Dec 7th, '06, 21:37
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New tea benefit!

by Snow on Cedar » Dec 7th, '06, 21:37

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Findings from a new study confirm that tea extracts applied to the skin promote the repair of damage from radiotherapy, and shed light on the mechanisms involved in the injury. The beneficial effects of the extracts are mostly from their ability to attenuate the body signals that trigger inflammation.

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Radiotherapy interruption because of toxic effects to the skin may compromise the outcome of cancer treatment, lead author Dr. Frank Pajonk, from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, told Reuters Health. "So, it is important to have an effective treatment for this problem."

According to Pajonk, "tea extracts have been used as a folk remedy for sunburns, which led to their use as a treatment for radiation-induced skin toxicity. They have proven quite successful in this regard, but there were no scientific data" to clarify their effects.

In a study reported in the journal BMC Medicine, the researchers analyzed the effects of green or black tea extracts given to 60 patients with skin damage related to radiotherapy for head and neck cancers and cancer in the pelvic region.

Treatment with the tea extracts enhanced skin repair, the report indicates. For radiation damage in the head and neck region, the green and black tea extracts were comparable in promoting repair, whereas in the pelvic region, green tea extract was superior, Pajonk said.

The tea extracts inhibit a key proteasome, which "is at the center of the inflammatory machinery," explained Pajonk. This effect is associated with a reduction in several cells that lead to inflammation.

The researchers also found that the anti-inflammatory effects of the tea extracts did not stem solely from epigallocatechin-gallate, considered the most active component found in green tea.

Pajonk said that there is now a need for additional studies to compare tea extract therapy with standard treatments for radiation-induced skin toxicity.

SOURCE: BMC Medicine, December 1, 2006.
Humans are a dangerous breed...just look at what they do to each other.

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Dec 8th, '06, 07:48
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by Samovar » Dec 8th, '06, 07:48

Thanks for sharing this info!! Yeah Tea!!

Teatime

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Dec 8th, '06, 11:44
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by Chip » Dec 8th, '06, 11:44

It is good to know that skin likes tea too, which makes perfect sense...after all, I think that the epidermis is considered an organ if I remember my biology correctly.
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!

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Dec 8th, '06, 14:09
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by stugel » Dec 8th, '06, 14:09

Origins has a White Tea skincare line that's quite good.

http://www.origins.com/templates/produc ... TEGORY5756

Feb 26th, '07, 11:48
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by alter » Feb 26th, '07, 11:48

This is fabulous, I still remember that there was a time when there were a section of people who heavily condemned the drinking of tea and at the same time were also very skeptic about the uses. Now with the research and innovations it is gradually being proved that nothing is better than tea drinking, media people are even advertising the tea drinking now, so for me it really isnt a surprise that yet another finding emphasizes the utility of this beverage.

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