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Re:Anti-tumor activity of all-trans retinoic acid in gastric... by Metacelsus on Saturday November 25, 2023 @09:48AM (#38413856)
It's more complicated than this. The conversion of vitamin A (carotenoids) to ATRA is highly regulated by various enzymes, and giving ATRA directly will bypass the enzymes and result in much higher doses than would normally be achieved.
Re:Anti-tumor activity of all-trans retinoic acid in gastric... by Podgajski on Saturday November 25, 2023 @09:56AM (#38413903)
ATRA he found an organ meats like the liver.

But when not eat healthier in the meantime?

Listen, it’s better to prevent cancer than to have to take some special metabolite drug of vitamin A for a gazillion dollars to cure it, isn’t it?

Re:Anti-tumor activity of all-trans retinoic acid in gastric... by Turing_Machine on Saturday November 25, 2023 @11:03AM (#38414319)
Hmm... I'm not sure that follows. The ACE-inhibitor drugs like lisinopril (and several others ending in -pril) are front-line drugs for treating high blood pressure. I take lisinopril myself, as do other friends and family members.

The ACE-inhibitors are modifications of a substance found in the venom of Bothrops jararaca, a South American pit viper. Scientists observed that when a prey animal is bitten by one of these snakes it experiences a sudden and profound drop in blood pressure (ideally to zero, from the snake's point of view).

You could argue that allowing yourself to be bitten by one of these snakes would somehow be more "natural" than taking a pill, but myself, I'm going to stick with the pill. :-)

While perhaps not as dramatic, vitamin A is also quite toxic in large amounts. Some of the early polar explorers came to grief from eating sled dog livers or other animal livers.

Re:Anti-tumor activity of all-trans retinoic acid in gastric... by Podgajski on Saturday November 25, 2023 @01:00PM (#38415150)
You’re making a false equivalent.

There are many other ways to control high blood pressure as well, and one of those includes diet.

Re:Anti-tumor activity of all-trans retinoic acid in gastric... by Turing_Machine on Saturday November 25, 2023 @07:52PM (#38418255)
> You’re making a false equivalent.

Not at all.

You: taking Vitamin A in a pill is unnatural. You should get it naturally, by eating organ meat (at the potential cost of getting sick from Vitamin A overdose, which is something that actually happens).

Me: taking an ACE inhibitor in a pill is unnatural. You should get it naturally, by allowing a snake to bite you (at the potential cost of dying from the snake bite).

There's no "false equivalent" here. The statements are exactly analogous.