I am going to focus this article on some of the more general side effects of Chemo.
As toxic as it is, chemo still has its place in cancer treatment. I do not agree with its method of application in general. That is: 1. What determines who gets what drug ( information collected to determine this is way short ) 2. Amounts of drug given (atomic bomb frontal approach-destroy all cancer with way too much collateral damage). 3. Frequency of dose ( way too much, way too often, and for too long ). 4. Zero ability to protect the patient from side effect. 5. Poor follow up post treatment (patient not tested often enough, lack of specificity in testing). I believe these are the reason for so much poor response to chemo. That poor effect can be gauged by the number of chemo patients who die as a direct result of chemo protocol or simply by the fact after the chemo there is no effect on the cancer (except that the cancer has gotten stronger and the person weaker) and now that person is on their 5th try of a new drug or combination of drugs. We can do way better than this with a more intelligent approach and we have the ability to do this right now.
Now let’s watch a short introductory video:
Once these protocols have been set in motion, according to the standard practice oncology, what a practitioner is left with is how to protect the patient from both long and short term side effect. The other things natural medicine can do is to reduce multi-drug resistance, enhance the effectiveness of the drug, increase the core strength and energy of the body, slow down the cancer, reduce or eliminate side effect, and possible reduce the amount of the drug and the frequency of dose and in turn reduce /eliminate side effect.
Even though I would like things to be different, they still are the way they are.
One of the best and easiest things that can be done is to eat lightly the day before the chemo, less on the day of the chemo along with a good amount of fluids (slightly acidulated lemon water, watered down marshmallow or lemon balm tea ) and again to eat lightly the day after the chemo) . This approach has a beneficial effect on both lessening side effect and increasing effectiveness of the drug.
Nausea and appetite loss is a consistent problem. Best treatment is marijuana. Next is the combination of ginger and green papaya capsules. To protect the lining of the gut, the use of a particular form of yeast called Saccharomyces Boulardi is very helpful. The amino acid Glutamine is used by the cells of the lining of the gut as well as for certain immune cells. Melatonin will also help protect gut lining cells and that is only one of its’many positive effects in relation to cancer. Pre and probiotics are also part of the program. Mouth sores can be helped with demulcent type herbs; Slippery Elm, Licorice and things that clear upper G.I. inflammation. Scutellaeria ( Chinese skullcap ).
The most common complaint, due to cancer treatment, is fatigue and it is with good reason. Bone marrow red blood cell suppression due to the chemo with resulting anemia. This is not the same as iron deficiency anemia. Giving patients iron supplements for this problem is the wrong approach. Iron supplementation, in general, is contraindicated for cancer patients because the cancer is sequestering as much iron as it can for the purposes of cell division. What is necessary is the use of bone marrow enhancing herbs and supplements. Some of these herbs (Astragalus, Ginseng etc) can be cooked into meat broths, which are also beneficial to blood building. Good quality Ginseng and Astragalus have both a sweet and slightly bitter quality which works well in the soups. As an aside, when the Chinese want to increase the effectiveness of ginseng they simmer it into tea along with a piece of chicken. Taste good and works well. The use of traditional blood tonics is also a valuable part of a program. This would include herbs like Dong Qui, Lycium Fruit, White Peony etc. Often bone marrow suppression due to chemo includes white and red blood cells and platlets (mylosurppression). The appropriate herbs can help avoid this problem. Assistive treatment of combining herbs and supplements along with chemo regimes, should happen before, during and after treatment with chemo. A long term treatment strategy, post treatment, with continued testing, lifestyle changes, herbal medicine and supplementation is also necessary to try to avoid long term fallout ( i.e heart disease due to the impact of the chemo) and to help prevent recurrence. To touch upon the protective role of natural medicine to help treat and prevent radio or chemo induced heart disease: there are many plants and supplements that help greatly in this area. One simple example is the use of high dose curcumin to offset the cardio effects of the much overused and much too damaging Adriamycin ( Doxorubicin is a superior drug )
Neuropathy is a big problem, especially with platinum based chemo drugs (cisplatin, carboplatin, oxaliplatin ). High dose B6 and B12 along with nerve tonics and adaptogens will help to reduce this problem. (Cisplatin is by far the worst and can induce severe neuropathy: it is also a drug that is used often on a variety of cancers and the platinum based chemo drugs are also highly suppressive to bone marrow production of cells). There is more to be said as there are a number of other difficulties to resolve as a direct side effect of chemo. The above is a piece of what could be done to help things as they are. Another article could be written about just how different things could be if science, was once again evolutionary, inclusive and possessed the simple commonsense it once had (if things do not work, stop using them or figure out a better method of application) Doing the same thing over and over and having it fail consistently does not seem intelligent or useful.
Harry Chrissakis
Herbalist ,M.H. Natural Healing
www.herbalistandherbs.com
contact@herbalist-herbs.com
530-933-8244