  Shark Cartilage vs. Bovine Cartilage.....(3)

   It seems that everywhere you look you either read about
or hear about shark cartilage,  Is it the find of the cen-
tury or just another get rich promotion?

   The article entitled, "Shark Medicine" that appeared in
the May 16th issue of Your Health starts with the state-
ment, "shark cartilage just might be a cure - for serious
illnesses, including arthritis, cancer and perhaps even
AIDS."  The article goes on to say, "Or it might be noth-
ing more than unproven nonsense and quackery."

   I. William Lane, Phd. has become the guru of shark
cartilage.  An independent biochemist and nutritionist,
he published a book entitled, "Sharks Don't Get Cancer"
in 1992.  He also published a 130 page summary of the 
scientific literature on shark cartilage entitled, "Com-
prehensive Research Papers on the Use of Shark Cartilage".

   Even the National Cancer Institute became interested
but backed off when researchers were not happy with their
findings from an initial investigation.

   Shark cartilage, as you probably know, has two actions:
It is an anti-inflammatory and it inhibits the formation
of new blood vessels (angiogenesis).

   At present, approximately 15,000 to 18,000 Americans
take shark cartilage for their arthritis.  The dosage to 
relief being one gram (1,000 mg.) of dry, powdered shark
cartilage per 15 pounds of bodyweight.  Commercially 
available capsules contain 740 to 750 mg which means you
would have to take about one tablet for every 11 pounds
or bodyweight.

   Since about 80% of Americans are overweight let's 
figure the cost for a 165 pound person.  He or she would
require 15 capsules per day.  One national brand retails
100 tablets for $44.95.  This gives you a 6.66 day supply
or you would need 4.5 bottles a month.  This comes
to $202.28 a month.

   While the press coverage of shark cartilage has been
tremendous, very little is written about bovine cartilage.

   Bovine tracheal cartilage was first discovered to pro-
mote wound healing back in 1954.  Since that time it has 
been proven effective in treating a wide range of clinical
conditions from inflammatory diseases (arthritis) to 
cancer.

   John F. Prudden, M.D., Med.Sc.D., discovered the effect-
iveness of bovine cartilage when he was Associate Professor
of Clinical Surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.
During the course of the initial clinical work, he observed
dramatic tumor shrinkage in a patient with cancer of the
breast and malignant ulceration of the entire chest wall.
This discovery led to therapeutic trials on other cancer
patients.

   Dr. Prudden's research is the foundation for the re-
search and application of all cartilage products - includ-
ing shark cartilage.

   In the 60s, Judah Folkman, M.D., while working at Child-
ren's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, began laboratory
studies of the effects of cartilage on the networks of 
blood vessels in tumors.  A few years later, Robert Langer,
Sc.D. and Anne Lee, Ph.D., of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology reported that bovine calf cartilage could
inhibit the growth of blood vessel networks in solid tumors.

   Since these initial discoveries more than $7 million has
been invested in the clinical research conducted under Dr.
Prudden's direction.  The research has involved the use of
bovine cartilage preparations to treat cancer, arthritis,
rheumatism, acute and chronic skin allergies, and to ac-
celerate the healing of wounds.

   Dr. Prudden derived a dosage of 9 grams daily by mouth,
administered as 3 grams three times a day.  He further 
stated that up to four months may be required to see a
definite response in cancer patients and that the disease
may, on occasion, initially progress before responding.

   In 25 years of human clinical testing, with dosages of
bovine cartilage up to three times the standard dosage of
9 grams daily, no toxicity has been observed.

   In December, 1985, Dr. Prudden published clinical re-
sults in a report entitled, "Treatment of Human Cancer
With Bovine Tracheal Cartilage" in the Journal of Bio-
logical Response Modifiers.  Dr. Prudden accepted only
patients who failed to respond to all conventional therapy,
or had a cancer for which the current treatment was gen-
erally recognized as ineffective.  Of the 31 patients
cited in the report, 90 % showed a partial or complete re-
sponse.  Eleven (35%) showed complete responses with prob-
able or possible cures, 8 (26%) had a complete response
but sustained a relapse, 6 (19%) sustained a partial re-
sponse and 3 (10%) a minimal response.  One patient 
showed no response and the disease progressed.

   Alex Duarte, O.D., Phd., in a book discussing the work
of Dr. Prudden commented:
     "What this in essence means is that we now have
      an effective and totally safe anti-cancer, anti-
      inflammatory, wound healing product that is 
      simply non-toxic.  Imagine a food that achieves
      far superior results compared to chemotherapy,
      radiation or surgery without mutilating or health
      destroying side effects.  Hippocrates said it
      hundreds of years ago and it still holds true 
      today, 'make medicine your food and food your
      medicine."

   Finally, the therapeutic dose of bovine cartilage is
one-eighth that of shark cartilage and four times less
expensive.  And, one disadvantage of shark cartilage is
that in therapeutic doses, it delivers an excessive a-
mount of calcium.  Therefor, someone taking a thera-
peutic dose will be getting too much calcium thereby
placing the body further out of balance.

   Well, there you have it.  I guess "you makes your 
choice and takes your chances!"
                    _______________

   The United States has the most costly medical system
   in the world.  Yet, over the last 40 years, among
   the 21 "developed" countries, America has fallen from
   7th to 18th place in life expectancy, and has the
   worst infant mortality record of any of them!
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