A woman who battled blood cancer for years without success finally halted the disease with turmeric, it has been reported.
Dieneke Ferguson is now leading a normal life after giving up on gruelling treatments that failed to stop it.
Doctors say her case is the first recorded instance in which a patient has recovered by using the spice after stopping conventional medical treatments.
With her myeloma spreading rapidly after three rounds of chemotherapy and four stem cell transplants, the 67-year-old began taking 8g of curcumin a day – one of the main compounds in turmeric. ( Myeloma, also known as multiple myeloma is a blood cancer related to lymphoma and leukemia.)
Dieneke Ferguson had been diagnosed with the blood cancer myeloma in 2007 and had undergone three rounds of chemotherapy as well as four stem cell transplants
Dieneke is still taking 8g of curcumin in tablet form daily — the equivalent of about two teaspoonfuls of pure powdered curcumin
The cancer, which has an average survival of just over five years, was causing increasing back pain and she had already had a second relapse.
But it stabilised after Mrs Ferguson, from north London, came across the remedy on the internet in 2011 and decided to try it as a last resort.
The tablets are expensive – £50 for ten days – but as kitchen turmeric contains just 2 per cent curcumin it would be impossible to eat enough to get the same dose.
Mrs Ferguson, who was first diagnosed in 2007, continues to take curcumin without further treatment and her cancer cell count is negligible.
Her doctors, from Barts Health NHS Trust in London, wrote in the British Medical Journal Case Reports: ‘To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in which curcumin has demonstrated an objective response in progressive disease in the absence of conventional treatment.’
The experts, led by Dr Abbas Zaidi, said some myeloma patients took dietary supplements alongside conventional treatment but ‘few, if any, use dietary supplementation as an alternative to standard antimyeloma therapy’.
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Doctors say Dieneke Ferguson's case is the first recorded instance in which a patient has recovered by using turmeric (pictured) after stopping conventional medical treatments
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Since the turn of the century, more than 50 studies have tested curcumin – the pigment in turmeric that gives it its bright yellow colour
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Dieneke tried Curcumin, a component of turmeric, and five years on, her cancer cell count is negligible. Pictured: Dieneke Ferguson with the Olympics Torch in Brazil
Doctor explains how acute myeloid leukaemia effects patients
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But they added: ‘In the absence of further antimyeloma treatment the patient plateaued and has remained stable for the past five years with good quality of life.’
Since the turn of the century, more than 50 studies have tested curcumin – the pigment in turmeric that gives it that bright yellow colour.
A CENTURIES-OLD EASTERN REMEDY
Turmeric is a yellow spice widely used as a flavouring in the Indian subcontinent and as a food colouring by industry
It is ground from the dried root of an Asian plant called Curcuma longa and has been used in Eastern medicine for centuries
Curcumin - turmeric’s active ingredient - has significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties
Studies have shown it is an effective painkiller and also reduces the risk of lung disease, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and depression
They suggest the spice can protect against several cancers, as well as Alzheimer’s, heart disease and depression.
It has also been shown to help speed recovery after surgery and effectively treat arthritis.
But although it is widely used in Eastern medicine, and has been studied for its anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects, curcumin is not widely prescribed because it has never been tested in large-scale trials.
The doctors wrote that the ‘biological activity of curcumin is indeed remarkable’, including its ‘anti-proliferative effects in a wide variety of tumour cells’.
But Professor Jamie Cavenagh, one of the authors of the paper, stressed it may not work for all patients. He said: ‘A lot of my patients take curcumin at different stages of their treatment. I don’t object to it.
‘Dieneke’s is the best response I have observed and it is clear-cut because we had stopped all other treatment.’
Mrs Ferguson, who runs Hidden Art, a not-for-profit business helping artists market their work, is frustrated doctors cannot recommend the spice and wants more research carried out.
She said: ‘I hope my story will lead to more people finding out about the amazing health benefits of curcumin.’
Myeloma affects some 5,500 people in the UK every year, killing nearly 3,000.
Eating three fewer servings of red meat each week could slash your risk of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, a controversial analysis has found.
