If you saw the headline: Green Tea Cures Leukemia in a supermarket tabloid, you might be highly skeptical.

What if the news came from the world-famous Mayo Clinic in Minnesota?

A stunning article in the medical journal Leukemia Research by a team of researchers at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, headed by hematologist Tait Shanafelt, M.D., reports the details of four cases in which chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) stopped or regressed dramatically after patients took green tea capsules or drank green tea. CLL is a progressive blood and bone marrow cancer, with no known cure. Asymptomatic patients with such “low grade B-cell malignancies” are usually untreated, but merely observed for signs of worsening—what doctors call “watchful waiting.”

EGCG Kills Leukemia Cells

The Mayo researchers had reported in 2004 that green tea’s unique antioxidant, EGCG, in test tubes killed luekemic B-cells by interrupting their communication signals needed to survive. This widely publicized finding caused some CLL patients to start taking EGCG or drinking more green tea on their own.

Here are the remarkable results in four patients, as reported by the Mayo Clinic researchers.

Patient One—A 58-year-old woman, diagnosed with CLL in June 2001 began taking green tea capsules in March, 2004. She took two capsules per day, each containing 315 milligrams of antioxidant polyphenols, including EGCG. Before taking the green tea capsules, signs of her leukemia steadily worsened as verified by CT scans. After a month of taking the concentrated EGCG-green tea capsules, a CT scan showed regression of her cancer. The leukemia continued to regress over the next year, shrinking cancerous lymph nodes by 50% to “near normalization,” as clearly documented by CT scans.  “She continues to do well taking daily oral green tea polyphenol capsules 44 months after diagnosis and has not required conventional therapy,” the Mayo doctors write.

Patient Two—A 55-year-old woman with non-Hodgkins lymphoma (similar to CLL in lymph node involvement) began drinking a cup of green tea every day (made from two tea bags.) Within three months, CT scans showed regression, and within ten months, revealed a 50% decrease in the largest lymph node areas.

Patient Three—A 50-year-old woman with CLL for about six and a half years, experienced a decline in white blood cell counts after she began drinking green tea that provided about 300 milligrams of polyphenols a day. “She continues to do well without conventional therapy,” her doctors say.

Patient Four—A 60-year-old woman with CLL of five years duration, began drinking eight cups of green tea a day in 2004 because she was alarmed by a rise in her white blood cell count. Within a week of starting the green tea, her white blood cell count plummeted, and declined further over the next four and a half months. She continues to drink green tea daily, and still has no symptoms from her CLL, report the Mayo doctors.

Prevents Cancer, Too

Researchers believe EGCG is the antioxidant in green tea causing the anticancer activity. Several studies also suggest that EGCG can prevent various cancers, says Dr. Shanafelt. For example, a recent double blind controlled trial gave EGCG capsules to men at high risk of prostate cancer. After a year, only three percent of the men taking the EGCG developed prostate cancer, compared with 30 percent of the men on placebo.

Now the new Mayo study suggests green tea may also treat cancer. “It’s exciting that research is now demonstrating this agent may provide new hope for CLL patients,” says Dr. Shanafelt.

At the same time, he cautions that the study is small and anecdotal, and that is unknown how many patients took green tea without benefits, or what the optimal dose is, or whether there could be side effects from long-term use of green tea. However, a recent study found no significant adverse effects from taking 800 milligrams of purified decaffeinated EGCG for a month. (Shanafelt TC, et al. Leukemia Research, 2005, Nov. 30 (Epub ahead of print.)

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What natural remedies really work? Which don’t? What’s the right dose? What can you expect in benefits and side effects?

Here’s what Jason Theodosakis, M.D., a worldwide authority on arthritis, told the Jean Carper Radio Show in answer to those questions. Dr. Theo, as he is often called, is author of the best-selling book The Arthritis Cure (Revised 2004), on the faculty of the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and a member of a National Institutes of Health oversight committee for the GAIT study, that evaluated glucosamine, chondroitin and Celebrex as treatments for osteoarthritis.

Here are Jean’s questions and a condensed version of Dr. Theodosakis’ answers, from this radio interview. You can also hear the full radio interview at www.jeancarper.com.

Q: How effective was glucosamine-chondroitin in the NIH study?
Dr. Theo: In those with moderate to severe knee pain, glucosamine- chondroitin combined was the winner. It relieved pain in about 80% of patients, compared with 69% who took Celebrex, and 54% who took placebo. The combo of glucosamine-chondroitin was also better than either alone in fighting serious pain in those who needed relief the most.

This was first study to compare glucosamine and chondroitin against Celebrex, a prescription antiinflammatory drug approved by FDA for osteoarthritis. Celebrex was no better than placebo. The six-months study included nearly 1300 patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Q: What is the right dose, as determined by the NIH study?
Dr. Theo: A daily dose of 1500 mg glucosamine hydrochloride and 1200 mg chondroitin sulfate.

Q: What is the best time to take it?
Dr. Theo: In the NIH study patients took divided doses—3 times a day. However, new evidence says taking the entire daily dose of 1500 mg glucosamine and 1200 mg chondroitin all at once is more effective. Splitting the dose decreases the concentration in the blood; one full daily dose provides a higher, more effective concentration. Any time of day is ok.

Q: How quickly does glucosamine-chondroitin work?
Dr. Theo: Sometimes right away—in days, but sometimes, it takes 6 months. So don’t give up.

Q: What are the side effects of glucosamine-chondroitin?
Dr. Theo: They are very mild, such as upset stomach, and other gastrointestinal problems. Glucosamine-chondroitin did not raise blood glucose, or blood cholesterol or blood pressure or cause any bleeding or other serious effects in the NIH study.

Q: I’ve read that people who take glucosamine-chondroitin are less apt to require joint replacement surgery. Is that true?
Dr. Theo: Yes. In one study, patients who took glucosamine for three years were 75% less apt to have joint replacement surgery over an eight-year period.

Q: What other natural remedies work to combat osteoarthritis?
Dr. Theo: Only four are supported by clinical trials and can be considered to have legitimate evidence of effectiveness: Glucosamine-Chondroitin, MSM, SAMe and ASU (avocado-soy bean unsaponifiable).

Q: What about Hyaluronic acid or HA which is touted on the internet and in ads as a remedy for osteoarthritis?
Dr. Theo: Injections of hyaluronic acid are FDA-approved, but there’s no evidence HA taken orally has any benefits.

Q: You have said you consider it malpractice for doctors to prescribe Celebrex and other antiinflammatory drugs for osteoarthritis before trying glucosamine-chondroitin? Why?
Dr. Theo: The benefits and risks of glucosamine and chondroitin are so superior to drugs like Celebrex. It doesn’t make sense to pay up to $7 a day for such drugs when they don’t even relieve mild pain in 3 out of 100 people with osteoarthritis. And we now have proof that Celebrex doesn’t work as well for moderate to severe pain as glucosamine-chondroitin. And Celebrex, unlike glucosamine-chondroitin, can have serious side effects.

A Warning About Celebrex—

Glucosamine-Chondroitin Vs Celebrex This chart by Jason Theodosakis, M.D. compares the risks and benefits of glucosamine-chondroitin and Celebrex.

Source: Jason Theodosakis, M.D. For more information on arthritis treatments and to order his book, The Arthritis Cure Revised Edition, go to DrTheo.com.

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