http://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ic&volume=5&issue=19&article=003Anti-cancer property of cow urine
Chauhan R.S.1, Dhama K.2, Singhal Lokesh1
1Centre for Animal Disease Research and Diagnosis (CADRAD), Izatnagar (U.P.)- 243 122, INDIA.
2Division of Avian Diseases, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar (U.P.)- 243 122, INDIA.
Abstract
Cow urine has a unique place in Ayurveda and has been described in ‘Sushrita Samhita’ and ‘Ashtanga Sangraha’ to be the most effective substance/secretion of animal origin with innumerable therapeutic values. It has been recognized as water of life or “Amrita” (beverages of immotality), the nector of the God. In India, drinking of cow urine has been practiced for thousands of years. It is an important ingredient of panchgavya, a term used to describe five major substances (urine, milk, ghee, curd and dung), obtained from cow. All the five products possess medicinal properties, and are used singly or in combination with some other herbs against many diseases, even those not curable by allopathic treatments. This kind of alternative treatment, termed as ‘panchgavya therapy’ or ‘cowpathy’, has been reported to be beneficial even for dreaded diseases like cancer, AIDS and diabetes. Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine from India routinely use cow urine as a remedy and the medicines made from it are used to cure several diseases. Improvements have been shown or reported with those suffering from flu, allergies, colds, rheumatoid arthritis, bacterial/viral infections, tuberculosis, chicken pox, hepatitis, leucorrhoea, leprosy, ulcer, heart disease, asthma, skin infections, aging, chemical intoxication etc. Cow urine can kill the number of drug resistant bacteria and viruses. Recently the cow urine has been granted U.S. Patents (No. 6896907 and 6,410,059) for its medicinal properties, particularly for its use along with antibiotics for the control of bacterial infection and fight against cancers. Through extensive research studies a cow urine distillate fraction, popularly known as ‘ark’, has been identified as a bioenhancer of the activities of commonly used antibiotics, anti-fungal and anti-cancer drugs. Thus it can promote and augment the bioactivity or bioavailability or the uptake of drugs in combination therapy and reduce the dose and duration of treatment. These milestone achievements highlight the beneficial role of cow urine in treating bacterial infections and cancers and that cow urine enhances the efficacy and potency of therapeutic drugs. During the past few years cow urine therapy has provided promising and authentic results for the treatment of cancer, a deadly malady which is being faced by the mankind and the incidences of which are ever increasing in the current scenario of changed lifestyle and food habbits along with exposure to predisposing factors of carcinogens such as tobacco chewing, smoking, alcohol intake, environmental pollutants, occupational health hazards etc. Anti-cancer potential of cow urine therapy has been reflected by several case reports, success stories and practical feed back of patients for the treatment of cancer. Cow urine enhances the immunocompetence and improves general health of an individual; prevent the free radicals formation and act as anti-aging factor; reduces apoptosis in lymphocytes and helps them to survive; and efficiently repairs the damaged DNA, thus is effective for the cancer therapy. Experimentally it has been proved that among all sorts of urines, the urine of the Indian cows is most effective. Seeing the potential use of indigenous cow urine in several ailments including even the cancer, the use of Gomutra (cow urine) of indigenous breeds of cattle should be promoted extensively. However, scientific validation of cow urine therapy is required for its worldwide acceptance and popularity. This review highlights the anti-cancer activity of cow urine and the strategies for promoting its vital medicinal potential and prospectives for the benefit of mankind with the view that cow urine therapy needs immediate attention, promotion, and wide popularity and proper support of the scientists, researchers and clinicians to strengthen this alternate low cost therapy having no side effects, as generally observed with chemotherapy and radiation therapy being followed for curing cancers, and thus inspire confidence in the public about its good virtues.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/1339267/A-gift-from-the-gods-bottled-cows-urine.html
A gift from the gods: bottled cow's urine
By Julian West in New Delhi
12:01AM BST 02 Sep 2001
HINDU nationalists in India have launched a marketing exercise to promote cow's urine as a health cure for ailments ranging from liver disease to obesity and even cancer.
The urine, which is being sold under the label "Gift of the Cow", is being enthusiastically promoted by the government of Gujarat, one of three states in India dominated by Hindu nationalists.
The urine is collected daily from almost 600 shelters for rescued and wounded cattle set up by the Vishwa Hindu Parisad (VHP), or World Council of Holy men, as part of a government cow-protection programme to save the country's sacred, but often maltreated, beasts.
Advertised as being "sterilised and completely fresh" it is available for 20 rupees (30p) a bottle at about 50 centres run by the VHP in Gujerat, from 200 of their outlets in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, and at fairs and religious festivals throughout India.
It also comes in tablets or a cream mixed with other traditional medicinal herbs. Demand is currently outstripping supply.
Dr Jadi Patel at the VHP's headquarters in Ahmedabad said: "It's very popular because the results are very good, but we've got a shortage." He explained that the cow protection centres had been formed after the last grand gathering of saddhus, or holy men, to save cows from "unofficial slaughter by Muslims".
Killing cows is illegal in most Indian states but there are an estimated 32,000 illegal abattoirs and 13.7 million cows are believed to be slaughtered by Muslims for the leather industry.
Animal rights activists in India also claim that the doe-eyed, hump-backed white Brahma cattle that are to be found on almost every Indian street are subjected to various abuses, including forced pregnancies to produce more milk.
The cow protection commission was set up to protect the holy cows, and research conducted by doctors involved in the project revealed that the cows' urine had medicinal properties.
The idea of using it came from the central Indian headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the powerful Hindu nationalist ideologues behind the country's Bharata Janata Party (BJP), where five scientists are researching its beneficial effects.
Like all devout Hindus, RSS members believe that all cow products are sacred. Ghee, or clarified butter, is used in Indian cooking and to light lamps during temple ceremonies, and milk is commonly poured over sacred idols as an offering.
The healing properties of cow dung and cow's urine are also mentioned in ancient Hindu texts. The research conducted by doctors at the cow-protection commission indicates that the urine can cure anything from skin diseases, kidney and liver ailments to obesity and heart ailments.
Although most Indian doctors view the medicines as eccentric, several advocates of the treatment have come forward in Gujarat, have come forward to support the doctors' claims.
They include Vidhyaben Mehta, a 65-year-old woman with a cancerous tumour on her chest who has been taking cow's urine for the past three years. She says she is no longer in pain and has survived in spite of medical predictions that she would die two years ago.
So enthusiastic is the Gujarat government about its cows' urine medicines that it has asked the Indian Institute of Management to compile a database of traditional cures and verify the Hindu nationalists' findings.
The academics have also discovered that cow's urine is an extremely effective pesticide and plant fertiliser and are now developing for human consumption new drugs that contain the "gift of the cow".
Prof Anil Gupta at the institute said: "This isn't just a religious thing. If it's useful we shouldn't stop it simply because we think it has religious connections."
