To whom it may concern,I was looking in to the benefits of taking shark cartilage products for a while now. I havelooked up a number of companies selling that type of product.I decided to look up the benefits of shark cartilage on the Internet. I googled shark cartilage and the very first hit was Wikipedia. I was concerned when I read thedescription and to my dismay I found information I did not expect.This is what I read:
Shark cartilage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shark cartilage
is a dietary supplementmade from the dried and powderedcartilageof a
shark ; that is, from the tough material that composes a shark's skeleton. Shark cartilage isclaimed to combat and/or prevent a variety of illnesses, most notablycancer .It is often
marketed under the names Carticin, Cartilade, or BeneFin. A derivative of it named Neovastat was tested by AEterna Zentarisas anangiogenesis inhibitor and showed
promising results in animals. Two clinical trials of Neovastat were completed in2007,showing negative results.The benefits of this supplement have not been scientifically proven, nor has shark cartilage been reviewed by the U.S.Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, its
pervasive use is due to the incorrect notion that sharks do not getcancer . This idea
became popular with the best-selling book
by Dr. WilliamLane, published in 1992. This assertion even appears in the film on sharks at theMonterey Bay Aquarium(although the aquarium does not endorse the use of shark cartilage).It also states:
Criticism and controversy
Proponents of shark cartilage are encouraged byanecdotal evidencefrom users as to itsefficacy. The proponents also cite studies that show that shark cartilage has had
some
success in preventingangiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existingvessels. While angiogenesis is often a normal function, it is also consistent with thegrowth of malignant tumors. They argue too, that very little research (in the quantity
and
quality of studies) has been conducted, and thus the benefits cannot be scientificallydisputed.
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