Reviewers from the Mayo Clinic are not ready to support any single CAM option, but some warrant further study, in their opinion. Continue reading Complementary therapies for cancer-related fatigue
Category Archives: Cancer
CAM options for symptom management in children with cancer
Ms. Jennifer Rheingans is a nurse educator for pediatrics at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Florida. In the Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing she reviews nonpharmacological therapies as a potential source of assistance for children with symptoms due to cancer treatment.
Symptoms and CAM options are listed below. Continue reading CAM options for symptom management in children with cancer
Yoga benefits for breast cancer survivors
Research reported Dr. Pamela Schultz during the American Physiological Society meeting in Washington, DC shows that the Iyengar method of yoga not only promotes psychological well-being, but seems to offer immune system benefits as well. Continue reading Yoga benefits for breast cancer survivors
Yoga for health
According to their website, the International Yoga Therapy Conference “is a forum that explores the specific and profound ways in which yoga can aid in maintaining good health or recovery from illness.”
This year’s meeting will be held at the Peacock Gap Country Club in San Rafael, California (about 30 minutes north of San Francisco) on May 18 to 20. Continue reading Yoga for health
Cannabis does not interact with 2 cancer drugs
Docetaxel (Taxotere) is used to treat breast cancer, while irinotecan (Camptosar) is used to treat cancer of the colon or rectum.
This study shows that medicinal cannabis can be taken with both anticancer agents and does not require adjusting their doses. Continue reading Cannabis does not interact with 2 cancer drugs
Coffee: Should you drink it or not?
Let’s see, since June last year this blog has summarized 8 reports on the effects of coffee and caffeine and health.
What should we make of all this?
Update on cannabinoids to treat pain
Here are highlights from the American Academy of Pain Medicine 23rd Annual Meeting
Sativex Oromucosal Spray Continue reading Update on cannabinoids to treat pain
Chinese herbal medicine therapy for chemotherapy-induced toxicity
Patients with early-stage breast or colon cancer who required postoperative chemotherapy were eligible for the study.
Continue reading Chinese herbal medicine therapy for chemotherapy-induced toxicity
Huge study supports fiber as a way to lower breast cancer risk
In pre-menopausal women, total fiber intake protects against breast cancer.
In fact, according to this study, those with the greatest intake of fiber cut their risk of breast cancer in half.
Details here.
Continue reading Huge study supports fiber as a way to lower breast cancer risk
Using massage and acupuncture to help control symptoms after cancer surgery
More data from the University of California, San Francisco in support of CAM in the care of cancer patients.
Continue reading Using massage and acupuncture to help control symptoms after cancer surgery
Zinc supplements in patients with head and neck cancer
Here’s a report (see page 113) from the 2007 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
Researchers at the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine the value of zinc in preventing taste alterations (dysgeusia) in patients with head and neck cancer who were undergoing radiation therapy.
Here are the details.
- 169 patients randomly assigned to zinc sulfate 45 mg by mouth 3 times/day, vs placebo administered throughout radiation to the posterior oropharynx and for one month after.
- 81% of patients experienced taste alterations: 61 of those taking zinc and 71 taking placebo.
- Time to taste alteration was 2.3 weeks with zinc vs 1.6 weeks in the placebo arm.
Although patients taking zinc had a delay in the onset of altered taste, the difference was not statistically significant. Therefore, the researchers concluded that zinc at the doses studied failed to prevent taste alterations in patients undergoing radiation-based treatment regimens for head and neck cancer.
The results differ from an earlier study in patients with dysgeusia that was not associated with cancer or other diseases.
3/10/07 14:42 JR
Omega-3 and the risk of colon cancer
This topic is controversial, but here are the latest results supporting a role for omega-3 fatty acids in lowering the risk of colorectal cancer.
Greater survival after breast cancer in active women who eat fruits and veggies
The results of this study differ from two earlier reports (here and here) in women with breast cancer — and exercise appears to be the difference. Continue reading Greater survival after breast cancer in active women who eat fruits and veggies
Evaluating CAM to treat nausea and vomiting in cancer patients
The Oncology Nursing Society has posted a table that summarizes CAM studies on the treatment of nausea and vomiting in cancer patients. The studies were published between 1988 and 2005.
Here’s a summary of their findings.
Continue reading Evaluating CAM to treat nausea and vomiting in cancer patients
Lowering expectations for dietary supplements in patients with cancer
Dr. Steven Thomas and his team from the University of Bristol in the U.K. found that neither dietary modifications nor nutritional supplements such as vitamins, antioxidants, retinol, and garlic alter the disease course of patients with cancer or preinvasive (precancerous) lesions. Their conclusion is based on an analysis of 59 generally low quality trials.
“We should not,” Dr. Thomas concluded, “maintain the notion that nutritional interventions can be promoted because at least they will do no harm.”
Continue reading Lowering expectations for dietary supplements in patients with cancer
Ketogenic diet to treat prostate cancer?
Since May, two publications (one here) have discussed the potential value of a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet in certain men with prostate cancer.
More experts dispute the role of folate in lowering breast cancer risk
Reports about the association between the risk of breast cancer and folate intake or blood levels have been inconsistent.
Now, 3 heavy hitters from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm and the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston have reviewed the medical literature.
Continue reading More experts dispute the role of folate in lowering breast cancer risk
Profiling cancer patients who use CAM
Here is a profile of CAM users among patients with cancer who live in Washington State. The data come from an insurance survey. So, it’s limited to what people submit for reimbursement.
An alternative delivery system for tetrahydrocannabinol
The Food and Drug Administration issued a statement in April that no sound scientific studies support the medicinal use of marijuana for treatment. This lead to a seemingly endless list of editorials and articles assailing the FDA for political bias – here, here, here, here, and here.
You get the message.
Back on earth…
Continue reading An alternative delivery system for tetrahydrocannabinol
Quality of life in women with breast cancer receiving anthroposophic care
There’s one hospital in Sweden where anthroposophic medicine is practiced. Here is a study of its effect in 60 women who received conventional breast cancer treatment with and without anthroposophic care.
Continue reading Quality of life in women with breast cancer receiving anthroposophic care