Issue about dang gui and estrogen. It is a complicated question. Hope it can be sorted out.

當歸抗癌腫作用 ﹕對岷縣當歸的五種多 糖進行小鼠體內抗腫瘤藥物篩選。結果表明﹐上述多糖對小鼠移植性腫 瘤 EC, Hep, S180, Lewis B16等瘤株具有一定程度的仰制作用﹐ 可達39%﹐副作用少﹐並可長期用藥。

但有报道澳 洲醫學界研究發現，常食人參及當歸會加速乳癌細胞分裂。

Another issue to consider: 對女性激素不敏感的乳癌常見於亞洲與非洲的婦女。這種乳癌沒有现代特效的治療藥物。抑制女性激素對白種人的乳癌有效而對亞洲婦女無效。澳 洲醫學界研究是否其對相只是白種人？ See: jin_zhen_gu.htm

有報導，常吃豆類食物，對防癌與治癌能有效；可能是所含的植物雌激素。而當歸含植物性雌激素。  

 http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/FactSheet/Diet/fs1.phyto.cfm

Differentiating jiang huang, yu jin, shu gu jiang huang  and e zhu

姜黄，鬱金，束骨姜黄，莪朮之分別           按此看中文。Click here for Chinese

By: Joe Hing Kwok Chu

He yu jin (black yu jin) is also called: wen yu jin, wen yi jin, chuan yu jin is produced in the district of Wen Zhou of Zhejiang province. Chuan in this case does not mean Sichuan province but it means river. Wen does not mean warm or mild. It means the district Wen Zhou.

Guang yu jin does not mean it is produced in Guangdong. Guang (廣) in this case means "broad“. It is mainly produced in Sichuan. It is the root of Curcuma longa  It is also called "huang si yu" (huang si means yellow silk) and "jiang huang".

藥材商品因產地和品種不同， 名稱類似而植物不相同。有名稱相同而植物不同，因而産生紊亂情形：

• 薑黄 Curcuma longa L﹐ 學名亦稱為 Curcuma domestica Val.

• 廣西莪朮，桂鬱金 Curcuma kwangsinenssis S.G. Leee et C.F. Ling L.

• 鬱金Curcuma aromatica Salisb.

• 莪朮 Curcuma zedoaria (berg) Rosc.

• 束骨姜黄 Curcuma xanthorrhiza  Roxb.

薑黄與鬱金功效相似而略異，川鬱金(鬱金)偏重於行氣解鬱，廣鬱金 (薑黄)偏重於活血化瘀。

束骨薑黄，別名大薑黄但不是薑黄。一般用於治肝炎與産婦用來催乳。

四種飲片外觀不同：

1. 莪朮飲片通常較大與厚而不透明，灰褐色。

2. 鬱金飲片較小，色浅而半透明，不香。

3. 薑黄飲片色黄，味香。

4. 束骨薑黄飲片較莪朮大而黄，但較薑黄淡。