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Taking An Active Roll in Your Cancer Care

Before Treatment Begins

If you have a few weeks before your chemotherapy treatment, use the time to put some type of game plan in to place. Build your strength through good nutrition, regular exercise, and plenty of rest. Educate yourself about the form and stage of cancer you have and make sure you understand clearly the goals of treatment you are about to undergo

I do not really recommend supplements during the course of chemotherapy or radiation, except for some that I will list below. The reason for this is because there is a lack of solid research on the risks and benefits. Some herbs and supplements have the potential to interfere with chemotherapy and radiation. For example, there is an ongoing controversy about whether taking antioxidant vitamins and minerals interfere with conventional therapy or enhances it. Therefore, I prefer to err on the side of caution and recommend taking these supplements, even a multivitamin, that may have antioxidant activity during treatment. The recommendations I make are general since specific prescriptions for diet, exercise, stress reduction, and psychological support may vary on the patient's form and stage of cancer and health problems.

  • Healthy diet. Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables, including berries and dark, leafy greens, which are rich in protective vital chemicals. But do not skip on these because they antioxidants; the concern is about antioxidant supplements, not the food source themselves. I would minimize animal protein, and get no more than 30 percent of total calories from fat, most from healthy mono-unsaturated fat such as found in olive oil, nuts, and avocados, and omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, walnuts, and ground flax seed. Flax seed may also be protective for those with hormonally-driven cancers in the prostate, breasts, ovaries, or uterus. If you eat meat try to find hormone-free, or organic varieties. There is some controversy about whether or not soy stimulates cancer cells. Therefore, I would eat no more than one serving per day of whole soy foods like tofu or soy milk and avoid soy supplements, including soy protein powder. Drink six-to-eight glasses of water or other healthy beverages like green tea.
  • Exercise. Moderate exercise has been shown to reduce fatigue, anxiety, and depression in cancer patients, and may boost immune function. Start with as little as two to three minutes of walking at a time, if necessary, gradually building to at least 30 minutes five times per week.
  • Sress reduction. Cancer treatment can be stressful, and chronic stress seems to weaken the immune system. Therefore, make sure you get enough sleep. Try to relieve anxiety, pain, and nausea by considering relaxation breathing, meditation, etc.
  • Acupuncture. During or after the course of treatment, cancer patients have found that acupuncture reduces pain and nausea. It raises low energy levels and increases the ability of patients to tolerate chemotherapy. You might wish to consider this form of therapy to help while you are recieving chemotherapy.
  • Botanicals. Medicinal mushrooms and their extracts can boost the immune system and may also have anti-tumor effects. They are used in Japan and China to increase the effectiveness of conventional cancer treatment. To get a range of mushrooms, try a combination product such as MycoSoft Gold or Stamets No. 7 from Fungi Perfecti ( www.fungi.com or 1-800-780-9126) or Host Defense from New Chapter (available at health food stores). There are physicians that have found green tea-maitake mushroom blend is especially helpful for patients with cancer-related fatigue and at some cancer clinics they recommend two Chinese herbal formulas, Chemo Support and Radio- Support to reduce the toxicity of conventional treatments. These can be obtained through the Crane Herb Company, www.craneherb.com

Once treatment is over, after chemo and radiation are finished, the real work of restoring your health and preventing recurrence can begin. You should start taking a good quality multivitamin and multimineral supplement. Women recovering from breast cancer may want to take Coenzyme Q-10 after chemotherapy is done (180 mg per day in soft gel form with meals) as preliminary research showed this supplement may increase longevity and prolong remission in breast cancer patients. Also, preliminary research suggests high doses of melatonin (20 mg per day at bedtime) makes the survival and improved quality of life in people with advanced solid tumors who have not been helped by conventional treatment.

Relief for Common Side Effects During Chemotherapy

SIDE EFFECT
SUGGESTION
Nausea You might want to try ginger root extract (in capsule form or brew as a tea), candied ginger, hypnosis. Also, use of an acupuncture point T6 on the wrist is now widespread. You can get this acupuncture through a practitioner or self-acupressure applied with the thumb, or devices such as Sea-Band Wrist Band which is sold in drug stores ( www.reliefband.com ).
Fatigue You might check first for a medical cause, like anemia. If this is okay you want to improve your sleep habits, maintain regular exercise to overcome tiredness
Weight loss If you have lost your appetite you may have to veer off the perfect diet and add enough foods that seem appealing to keep yourself at a healthy weight during treatment. Omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, walnuts, and ground flax seed may help prevent tumor-induced weight loss. The makers of the liquid supplement Ensure now have a version containing Omega-3s called Prosure, for just this purpose
Mouth sores People undergoing chemotherapy/radiation often suffer from persistent sores in the mucus membranes in the mouth that make eating painful. Logenzes of slippery elm or chewable tablets of DGL (Deglycyrrhizinated licorice) make sooth the lining of your mouth. A mouthwash of L-glutamine powder and water or a homeopathic remedy called Traumeel may also be useful.

Important

It has been known for years that being overweight is not healthy but recent researchers have now definitely linked excess pounds to an increased risk of cancer. In the largest study of its kind, researchers with The American Cancer Society followed almost one million cancer-free men and women for 16 years. At the end of the study people who were overweight or obese had a higher risk of dying from cancer than those of normal weight. In both men and women extra weight was linked to higher rates of death from cancer of the esophagus, rectum, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and kidney as well as from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or multiple myeloma. Heavier men also had a greater chance of dying from stomach or prostate cancer, while overweight women were more likely to dye from cancer of the breast, uterus, cervix, and ovaries. Although it is still unclear why excess pounds contribute to cancer, researchers point out that extra body fat raises level of insulin in the blood and estrogen in women, which can both cause cancer cells to multiple (The New England Journal of Medicine, April 24, 2003). This is another study for Americans to consider to shed pounds, especially since researchers say losing weight could prevent about one out of every six deaths from cancer each year.

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