against us.

"I have been very impressed by the efforts of ARG to perform both purity analysis and activity analysis on its artemisinin. For me, it was not even necessary, since I had already observed the awesome clinical efficacy of the product in patient after patient. I am grateful that this product is available and at a most reasonable price." - Robert Jay Rowen, M.D., Editor-in-Chief, Second Opinion.

It's time to set the record straight:
Allergy Research Group has sold quality artemisinin for almost a decade now, long before the surge of recent interest in artemisinin. We have a full time Ph.D., Dr. Luba Voloshko, on staff in charge of Quality Control. With Artemisinin, we assay the raw material, using HPLC, and the finished product, using HPLC - every batch. We have also studied aging effects on Artemisinin. We supply lab results on request.

We take our responsibility to all our customers very seriously. For instance, thousands of doctors and their patients use our products. Since 1979, our customers have relied upon us for safe and effective nutritional supplements.

Allergy Research Group Artemisinin:

Is UN approved material, used by the European Union in Africa.
Has independent potency assays done on every batch, using HPLC.
Has every batch documented
Has a LOW price because of our volume and long-term buying In addition, Allergy Research Group:
Has been setting the standard for quality in nutritional supplements since 1979.
Supplies thousands of doctors with products to support the health of their patients.
Has sold Artemisinin for 10 years,
Is NOT a front company set up within the last year to market Artemisinin with extravagant - and unverified - claims about quality.

Allergy Research Group introduced artemisinin to the U.S. market more than a decade ago. ARG does independent potency assays on every batch (using HPLC), and independent tests verify its effectiveness. ARG artemisinin is minimum 98.5% pure, and does not contain thujone.

"I am extremely satisfied with the superb quality of your product and the excellent clinical results we witness daily from its use." - Christopher Deatherage, N.D., Brush Creek Naturopathic Health Center, Drury, MO.

Unsubstantiated and unprovable statements?
Anybody can make a claim, "Ours is the best." But - do they make available their test results? Do they assay every batch?

We have actual research and clinical reports Clinicians report that ARG artemisinin is well tolerated, with the impression of fewer reports of nausea and GI discomfort than the leading compound mixtures. After trying several brands of artemisinin, they tell us they have standardized on the ARG material.

Here are the results of an independent test of the cytotoxicity of our artemisinin compared to the accepted standard:

ARG Artemisinin matches control Performed by Xiaolong Meng and Jie Zhong at The Center for Improvement of Human Functioning International, Inc., Wichita, Kansas, 08/20/2002

Objective: Test the cytotoxicity for Allergy Research Group and Sigma-Aldrich artemisinin on two transformed cell lines (HL-60 and K562).

Method: Incubate cells with artemisinin at four concentrations (1, 10, 50, 200 µM). Artemisinin concentration in control samples is 0 (samples with no artemisinin added). Read plate at 0, 1, 2, 6, 24 and 96 hours and calculate the cell inhibitions.

Results: Before 24 hours, the cell inhibitions had poor dose response. The longer the incubation, the higher the cell inhibition. The highest cell inhibition was at 96 hours at the artemisinin concentration 200 µM. Compare to control, at 96 hours and 200 µM, ARG artemisinin reached the inhibition of 20% and 59%, while Sigma Artemisinin reached 17% and 51% for HL-60 and K562 lymphoma cell lines, respectively.

Summary: Both Artemisinins showed higher sensitivity to K562 cells than to HL-60 cells. Allergy Research Group artemisinin and Sigma-Aldrich artemisinin were similar in their cytotoxic activities.

Suggested use: as a dietary supplement, 1 - 2 capsules one or two times daily before meals, or as directed by a health care practitioner.