Mother Nature may hold Cancer key

I have just read this article and found it interesting and thought some of you Ladies might like to read it to. Australian and French scientists are hoping Mother Nature may hold the key to preventing and curing cancer in humans. Deakin University's Dr Beata Ujvari and a team from France's Montpellier University are the first to examine how animals fight cancer and how their natural preventative tactics, developed over millions of years could translate to humans. "Until now, the study of cancer in the human world has been undertaken in isolation to the animal world, which is unfortunate because links between these disciplines may reveal new lines of research, " Dr Ujvari said. "So far we have reviewed data from all the available research across the globe on cancer in animals, which affects all creatures from insects to whales, and put forward new ideas and new theories, which we now want to prove or disprove in the laboratory and the wild," Dr Ujvari said. "During our reviews we looked at how cancer might affect different organisms ranging from insects to vertebrates and were interested in what kinds of strategies different organisms use to avoid, treat and decrease their risk of dying from cancer." The French team is currently monitoring the behaviour of fruit flies exposed to the disease and looking at self-medicating behaviours such as sleep patterns and food choices. Dr Ujvari will then repeat the French experiments in a zebra fish to investigate whether insects and vertebrates react similarly. "If the responses of flies and fish are similar, then it implies that the same behavioural pattern may apply to mammals, including humans, and similar strategies could be used when preventing and treating human cancer" she said. "For example, studying the unusual feeding habits of animals could help us identify the food items they use to self medicate, which could potentially contribute to the discovery of novel anti-cancer drugs. "Equally, understanding the link between sleep duration and cancer could result in preventing or treating cancers. Human studies show that shift workers with frequent night shifts have a higher risk of developing cancer. We also know that animals that sleep significantly more produce a hormone, which has anti-cancer properties". Food for thought Ladies (excuse the pun!)"