Plant Compound Found to Reverse Lung Damage Associated With COPD
COPD covers a wide range of diseases and is a huge issue. It is far more of a problem than most realize.
For those who do not know COPD is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, it is something we refer to as an umbrella term and includes things like emphysema, bronchiectasis, asthma, and chronic bronchitis. It is a progressively worsening lung disease that causes adverse effects to one’s breathing. It is the third leading cause of death here in the US.
About 3 million people are diagnosed with emphysema just in America. According to the NHLBI, about 12 million additional people have COPD but are not diagnosed with it. The mainstream believes the cause of COPD to be smoking, genetic factors, and long-term environmental exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace. That being said lots of people I have come across are exceptions to all three of these things.
COPD is considered to be incurable when it comes to conventional medicine and there are not really any set ways to treat it. Big Pharma pushes things like toxic chemical inhalers, steroids, and mucous thinning drugs as a means of managing the issue but those don’t do much for the issue and add to the problem. While most allopathic doctors do not believe lung tissue can be regenerated recent studies seem to show that it can.
Research carried out by Dr. Gloria De Carlo Massaro and Dr. Donald Massaro at Georgetown University School of Medicine have actually been able to reverse emphysema in rats successfully. In this the used a derivative of vitamin A (All-trans-retinoic acid.) They injected this into the rats daily for 12 days and the rats were able to grow new healthy alveoli.
Dr. Donald Massaro told NYTimes:
“It appeared that the treatment regenerated the adult rat’s ability to produce alveoli, the small air sacs where oxygen and carbon dioxide move between the lungs and the bloodstream. The production of alveoli normally ends in childhood.”
This is interesting because back in 2003 a study was published in the Journal of Nutrition titled “Vitamin A Depletion Induced by Cigarette Smoke is Associated with Development of Emphysema in Rats.” It showed that smoking caused a vitamin A deficiency and that those who developed the deficiency developed emphysema. This was a study carried out on rats as well and when exposed to cigarette smoke they all ended up with this deficiency.
The best way to add vitamin A back into your body is through your diet. You have to be careful not to overdo it as vitamin A is stored in the liver and if you ingest too much too often it can cause damage. Using supplements is not something I suggest when you can just eat things like carrots or cantaloupe to get what you need. Be aware of what you are putting into your body and remember that the natural way is usually the better way. One cup of raw carrots a day could be all you need!