Tropical Medicine: Combatting the Global Epidemic of Chronic Diseases

Cancer is now considered on the constellation of diseases known as non-communicable chronic diseases.  Included in this group are many diseases that are generated by chronic inflammation. They include not only cancer, but diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s, asthma, and cardiovascular disease to name a few. By all estimates the global burden of cancer will overwhelm developing nations in the next half century. One explanation for the rise in chronic inflammatory disease is the process of acculturation, where populations drift away from traditional plant-based diets in favor of the high calorie, easy access, and phytochemically-depleted diets of developed nations. Tropical plants provide an extensive source of ant-inflammatory compounds with proven anti-cancer capability.  These include compounds from green tea, and from an array of spices and herbs including turmeric, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, garlic, lemongrass, and black pepper.  The evidence for anti-inflammatory action of culinary herbs and spices will be presented.  Given that many phytochemicals are poorly absorbed in humans, strategies to enhance their bioavailability are the center of current research.  Lastly, the new frontier of cancer epigenetics has revealed that many plant-based chemicals have the capacity to de-silence regulatory genes that are often turned off in cancer cells; the latest research suggests that judicial use of certain compounds in herbs and spices can reverse epigenetic changes in cancer cells, offering a potential promise of their use in cancer prevention and therapy.