The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • A50

A tradition passed on from generation to generation, the Bud Duggan family, Madeline, Bill and Dan have dedicated their lives to serving families in their time of need. Their family approach of service is simple, families as we would like to be served at a most reasonable Serra Mortuary in Daly City is the most requested family- owned funeral home in the Peninsula and San Francisco. The personal touch of funeral service is prevalent in all they do. From the moment you make a phone call or walk in, you are greeted with warm and helpful staff. The Bud Duggan family is proud of their compassionate and knowledgeable staff.

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Scientists at Emory University in Atlanta are about halfway down that path with honokiol, a natural compound made from magnolia tree cones that, lab tests have shown, blocks a pathway for cancer growth that until now was considered impossible to attack with drugs. Dr. Jack Arbiser, a professor at Emory's School of Medicine, and colleagues at several institutions, published the latest findings in the July issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research. Arbiser has been working with the compound since 2003, when he discovered its ability to inhibit tumor growth in mice. The compound in particular seems able to block survival signals from a particular set of genes found in breast, lung and bladder cancer cells.

When activated, the genes stimulate pumps in the cancer cells that remove chemotherapy drugs from the cells before they're destroyed. While extract of magnolia tree cones has been used in Japanese and Chinese herbal medicines, the work is the first to use it directly against human cancer cells in the lab. "We think honokiol could be effective as a way to make tumors more sensitive to traditional chemotherapy," Arbiser said. "Knowing more about how it works tells us what kinds of cancer to go after." Emory is in the process of licensing honokiol and related compounds so they can be tested in humans. Researchers at the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis VA Hospital recently tested a mulberry leaf extract on 20 patients and found it helped Type 2 diabetics stabilize blood sugar levels and lower post-meal blood sugar spikes.

One study, reported in the journal Diabetes Care, showed an average 44 percent reduction in post-meal blood sugar spikes. Mulberry leaf has long been used as a food seasoning in India and as a Chinese herbal medicine, thought to help remove excessive "heats" and toxins from the body. The extract tested was developed by Dr. Lee Zhong and is already sold as a dietary supplement by a San Diego firm, Neuliven Health. Earlier studies have shown there are several substances in mulberry leaves that help inhibit a key enzyme involved in metabolizing carbohydrates and sugars.

Zhong said that the extract could help Type 2 diabetics who are currently trying to manage blood sugar levels mainly through diet and exercise, but still struggle with fluctuations around mealtime, although experts stress that patients should not add the supplement to their treatment plan without discussing it with their doctor or dietitian. Then there's licorice root extract. This is no candy, but a strong, even bitter medicine that, up to the 1970s, was often prescribed to treat stomach ulcers. In a recent issue of the journal General Dentistry, Dr. Michael Martin of the University of Washington and colleagues showed that small adhesive patches providing a time- released dose of licorice extract works well against another sort of ulcer canker sores.

The sores often the result of an accidental bite or scrape inside the mouth, but also caused by some foods, allergies, and drugs are typically treated with over-the-counter liquids or gels, or with mouthwash. But they hurt like crazy and often linger for days and weeks. Martin found patients who used the patches for seven days had little or no pain after three days and significantly reduced the size of ulcers compared to a control group that didn't get treated. Old-fashioned remedies get new life Finally, a Sunday paper you can actually nish on Sunday. Introducing our rst Sunday edition.

a paper that weigh you down. Free every Sunday, it has all the information you want, while leaving plenty of time to enjoy your day. the best way to catch up on local news, health news, green news, travel, money issues and more. Now you can spend the rest of your Sunday doing, well, whatever you want. Look for The Examiner every Sunday or subscribe to the E-dition at www.SFexaminer.com.

Senior Spolight For rea ing newS, ViSit SFe aMiner.CoM AS 50 THURSDAY, JULY 24,2008.