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Viscum Album is an extract of the white berries of the mistletoe plant, an unusual evergreen plant that grows as a kind of
parasite in trees across Europe. Globular mistletoe is a familiar sight in Germany, especially in the winter when it stands
out in the bare branches of various deciduous trees. Mistletoe has a fascinating history. According to Roman authors,
mistletoe was used medicinally by Celtic priests, who gathered it using golden scythes (to avoid contaminating the
specimens). Much later, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), the founder of Anthroposophical Medicine, introduced as a cancer
treatment (Steiner 1985).
The key question is whether mistletoe has anticancer effects or not. If it does not, then European doctors should stop
using it (or recognize it as a placebo). If it does work, then American oncologists should adopt it as a useful adjunctive
therapy. (No one I know regards it as a cure).
Earlier this year, I discussed several positive studies with mistletoe. Since then, several additional studies have added
weight to the pro-mistletoe argument. Jessica Burkhart, Stephan Baumgartner, et al. of the University of Bern,
Switzerland, investigated the effects of mistletoe on the adverse effects of the drug cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) in cell
line studies. The article appeared in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine in May-June 2010. The experiment
involved normal white blood cells (peripheral blood mononuclear cells, or PBMCs) as well as a T-cell leukemia Jurkat cell
line. Cells were first pre-incubated with mistletoe extract. Then a form of cyclophosphamide was added. After that,
mitochondrial activity and replication were both measured.
The results were that mistletoe extract "strongly stimulated" healthy PBMCs but not malignant Jurkat cells. The level of
activity of these cells was doubled by the addition of mistletoe (197 percent with the lower dose and 225 percent with the
higher dose). In addition, mistletoe partially protected healthy PBMCs, but not malignant cells, from the damage inflicted
by cyclophosphamide.
This is further scientific confirmation of the purported uses of mistletoe to reduce the adverse (side) effects of a widely
used form of conventional chemotherapy. Mistletoe exerts immune modulating as well as direct anti-proliferative effects.
Mistletoe may also increase levels of various anti-cancer cytokines including tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha).
The study* followed 35,000 residents of Heidelberg, Germany over 30 years, identifying 5,000 who had cancer. Six
hundred of these cancer patients were sorted into pairs. One member of each pair took mistletoe extract in addition to
conventional treatment; the other, who had a similar type and stage of disease, received only conventional treatment.
After comparing the length of survival, the study concluded that participants who added mistletoe extract to their treatment
lived 40% longer than those who did not.
Research indicates that mistletoe extract is most effective when used in conjunction with conventional medical care for the
treatment of solid tumors such as breast cancer, according to Dr. Riley. It does not appear to be useful as an adjunctive
treatment for other cancers like lymphoma or leukemia.
*Grossarth-Maticek R, Kiene H, Baumgartner SM, Ziegler R: Use of Iscador, an Extract of European Mistletoe (Viscum
Album), in Cancer Treatment. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine May 2001
Links:
Effects of Mistletoe Treatment
Research Study on Quality of Life improvement comparing anthroposophic and conventional care
New Research Study on Pancreatic Cancer Molecular Mistletoe Therapy: Friend or Foe in Established Anti-Tumor
Protocols? A Multicenter, Controlled, Retrospective Pharmaco-Epidemiological Study in Pancreas Cancer
H Matthes, W.E. Friedel, P.R. Bock and K.S. Zaenker
Mistletoe treatment induces GM-CSF- and IL-5 production by PBMC and increases blood granulocyte- and eosinophil
counts: a placebo controlled randomized study in healthy subjects.
Huber R, Rostock M, Goedl R, Ldtke R, Urech K, Buck S, Klein R.
Eur J Med Res. 2005 Oct 18;10(10):411-8.
Safety and efficacy of the long-term adjuvant treatment of primary intermediate- to high-risk malignant melanoma
(UICC/AJCC stage II and III) with a standardized fermented European mistletoe (Viscum album L.) extract. Results
from a multicenter, comparative, epidemiological cohort study in Germany and Switzerland.
