Can Green Tea Improve Your Chances of Surviving Breast Cancer?

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Article Title:

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Can Green Tea Improve Your Chances of Surviving Breast Cancer?

Article Description:

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Breast cancer is one of the most frightening diseases faced by

today's women. In fact, breast cancer is the second most common

cancer among women, after nonmelanoma skin cancer. About 13% of

American women will develop breast cancer at some point in their

lifetime. And, it is the second leading cause of cancer death

among women, after lung cancer.

Additional Article Information:

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975 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2006-11-22 10:36:00

Written By: Jon M. Stout

Copyright: 2006

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Can Green Tea Improve Your Chances of Surviving Breast Cancer?

Copyright © 2006 Jon M. Stout

Golden Moon Tea

http://www.GoldenMoonTea.com

Breast cancer is one of the most frightening diseases faced by

today's women. In fact, breast cancer is the second most common

cancer among women, after nonmelanoma skin cancer. About 13% of

American women will develop breast cancer at some point in their

lifetime. And, it is the second leading cause of cancer death

among women, after lung cancer.

Scientists are continuing to look for new information to

determine what causes breast cancer as well how to prevent and

treat this disease. Today, we still don't know what causes

breast cancer, but we do understand some of the risk factors.

In addition, we have come a long way in treating breast cancer –

though many women still die each year. Some of the research is

very promising, including research on green tea.

One group of breast cancer sufferers who cause doctors a great

area of concern are those who have a higher than average

expression of the epidermal growth factor Her-2/neu. Her-2/neu is

a growth factor that sometimes presents itself in a tumor. An

over expression of this growth factor is a concern for breast

cancer patients.

During routine testing of patients who have been recently

diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, doctors will determine the

level of Her-2/neu. If the level is high, this information is

used to guide treatment. The level of this growth factor is

important because studies have shown that patients with an over

expression of Her-2/neu have a higher likelihood of their cancer

metastasizing, and have an overall lower survival rate. The

Her-2/neu is high in about 30% of breast cancer patients.

As part of the ongoing research to find effective treatments for

breast cancer, scientists have been looking seriously at the

benefits of green tea, both on preventing cancer and treating it.

Asian cultures have used green tea for its healing properties for

centuries, and their overall rate of cancer is much lower than

that of the Western world.

Tea is derived from the Camellia sinensis plant. You'll hear tea

referred to as green, white or black. These differences do not

result from actual different types of tea leaf, but rather from

differences in how the tea leaves are processed. Green and white

teas are not fermented during processing, but black tea goes

through such a processing.

Tea leaves contain catechins, part of the flavan-3-ol class of

flavonoids, which are anti-oxidants. EGCG is one of the

catechins contained in tea, and is a potent anti-oxidant.

Fermenting the tea leaves converts the catechins to other

compounds that are not as healthy as those in unfermented tea.

So, the focus of research has been on green tea, because of its

healthier form of anti-oxidants.

What's So Great About Anti-Oxidants?

During our body's process of converting food to energy, we

create free radicals in our body. These free radicals are

damaging to our cells and DNA if we don't combat them. Left

unchecked, free radicals contribute to speeding up the aging

process and to causing diseases such as cancer, heart attack and

stroke.

Anti-oxidants, however, can help us combat these free radicals,

and a diet in anti-oxidants is linked with preventing cancer,

heart disease and stroke. So, doctors recommend a diet high in

anti-oxidants – which means eating lots of fresh fruits and

vegetables and drinking green tea each day.

However, scientists also seem to be finding out that green tea

may be able to increase the effectiveness in some cancer

treatments. Several studies conducted on mice already diagnosed

with cancer have shown that taking green tea along with the

cancer treatments can increase the effectiveness of the

traditional therapy and may slow down the progression of cancer

to other cells. There is promising research; some of it directly

related to breast cancer treatment.

One particular study of interest was conducted by the Boston

University School of Medicine. In this study, female mice with

breast cancer whose Her-2/neu levels were very high were treated

with green tea along with their regular cancer treatment. Mice

that ingested the green tea showed a slower growth of their

tumors and a slower progression of their cancer than those who

were treated with the same medicine without green tea as an

adjunct therapy.

Researchers who found these results also believe that if green

tea can inhibit the growth of tumors in patients already

diagnosed with cancer, it may also be effective in preventing

cancerous cells from forming and growing in the first place. This

coincides with other research that indicates that green tea may

be significant in preventing cancer. In addition, it helps

explain why Asian cultures have such a low cancer incidence

compared to the Western world.

This is very promising news for a group of breast cancer

sufferers who have traditionally had a lower survival rate than

others with breast cancer. If we can slow the rate of cancer

progression in those with over expression of Her-2/neu to

approximately the same rate as other breast cancer patients, we

may be far more effective at treating these patients.

Far more research is needed in the area of breast cancer

prevention and treatment. In addition, scientists will be

spending more time examining the benefits of green tea in cancer

prevention and treatment. But, it seems clear that green tea has

a place in the prevention and treatment of many diseases,

including cancer.

Even though there is more research to be done, there is no

downside to adding green tea to your diet to help prevent disease

or to improve your health if it is already failing. Scientists

have found no risks involved with drinking green tea. It has no

side effects, and is a healthy alternative to coffee because of

its high level of anti-oxidants and because it is much lower in

caffeine than coffee. So, get a jump start on your anti-oxidants

by drinking green tea!

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Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company.

Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox

teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme

care. At their website, you can learn more about their current

tea offerings, including their exceptional green tea

(http://www.goldenmoontea.com/greentea), white tea, black

tea, oolong tea (also known as wu-long and wu long tea -

http://www.goldenmoontea.com/wu-long) and chai. Visit

http://www.goldenmoontea.com for all details concerning

the Golden Moon Tea Company's fine line of teas.