Increasing blood circulation naturally?

CrunchyPoodleMama

This may sound a bit off-topic but it's something I've been thinking about in case I end up having a nipple-sparing mastectomy... AND it's a biggie in trying to conceive (I've had poor circulation in the past to my reproductive organs, which the herb dong quai helped, but unfortunately it probably also helped my DCIS to grow wildly -- dong quai feeds cancer cells like mad).

I know I need to be exercising more... obviously.

I've read that cayenne pepper can improve circulation. I've added generous sprinkles of it to foods in the last few days and I can certainly *feel* warmer/a bit energized somehow. 

What about niacin? I know it causes that "flush," so I would think that gives a temporary boost to circulation?

What else have you heard of that can improve circulation naturally (foods, herbs, spices, whatever)?

CrunchyPoodleMama

I had forgotten a biggie... ACUPUNCTURE!!! I just called my acupuncturist (whom I hadn't seen in 2 years since my fourth pregnancy) and talked with her about the dang quai issue and my breast cancer. She works with breast cancer patients, apparently, and said there's an herb formulation that helps prevent bc... um, I'm skeptical at this point but will find out what's in it. In any case, I know that acupuncture has dramatically helped my circulation in the past so I just scheduled an acu session. I'm kind of excited about it actually!

CrunchyPoodleMama

LOL - I was coming here to post a new topic on blood circulation and cancer, but did a search first to see if this had already been covered. I totally forgot I had posted this!!

Girls, I think circulation is a biggie in our fight against cancer. I'm still just starting to research this connection, but here are a couple of things I've read recently:

http://www.ctds.info/natthinners.html

Cancer and Blood Clots

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) cancer is often viewed as a symptom of a circulation problem. In modern, Western medicine, the common assumption is that cancer causes blood clots. But what if the TCM version is really the most accurate view, and the reality was that blood clots, or a lack of circulation from blood clots, caused cancer? Perhaps not coincidentally, many factors that studies show may decrease the risk of cancer also thin the blood. These include sunshine, exercise, aspirin, heparin (a prescription anticoagulant), antibiotics, olive oil, fish oil, turmeric, vitamin E and garlic.

http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/cancer2/breast.htm
In a study of 300 breast cancer patients on anticoagulants, one eighth of them died from breast cancer, but not one developed metastases. Anticoagulants stop fibrin from forming. Fibrin (a natural substance needed for blood to clot) has a pretty significant role in the development of metastases: it coats maverick cells it finds in the blood stream, and thus protects them from the immune system, and it gives off a signal to start angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels (which a metastasis would need in order to root and grow).

http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_niacin.html
Recent findings have shown that vitamin B-3 (niacin) does have anti-cancer properties. This was discussed at a meeting in Texas in 1987, Jacobson and Jacobson. [15] The topic of this international conference was "Niacin, Nutrition, ADP-Ribosylation and Cancer," and was the 8th conference of this series.

Niacin, niacinamide and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) are interconvertable via a pyridine nucleotide cycle. NAD, the coenzyme, is hydrolyzed or split into niacinamide and adenosine dinucleotide phosphate (ADP-ribose). Niacinamide is converted into niacin, which in turn is once more built into NAD. The enzyme which splits ADP is known as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, or poly (ADP) synthetase, or poly (ADP-ribose) transferase. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase is activated when strands of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are broken. The enzyme transfers NAD to the ADP-ribose polymer, binding it onto a number of proteins. The poly (ADP-ribose) activated by DNA breaks helps repair the breaks by unwinding the nucleosomal structure of damaged chromatids. It also may increase the activity of DNA ligase. This enzyme cuts damaged ends off strands of DNA and increases the cell's capacity to repair itself. Damage caused by any carcinogenic factor, radiation, chemicals, is thus to a degree neutralized or counteracted.

Jacobson and Jacobson, conference organizers, hypothesized that niacin prevents cancer. They treated two groups of human cells with carcinogens. The group given adequate niacin developed tumors at a rate only 10% of the rate in the group deficient in niacin. Dr. M. Jacobson is quoted as saying, "We know that diet is a major risk factor, that diet has both beneficial and detrimental components. What we cannot assess at this point is the optimal amount of niacin in the diet... The fact that we don't have pellagra does not mean we are getting enough niacin to confer resistance to cancer." About 20 mg per day of niacin will prevent pellagra in people who are not chronic pellagrins. The latter may require 25 times as much niacin to remain free of pellagra.

Vitamin B-3 may increase the therapeutic efficacy of anti-cancer treatment. In mice, niacinamide increased the toxicity of irradiation against tumors. The combination of normobaric carbogen with nicotinamide could be an effective method of enhancing tumor radiosensitivity in clinical radiotherapy where hypoxia limits the outcome of treatment. Chaplin, Horsman and Aoki16 found that nicotinamide was the best drug for increasing radiosensitivity compared to a series of analogues. The vitamin worked because it enhanced blood flow to the tumor. Nicotinamide also enhanced the effect of chemotherapy. They suggested that niacin may offer some cardioprotection during long-term adriamycin chemotherapy. 

Further evidence that vitamin B-3 is involved in cancer is the report by Nakagawa, Miyazaki, Okui, Kato, Moriyama and Fujimura [17] that in animals there is a direct relationship between the activity of nicotinamide methyl transferase and the presence of cancer. Measuring the amount of N-methyl nicotinamide was used to measure the activity of the enzyme. In other words, in animals with cancer there is increased destruction of nicotinamide, thus making less available for the pyridine nucleotide cycle. This finding applied to all tumors except the solid tumors, Lewis lung carcinoma and melanoma B-16.

Gerson [18] treated a series of cancer patients with special diets and with some nutrients including niacin 50 mg 8 to 10 times per day, dicalcium phosphate with vitamin D, vitamins A and D, and liver injections. He found that all the cancer cases were benefited in that they became healthier and in many cases the tumors regressed. In a subsequent report Gerson elaborated on his diet. He now emphasized a high potassium over sodium diet, ascorbic acid, niacin, brewers yeast and lugols iodine. Right after the war there was no ready supply of vitamins as there is today. I would consider the use of these nutrients in combination very original and enterprising. Dr. Gerson was the first physician to emphasize the use of multivitamins and some multiminerals. More details are 
in Hoffer. [19]

Additional evidence that vitamin B-3 is therapeutic for cancer arises from the National Coronary Study, Canner. [2]