Mistletoe Is Not Only For Kissing

As families prepare for the holidays, houses become a winter wonderland, Christmas trees adorn the house, and mistletoe gets hung in the doorways. And while all these activities go one, I bet no one thought that mistletoe could be used for something more than just a decoration. But in actuality, there has been an on-going 30 year study that proves ingredients in mistletoe can be used to cure cancer and promote survivability.

Iscador is brand name for an extract derived directly from the mistletoe plant. It has been used and studied for over 90 years to treat cancers of all sorts. It has been studied with patients suffering from all types of cancer, ranging from rarer forms like high-risk malignant melanomas or mesothelioma, to breast cancer and bladder cancer.

The primary functions of Iscador are to stimulate the immune system and slow down cancer cell growth. And since it can accomplish these tasks with little or no side effect, Iscador is normally used in conjunction with conventional therapies. Many patients undergoing Iscador injections have claimed they feel more positive about treatment and the pain from harsher treatments is lessened.

With over 35,000 participants, the use of Iscador has shown positive improvements. Results from a recent study have shown that groups using Iscador with conventional treatments live almost 40% longer than control groups. Another study conducted by R.Klopp, highlighted that the functions of white blood cells and the immune system increased after Iscador treatments were injected.

Though these results are thorough and accurate, some scientists have tried to debunk the use of mistletoe extracts with cancer treatments. Some have claimed that the use of Iscador actually stimulates tumor growth, but two German scientists Gerhard Maier and Heinz-Herbert Fiebig, quickly disproved this assumption. With their study of 16 human cancer cells, they were able to prove that there was no evidence of cancer cell growth when using mistletoe extracts. On the contrary, their research showed antitumor activity.

Today Iscador is commonly used in Europe and is gaining momentum in the United States. It is only available by prescription and can be used to compliment alternative or conventional medicine. So next time when families get together and decorate the house, they will look at mistletoe in a whole new light.

Thank you for this guest post, Allison Brooks! She recently graduated from Ole Miss with a degree in Biomedical Anthropology, and she is currently doing research and completing enthographies in this field.