Researchers have published the 'most up-to-date evidence on the topic', based on data from 61 studies involving more than four million people.
But the same team of scientists have warned the evidence was so flimsy that people should not worry and carry on eating red meat at their current levels.
MailOnline has today sifted through the research, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, to reveal what the scientists found eating less meat can do for your health.
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Eating three fewer servings of red meat each week could slash your risk of several ailments, a controversial analysis has found. Researchers published the 'most up-to-date evidence on the topic', based on data from four million people. But the same scientists warned the evidence was so flimsy that people should not worry and carry on eating red meat at their current levels
Results showed eating three servings less of unprocessed red meat each week was linked to a seven per cent lower risk of ever developing cancer.
It means if 1,000 people curbed back on how much they consumed, there would be seven less cases of any form of the killer disease.
The biggest reduction was for gastric or stomach cancer. Data showed eating three less servings was linked to a 14 per cent lower risk of the disease.
The researchers calculated this would lead to two fewer cases of stomach cancer, if 1,000 people scaled back on how much meat they ate.
COULD EATING THREE LESS SERVINGS OF RED MEAT EACH WEEK SLASH YOUR RISK OF KILLER CONDITIONS?
EVIDENCE: Researchers graded the evidence, based on the quality of the studies examined, imprecision and the chance of statistical bias
REAL-TERM RISK: The number of fewer cases that would be recorded if 1,000 people consumed three less servings of unprocessed red meat. * means the figure applies to the next 11 years, as opposed to a lifetime
DISEASE
HEART
Heart disease
Stroke
Heart attack
Type 2 diabetes
Death
CANCER
All types
Oesophageal
Gastric
Colorectal
Pancreatic
Breast
Prostate
Death
LOWER RISK
5%
6%
7%
10%
10%
7%
0%
14%
0%
1%
12%
+2%
7%
EVIDENCE
VERY LOW
LOW
VERY LOW
LOW
VERY LOW
VERY LOW
VERY LOW
VERY LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
REAL-TERM RISK
-3*
-1*
-3*
-6*
-4*
-13
0
-2
0
0
6
+1
7
WHAT DID HEALTH CHARITIES SAY ABOUT THE RESEARCH?
Lauren Wiggins, from Bowel Cancer UK, said: 'This research shows that current government recommendations to limit eating red meat to three portions a week, still stand.
'We know eating red and processed meat can increase your likelihood of developing bowel cancer. So it's important to cut down how much of this you're having.'
Cancer Research UK's Emma Shields said: 'Processed meat increases the risk of bowel cancer – there's a mass of evidence that shows this.
'This research came to the same conclusion, the main difference being the researchers' view that eating less meat doesn't help very much.'
Tracy Parker, senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, added: 'Studies like this make it confusing to know if you should pick up your steak knife or leave it in the drawer.
'How much red and processed meat we should be eating has been up for debate for decades, but our advice hasn't changed.
'Most of us could benefit from eating less meat and including more plant-based protein in our diets, such as lentils, nuts and seeds, as well as fruit, vegetables and wholegrains.'
A similar reduction was seen for breast cancer (12 per cent), which would avoid six cases of the disease among a thousand people cutting back on meat.
Data also showed cutting back on unprocessed red meat was linked to a 10 per cent lower chance of getting type 2 diabetes in the next 11 years.
Consuming three less servings also cut the odds of heart disease by five per cent, as well as six per cent for stroke and seven per cent for a heart attack.
In real terms, it means there six less cases of type 2 diabetes among 1,000 people who scaled back on how much red meat they ate over 11 years.
There would also be three less cases of heart disease or a heart attack, and one less stroke per the same amount of people and the same time frame.
Risk reductions were even greater in a review of studies that compared high and low intake of red and processed meat.
Officials have for years tried to encourage diet changes – guidelines recommend people limit themselves to 2.5oz (70g) of red meat a day.
This is the equivalent of one lamb chop, one pork sausage, half a beef burger, or one-and-a-half rashers of bacon.
But the analysis, based on five reviews of past research, ruled that people should continue to eat the current average amount of red meat.