Augustin M, Bock PR, Hanisch J, Karasmann M, Schneider B.
Arzneimittelforschung. 2005;55(1):38-49.
Efficacy and safety of long-term complementary treatment with standardized European mistletoe extract (Viscum
album L.) in addition to the conventional adjuvant oncologic therapy in patients with primary non-metastasized
mammary carcinoma. Results of a multi-center, comparative, epidemiological cohort study in Germany and Switzerland
Bock PR, Friedel WE, Hanisch J, Karasmann M, Schneider B.
Arzneimittelforschung. 2004;54(8):456-66. German. Erratum in: Arzneimittelforschung. 2004;54(9):563.
Use of Iscador, an extract of European mistletoe (Viscum album), in cancer treatment:prospective nonrandomized
and randomized matched-pair studies nested within a cohort study.
Grossarth-Maticek R, Kiene H, Baumgartner SM, Ziegler R.
Altern Ther Health Med. 2001 May-Jun;7(3):57-66, 68-72, 74-6 passim
What prospects of success does Iscador therapy offer in advanced ovarian cancer?
Grossarth-Maticek R, Ziegler R.
Arzneimittelforschung. 2007;57(10):665-78
Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis of Survival and Psychosomatic Self-regulation from Published Prospective
Controlled Cohort Studies for Long-term Therapy of Breast Cancer Patients with a Mistletoe Preparation
(Iscador).
Hassauer W, Gutsch J, Burkhardt R.
Onkologie. 1979 Feb;2(1):28-36. German.
Randomized and non-randomized prospective controlled cohort studies in matched pair design for the long-term
therapy of corpus uteri cancer patients with a mistletoe preparation (Iscador).
Grossarth-Maticek R, Ziegler R.
Eur J Med Res. 2008 Mar 31;13(3):107-2
Antiproliferative effects of mistletoe (Viscum album L.) extract in urinary bladder carcinoma cell lines.
Urech K, Buessing A, Thalmann G, Schaefermeyer H, Heusser P.
Anticancer Res. 2006 Jul-Aug;26(4B):3049-55
Overheating Therapy
"Give me a chance to create fever and I will cure any disease," said the great physician, Parmenides, 2,000 years ago.
Fever is one of the body's own defensive and healing forces, created and sustained for the deliberate purpose of restoring
health. The high temperature speeds up metabolism, inhibits the growth of the invading virus or bacteria, and literally
burns the enemy with heat. Fever is an effective protective and healing measure not only against colds and simple
infections, but against such serious diseases as polio and cancer. In biological clinics, overheating therapies or artificially
induced fever are used effectively in the treatment of acute infectious diseases, arthritis and rheumatic diseases, skin
disorders, insomnia, muscular pain and cancer, to name a few conditions. Such giants of medical science as Nobel Prize
Winner, Dr. A. Lwoff, Dr. Werner Zabel, and Dr. Josef Issels, recommend and use fever therapies extensively. Recently, a
research team under the direction of Dr. David S. Muchles, from Oxford University, reported that the studies confirmed
what ancient physicians and biological doctors knew all along - that fever is effective in combating many
diseases, including cancer.
There are many ways to induce fever. Some doctors use certain vaccines (like BCG) or drugs to create artificial fever.
Personally, I prefer a more natural approach. Although fever induced with BCG or drugs can have a beneficial effect by
"waking up" and stimulating the body's natural defensive and immunological mechanism, there is less stress on the body
if fever is induced with an overheating bath. Schlenz-bath has been used for this purpose for nearly a century.
CSAM was founded in 1997 as a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing patient care, education and
research inAnthroposophical medicine.
"Real medicine can only exist when it penetrates into knowledge which embraces the human being
in respect to body, soul and spirit."
Rudolf Steiner
2014