Shark cartilage

[[File:Tigershark2.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Harvesting the cartilage is very dangerous. For the [[shark]].]]
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'''Shark cartilage''' is promoted as a [[quack]] medical treatment for [[cancer]] and arthritis. No scientific studies support these uses or justify killing sharks for profit.

Neovastat is an investigational drug derived from shark cartilage which is currently being studied as a cancer treatment.  It should not be confused with over the counter shark cartilage products, which contain mostly filler, vary widely in the amount of cartilage they contain, and are completely ineffective. [[Double-blind]] studies which have been conducted using regular shark cartilage have shown no effectiveness at all.

Scientific interest in shark cartilage came about because of the presence of a [[protein]] in the cartilage which was researched for its possible use in preventing angiogenesis, which is the growth of new blood vessels from existing ones, which in turn could hinder the growth of cancerous tumors. The results of these studies were inconclusive, and the effects are still being investigated. Alternative health writers seized on the fact that these early studies took place to promote shark cartilage, and also bovine cartilage, as cures for cancer. Most notably, the 1992 book ''Sharks Don't Get Cancer'' by William Lane was a bestseller. Even the title of the book is wrong &mdash; sharks '''do''' get cancer.<ref>[http://www.livescience.com/41655-great-white-shark-cancer.html Sharks Do Get Cancer: Tumor Found in Great White] by Douglas Main, Staff Writer (December 03, 2013 05:15pm ET) ''Live Science''.</ref><ref>[http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045%2811%2970425-9/abstract Shark cartilage: has the popularisation of science failed?] Constantine Alifrangis & Justin Stebbing (Volume 13, No. 1, p22, January 2012) ''The Lancet'' DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(11)70425-9.</ref> Shark cartilage has been shown to be pro-inflammatory, which means that it causes inflammation.<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25600427 Pro-inflammatory properties of shark cartilage supplement] by L. Merly & S.L. Smith ''Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol.'' 2015 Apr;37(2):140-7. doi: 10.3109/08923973.2014.999160. Epub 2015 Jan 20.</ref> And chronic inflammation is known to '''cause''' cancer.<ref>[http://www.cancernetwork.com/review-article/chronic-inflammation-and-cancer Chronic Inflammation and Cancer] by Emily Shacter & Sigmund A. Weitzman (January 31, 2002) ''Oncology''</ref>

Even if the protein in question does have some value, taking shark cartilage pills, or shark cartilage via an [[enema]] as promoted by William Lane, cannot deliver it where it is needed in the body in the first place, as it cannot be absorbed into the bloodstream. Buying shark cartilage is flushing your money down the toilet.

As with almost anything produced from sharks, the cartilage (if not purified to the point of denaturation) also contains elevated amounts of squalene, one of the Secret Toxic Ingredients ''de rigueur'' as of the early 2010s (see [[vaccine hysteria]]). At least before the squalene fear epidemic, shark cartilage populations with extra squalene added were quite popular in the nostrum market.

In addition, several species of sharks are endangered or threatened species, such as the {{wpl|basking shark}} (which is easy to harvest since they are docile and slow-moving), and widespread demand for shark cartilage as a purported medical cure can increase overfishing of these species.{{efn|Compare this to the demand for powdered rhino horn, another ineffective folk remedy whose refusal to die leads to overhunting and ecological disaster.}}

==External links==
* [http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69374.cfm Sloan-Kettering fact sheet on shark cartilage]

==References==
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==Notes==
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{{stub|alternative medicine}}
[[Category:Cancer woo]]

Categories: Cancer woo