For more than seventy years now, the acclaim and testamentary praise for Essiac - an herbal remedy based on a traditional Ojibway Indian decoction - have continued to pour in from doctors and patients alike. Touting its well-documented record of dramatic successes in the battle against cancer - not to mention its general effectiveness in such diverse disorders as AIDS, diabetes, arthritis and others - are an impressive array of researchers and medical institutions. Among the supporters Essiac has garnered over the years are Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the Brusch Medical Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Sir Frederick Banting, the discoverer of insulin.

These impressive credentials come despite an equally lengthy history of legal and political hurdles from the governments and medical establishments of both the United States and Canada. From its early days of widespread support by both medical practitioners and the general public (Canadian doctors in 1926 petitioned the government to allow it to continue to be tested on patients) to its ongoing battles for legalization (in 1938 it missed being legalized by the Ontario Parliament - by a mere three votes), Essiac continues today to present its case to the Food and Drug Administration - and to the court of public approval. Having recently been declared a food by the judiciary in Canada, Essiac is currently unapproved for marketing as a drug in both the U.S. and Canada.

The history of Essiac traces back to 1922, when the herbal formula was given to a Canadian nurse named Rene Caisse by a hospital patient whose breast cancer had been healed forty years earlier by an Ojibway medicine man. After curing her aunt's inoperable stomach cancer with it in 1924, the nurse named the remedy Essiac (her last name spelled backwards), and spent the next fifty years of her life treating countless patients and attempting to prove the efficacy of this herbal decoction. Since her death in the late 70's, the battle for acceptance by the medical establishment has been carried on by the handful of people Rene Caisse entrusted with her original formula.

Essentially, Essiac is an herbal combination made by decocting (boiling down) more than half a dozen different herbs. The active ingredients are prepared according to the original Ojibway legend, ancient wisdom and modern proprietary technology coming together to form the powerful herbal remedy. Chief among the herbs present is burdock, which has been extensively studied by Hungarian and Japanese scientists, amidst reports of considerable antitumor activity and the reduction of cell mutation in the absence or in the presence of metabolic activation.

Another of the herbs in Essiac, turkey rhubarb (or Indian rhubarb), has been demonstrated to have antitumor activity in the sarcoma-37 animal test system. The gathering of these herbs and the decoction process are very complicated and precise. One of the herbs has to be picked when there is no dew on the plant; another must be no more than one year old, while still another is one of over 180 species of the same plant.

Currently marketed as a "food"..., Essiac is careful to avoid making any claims to be a cure for disease. Despite its past history of saving or prolonging the lives of many for whom nothing else could be done, this herbal formula maintains a reputation for promoting wellness and general good health. Traditionally it was used as a tonic for increasing stamina and well-being. It has also been shown beneficial in strengthening the immune system.

Its supporters have taken to using Essiac on a seasonal basis, consuming several bottles as a tonic at the change of every season, and attributing to it their continuing levels of good health throughout the year. This Ojibway Indian gift appears to have a positive effect on normalizing imbalance anywhere in the body, and its use has been recorded in the treatment of PMS, sexual dysfunction, thyroid conditions, ulcers, and even learning disabilities.

Sources: Allen, Carrol and Fraser, Sheila Snow, "Could Essiac Halt Cancer", Homemaker's Magazine, June/July/August 1977

Walters, Richard, "Herbs and Plants Against Cancer", Health Magazine, March 1994