A researcher based in Perth, Australia is conducting what is described as ground-breaking research to investigate whether emu oil can be taken orally to treat bowel diseases which can lead to the onset of bowel cancer.
Dr Suzanne Mashtoub, from the School of Medicine and Pharmacology at University of Western Australia, has been awarded a $25,000 Early Career Investigator grant by Cancer Council WA towards this research.
Dr Mashtoub, who is currently a National Health and Medical Research Council post-doctoral research fellow, is said to be the only researcher worldwide looking at the use of emu oil as an internal treatment for bowel diseases.
"My primary aim with this research is to investigate whether emu oil can reduce inflammation and repair damage in the bowel caused by ulcerative colitis, and subsequently monitor if we can then prevent the development of bowel cancer," Dr Mashtoub said.
She said emu oil was used for thousands of years by Australia’s indigenous ancestors to provide relief from pain, and more recently some research has highlighted the benefits of topical applications of emu oil to treat inflammatory skin conditions such as arthritis.
"I'm also looking at experimenting with different batches of emu oil and making sure that the efficacy of emu oil is consistent regardless of where it comes from."
While this research is lab based and is expected to be completed by early next year, Dr Mashtoub is hoping clinical trials will not be too far off.
"This Cancer Council grant will help me to further explore the therapeutic effectiveness of emu oil which I'm hoping will have a positive impact on patients suffering from these incurable conditions.
"I know many friends and family who have been affected by cancer so I've seen first-hand the side effects of treatments like chemotherapy," she said.
Dr Mashtoub said she also knows there is a lot of interest in using natural medicines to find relief from these conditions.
