[News] Plants with the greatest anticancer potential would be found in Ecuador

[#Wittels-]

Continental Ecuador is the region with the third highest density of endemic plant species worldwide.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 60% of the world's po[CENSORED]tion uses plants as alternative or complementary medicine, and 80% of the po[CENSORED]tion in developing countries depends on them to meet their primary care needs. of health. Photo: Courtesy

 

Continental Ecuador is the region with the third highest density of endemic plant species worldwide, of the estimated 20,000 plant species in the country, around 20% are endemic. Compared to other countries with similar biological diversity such as Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, Thailand and Peru; in the country you can find the plant species with the highest cytotoxic activity against human cancer cells.

Another considerable feature is the ethnomedical knowledge of many indigenous communities in Ecuador. This is a multinational country that is home to 14 nationalities and 18 different indigenous peoples. The great botanical diversity together with the ethnocultural richness of the country translates into an ancient heritage around the knowledge and use of a large number of medicinal plants. Ethnomedical research seeks to analyze bioactive compounds from medicinal plants used mainly by indigenous and rural po[CENSORED]tions.

 

For Juan Carlos Romero, coordinator of the Natural Products: Cancer and Parasitosis research group at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), which works in indigenous communities belonging to the Saraguro people, "when we do ethnomedical research we seek to find out how application that the community gives to the plant or to the mixture of them to try to simulate that in the conditions of our laboratory”.

Marketing has been in charge of putting the healthy label on all products of natural origin and that is not entirely true, as Romero explains: “just because it is natural does not mean that it cannot harm you. Sometimes there are plants that work and kill cancer cells, but at the same time they can be toxic. Prolonged intake of these plants can have serious side effects that affect the liver or kidney.

Given the evidence of antitumor activity of a plant, the researcher considers it essential to identify the recommended doses and the appropriate duration of treatment for its consumption to be effective and safe.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 60% of the world's po[CENSORED]tion uses plants as alternative or complementary medicine, and 80% of the po[CENSORED]tion in developing countries depends on them to meet their primary care needs. of health. Approximately 66% of the drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for cancer are secondary metabolites from plants or their synthetic analog treatments.

The commitment to basic research in the area of natural products in tropical countries is essential to discover new compounds that open up new ways of treating diseases and contribute to local development.

What skin care should a cancer patient have?

Currently there are many curative and palliative treatments for cancer that allow the eradication of tumor cells. These include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and even gene therapy.

 

During chemotherapy, the application of a series of chemical compounds, whether natural or synthetic, leads to the induction of cell death or cell cycle arrest in tumor cells. These anti-cancer chemicals can be used alone or, more often, in combination with other chemicals or non-chemicals. Secondary metabolites isolated from microorganisms, plants, and marine species, among others, have been an important source of bioactive substances with potential anticancer capabilities. (YO)

 

Link: https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/informes/plantas-con-mayor-potencial-anticancerigeno-se-encontrarian-en-ecuador-nota/