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Oh my papaya
06 April 2010
At a glance
Research in this WellBeing Natural Health & Living News item was sourced from: Journal of Ethnopharmacology
The papaya fruit has graced many a salad plate and has been known as a source of the enzyme papain but now papaya leaves are also gaining a medicinal reputation. In a new study researchers exposed ten different types of cancer cell cultures to a tea made from dried papaya leaves. The papaya extract had a dramatic effect against laboratory grown tumours of cells from the cervix, breast, liver, lungs, and pancreas. However, the papaya did not have any toxic effects on normal, healthy cells. This would mean that papaya avoids the common devastating side-effects of many cancer treatments. Analysis showed that the papaya was increasing production of a group of signalling molecules within the immune system called Th1-type cytokines. This mechanism of action means that papaya extracts may also be useful in immune related conditions such as inflammation and auto-immune disease as well as some cancers.
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