The panel of 14 experts from seven countries said this was between three and four portions per week for North Americans and Europeans.
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The NHS recommends people limit themselves to 70g or less of red meat each day, because eating a lot of it 'probably increases your risk of bowel cancer'. 70g works out equal to about one lamb chop, one pork sausage, half a beef burger, or one-and-a-half rashers of bacon
Scientists from the Dalhousie and McMaster universities in Canada led the research, as well as the Cochrane research centres in Spain and Poland.
It considered 61 studies which had monitored the health of more than four million people, as well as 12 which trialled changing the diets of about 54,000.
The risks the analysis uncovered were similar to what has been suggested before - but the researchers ruled that the odds are not that big.
The team also found the results of past research were of too poor a quality to make any suggestions about the way people lived their lives.
Discussing his results, study author Dr Bradley Johnson of Dalhousie told the BBC: 'We're not saying there is no risk.
'We're saying there is only low-certainty evidence of a very small reduction of cancer and other adverse health consequences of reducing red meat consumption.'
In an editorial published alongside the papers, Dr Aaron Carroll and Dr Tiffany Doherty, from Indiana University, wrote: 'The overall recommendations, contrary to almost all others that exist, suggested that adults continue to eat their current levels of red and processed meat, unless they felt inclined to change them themselves.
'This is sure to be controversial, but it is based on the most comprehensive review of the evidence to date.
Research shows red and processed meat may not cause cancer
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COULD A 'LOWER ADHERENCE TO DIETARY PATTERNS HIGH IN RED AND PROCESSED MEAT' REDUCE THE RISK OF KILLER CONDITIONS?
CONDITION
Stroke
Heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
Breast cancer
Colorectal cancer
Womb cancer
Bile duct cancer
Gallbladder cancer
Liver cancer
Ovarian cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Prostate cancer
Stomach cancer
Any form of cancer
Uterine cancer
Heart attack
PERCENTAGE LOWER
25%
13%
24%
5%
6%
1%
59%
64%
21%
13%
11%
7%
40%
10%
18% HIGHER
4% HIGHER
EVIDENCE QUALITY
low
very low
very low
low
very low
low
low
low
very low
low
low
low
low
very low
low
very low
'Because that review is inclusive, those who seek to dispute it will be hard pressed to find appropriate evidence with which to build an argument.'
The World Health Organization (WHO) classes red meat as probably cancer-causing and processed meat as carcinogenic.
The NHS also says that eating a lot of red meat 'probably increases your risk of bowel cancer'.
Cancer Research UK says three chemicals in meat are linked to the disease because they damage cells in the gut.
The medical community is torn over the research, describing it as 'very good quality' but hesitating to agree with telling people to cut back on meat.
Professor David Spiegelhalter, from the University of Cambridge, described it as a 'rigorous, even ruthless, review'.
He said: '[It] does not find good evidence of important health benefits from reducing meat consumption. In fact, it does not find any good evidence at all.'
Kevin McConway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University, also praised the study, branding it an 'extremely comprehensive piece of work'.
However, Professor Tim Key, from the University of Oxford, said: 'There's substantial evidence that processed meat can cause bowel cancer.'
He added: 'Today's new publication reports results essentially identical to the existing evidence.
'But describes the impact very differently, contradicting the general consensus among cancer research experts.'
Dr Marco Springmann, an environment and health expert at Oxford, added that the recommendation was based on a 'skewed reading'.
He said: 'Even with this skewed way of presenting the evidence, the reviews clearly indicate the benefits of reducing red and processed meat consumption.'
WHAT SHOULD A BALANCED DIET LOOK LIKE?
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Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain, according to the NHS
• Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruit and vegetables count
• Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain
• 30 grams of fibre a day: This is the same as eating all of the following: 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, 2 whole-wheat cereal biscuits, 2 thick slices of wholemeal bread and large baked potato with the skin on
• Have some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks) choosing lower fat and lower sugar options
• Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 portions of fish every week, one of which should be oily)
• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consuming in small amounts
• Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water a day
• Adults should have less than 6g of salt and 20g of saturated fat for women or 30g for men a day
