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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Henry Lowe's quest for a cure</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, December 18, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>How appropriate that we gathered at a place called Eden Garden to learn that Dr Henry Lowe's Jamaican plant extracts may well yield the long-awaited cure for cancer. Lowe had been nursing, developing, testing the two plant extracts for decades.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Jean Lowrie-Chin</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>As he moved from the labs of CAST (now UTech) to the government offices of the Ministry of Science and the Environment that he founded as permanent secretary in the '80s, to Blue Cross of Jamaica, and now to his post-retirement hub, the extracts have been his constant companions. His close friends know that he has been taking them from refrigerator to refrigerator under carefully controlled conditions over the years.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Lowe is the consummate scientist, a meticulous man who believes that there is absolutely no substitute for intrepid research and impeccable record keeping. He has stamped his reputation for excellence on each step of his career, from academia to government to private sector, to entrepreneurship. Lowe established the Environmental Health Foundation in 2000 at his Lady Musgrave Road business complex, Eden Gardens, where he juggles several business and wellness projects.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Even as we saw the public persona, this well-suited, well-travelled Henry Lowe, the young scientist in him has remained fully immersed in the possibilities of the plants that grew so plentifully around him. The child who examined plants and listened keenly to the old folks speak of miraculous cures, remained quick and curious, confident that one day he would make his mark on the world. The ardent scientist has sought to educate us through his many books, journals and the popular press.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Professor Errol Morrison who chaired the presentation, drew an analogy as he saw representatives from both sides of the political fence take their seats in the packed room: "The reggae master brought the two political factions together, now these reggae extracts are doing the same thing!"<P class=StoryText align=justify>Henry Lowe gave us some interesting facts. His extracts come from two indigenous Jamaican plants, so we could have an amazing new brand, bearing in mind that in 2005, the value of plant-derived medicinal products was US$16.41 billion.<P class=StoryText align=justify>One of the most successful anti-tumour agents used to treat cancer is a drug marketed as Taxol (Paclitaxel). "Much of its effectiveness is restricted due to its strong side effects when used at the required therapeutic doses," said Lowe. While various combinations with this drug have been tried to reduce the side effects, only a combination with Lowe's plant isolates "produced a significant growth-inhibitory effect and apoptosis, with no observed toxicity".<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Dr Henry Lowe (left) a
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=450 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Henry Lowe's quest for a cure</SPAN><SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, December 18, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>How appropriate that we gathered at a place called Eden Garden to learn that Dr Henry Lowe's Jamaican plant extracts may well yield the long-awaited cure for cancer. Lowe had been nursing, developing, testing the two plant extracts for decades.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Jean Lowrie-Chin</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>As he moved from the labs of CAST (now UTech) to the government offices of the Ministry of Science and the Environment that he founded as permanent secretary in the '80s, to Blue Cross of Jamaica, and now to his post-retirement hub, the extracts have been his constant companions. His close friends know that he has been taking them from refrigerator to refrigerator under carefully controlled conditions over the years.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Lowe is the consummate scientist, a meticulous man who believes that there is absolutely no substitute for intrepid research and impeccable record keeping. He has stamped his reputation for excellence on each step of his career, from academia to government to private sector, to entrepreneurship. Lowe established the Environmental Health Foundation in 2000 at his Lady Musgrave Road business complex, Eden Gardens, where he juggles several business and wellness projects.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Even as we saw the public persona, this well-suited, well-travelled Henry Lowe, the young scientist in him has remained fully immersed in the possibilities of the plants that grew so plentifully around him. The child who examined plants and listened keenly to the old folks speak of miraculous cures, remained quick and curious, confident that one day he would make his mark on the world. The ardent scientist has sought to educate us through his many books, journals and the popular press.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Professor Errol Morrison who chaired the presentation, drew an analogy as he saw representatives from both sides of the political fence take their seats in the packed room: "The reggae master brought the two political factions together, now these reggae extracts are doing the same thing!"<P class=StoryText align=justify>Henry Lowe gave us some interesting facts. His extracts come from two indigenous Jamaican plants, so we could have an amazing new brand, bearing in mind that in 2005, the value of plant-derived medicinal products was US$16.41 billion.<P class=StoryText align=justify>One of the most successful anti-tumour agents used to treat cancer is a drug marketed as Taxol (Paclitaxel). "Much of its effectiveness is restricted due to its strong side effects when used at the required therapeutic doses," said Lowe. While various combinations with this drug have been tried to reduce the side effects, only a combination with Lowe's plant isolates "produced a significant growth-inhibitory effect and apoptosis, with no observed toxicity".<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Dr Henry Lowe (left) a