A new study shows that molecules from avocados target stem cells of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) – an aggressive form of cancer.
The findings, published in the journal Cancer Research, found that avocado’s attack stem cells directly whilst leaving healthy cells in tact.
These findings confirm what ‘alternative’ health practitioners have been saying for years about superfoods and cancer. Namely that foods with an unusually high nutrition value may have health benefits that can help fight disease naturally.
Time.com reports:
AML is an aggressive form of cancer that kills 90% of people over 65 who are diagnosed. Drugs that operate on stem cells are the most effective in treating the disease.
“The stem cell is really the cell that drives the disease,” said Professor Paul Spagnuolo, a researcher from the University of Waterloo responsible for the study, in a statement about the paper. “The stem cell is largely responsible for the disease developing and it’s the reason why so many patients with leukemia relapse.”
While the drug is still years away from being approved for market use, Spagnuolo is already preparing it for a Phase I clinical trial.