Medical researchers find camel urine has anti-cancer effects

View of two camels seen in the distance at Al Areesh Desert Camp, Wahiba Sands, Oman. The camels were available for rides.

Camel urine - which the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is said to have championed as a cure for illness - may sound pretty far-fetched as medicine, but it does have some unusual medical effects.

While camels have been studied for decades, research before 2010 seems largely to have been on their legendary ability to survive for periods without food and water, followed by how they react to various drugs. The earliest study on the effects of camel urine dates back to 1996, which was compared to the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide. Camel urine was found to be as effective as cyclophosphamide in killing cancer cells in the bone marrow, but much safer. Cyclophosphamide can also cause cell mutations which lead to cancer, whereas camel urine did not have such an effect.

A 2010 study, published January 2011 in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, applied camel urine to cells to which a powerful cancer-causing chemical had been applied. The researchers found that camel urine effectively prevented cancer from occurring, whereas cow urine had no effect. Virgin camel urine was more effective than that from pregnant and lactating camels.

A 2011 study is one of the earliest to systematically compare camel urine against cow urine and human urine on platelets, which help blood to clot. The researchers found that while human and cow urine did nothing to platelets in human blood, camel urine inhibited platelet activity. Researchers further established that urine from pregnant and lactating camels is even more effective than urine from virgin camels. Substances that prevent platelet activity may help the treatment of heart disease, as blood that does not clot easily ensures fewer clots that cause heart problems.

A 2012 study analysed camel urine and found that it contained components unique to camels, further suggesting that it might have antimicrobial properties. Another 2012 study, published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology went further, testing camel urine against various cancers and concluding that it is effective against many cancers in vitro, including breast cancer, while leaving normal cells unaffected. Another 2016 study on breast cancer cells in Integrative Cancer Therapies noted that camel urine is effective against breast cancer. The more camel urine was used, the smaller the breast tumour became.

Contact with camels, including the use of camel urine for medicinal purposes has however been implicated in the spread of Middle East Respitatory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-Cov).

Minister of Health, KSA inspects health facilities at Madinah

His Excellency the Minister of Health of the KSA, Dr Tawfiq Al-Rabiah has underlined the importance of improving health services with available capabilities, especially for increasing efficiency.

Al-Rabiah had visited Madinah in the last third of June, highlighting the role of the Ministry of Health (MOH) in providing health services to patients. He was briefed on preparations to serve this year's pilgrims and visitors of the two major mosques, including efforts to prevent disease, at the Health Control Center at Prince Muhammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport, and inspected a number of health facilities including Al-Ansar Hospital, King Fahad Hospital and Ohud Hospital, and Al-safia Health Center and seasonal Bab Jabreel Health Center, both of which are primary healthcare centres at Al-Masjid An-Nabawi.

Moringa is a miracle, some say

Green Virgin Products, a provider of responsibly harvested and ecofriendly moringa products, has released a new guide about the benefits of moringa.

Green Virgin calls moringa a 'superfood', quoting studies finding that a single serving of the powder (in capsule form) contains over 40 antioxidants, 70 nutrients, 8 amino acids and a long list of vitamins, minerals and anti-inflammatories. The company uses a far-infrared drying system to dry the moringa within hours of harvest, then package it within eight hours of harvest in triple-layer, resealable packages that contain a specially designed oxygen absorber in the pouch to help prevent sun damage and oxidation.

Moringa (M. oleifera) trees are also called drumstick or horseradish trees. The leaves, roots, flowers, bark, sap and fruit have been used traditionally, some for food and some for folk medicine. Pubmed research dating as far back as 2007 have outlined moringa's pharmacological properties. As recently as 2015, a Phytotherapy Research abstract noted: "A rapidly growing number of published studies have shown that aqueous, hydroalcohol, or alcohol extracts of M. oleifera leaves possess a wide range of additional biological activities including antioxidant, tissue protective (liver, kidneys, heart, testes, and lungs), analgesic, antiulcer, antihypertensive, radioprotective, and immunomodulatory actions."

A 2012 meta-study of moringa in past studies showed indications that it can help people with diabetes or fatty livers, with better glucose tolerance if used over time. Another 2012 study also noted that it seems to be beneficial for diabetes. A 2014 experiment on moringa leaf extracts in cold water separately showed that it could damage lung cancer cells with much less damage to normal cells.

It has not been established however which formulations of moringa extracts are the most effective for various outcomes, and the results not strictly apples-to-apples as the moringa was prepared differently in different research. Researchers have also pointed out that research subjects might unconsciously act to fulfil a certain outcome if they know that they are taking moringa.

Interested?

Read the guide online

Use the coupon code 10OFF to save 10% off an online order. Green Virgin ships internationally. Its moringa leaf products are certified kosher and it has vegan capsules

More Indonesian vaccines for Saudi Arabia

The Indonesian Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) has negotiated an agreement to increase BioFarma vaccine exports to the Middle East, especially to Saudi Arabia. Indonesia is the only Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) country that produces vaccines certified by the World Health Organization (WHO).


Rahman Rustan, Corporate Secretary, BioFarma, a state-owned pharmaceutical company, said that three vaccines are currently exported to Saudi Arabia: the tetanus, diphtheria (DT) vaccine, a vaccine for polio, and Pentabio, a vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type B (DTP-HB-Hib).

With the help of ITPC, BioFarma can grow and diversify product exports, targeting Islamic countries in general. BioFarma has supplied vaccines to more than 130 countries, including 49 Islamic countries. The company is committed to increasing vaccine expertise for Islamic countries through knowledge-sharing and technology transfer. Indonesia's vaccine exports are worth more than US$114 million annually, while Saudi Arabia vaccine imports are valued more than US$270 million a year.