Hi, Carol.
Louise is right - everyone has an axe to grind and money to make - especially cancer cures - like chemotherapy - yours, for instance, could be costing the NHS £45,000 or more and unlike Laetrile/B17 some chemo formulations has been proven to be lethal in some patients, especially 2nd, 3rd and 4th time around. I’m sure that the massive pharmaceutical companies put a small fortune into belittling anything which challenges their supremacy but that doesn’t mean that they are behind all the anti-quackery site, or that information posted there is wrong.
I don’t go a bundle on supplementary vitamins - there’s lots of research these days which shows they don’t have a positive effect divorced from their plant (fruit/veg/herb/nut/seed) source. I followed Bristol’s advice when I had chemo and took loads. I’d advise you to get advice from someone who doesn’t also sell the vitamins (Penny Brohn Cancer Help Centre does in huge quantities at high prices). The only things I supplement are B12, which I can’t get from my vegan vegetarian diet and cod liver oil, which also isn’t on my menu, (to get the DHA essential oil and some vitamin D). I fortify my cereals with brewers yeast which is a primitive single celled plant rich in zinc, vitamin B’s (except B12), chromium and magnesium and selenium and many other minerals and lots of plant protein - great for energy and for calm and optimistic mind and occasionally also Selenium (I prefer this in liquid form ampoules so I don’t have to take supplementary vitamins A,C,E) and eats lots of nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds and beans and vegetable and fruit juices which are all quite concentrated but natural sources of essential foods. All this as organic as possible.
Taking massive doses of antioxidants whilst taking chemo to do oxidative damage to your cells may not make a lot of sense. Healthy cells can take in normal, dietary concentrations of antioxidants to protect themselves. Cancer cells cannot. But there is heavily conflicting evidence on whether, for instance, large doses of vitamin C actually feed tumour cells or not, depending on your body chemistry at the moment you take the vitamins.
Specifically I know that iIf you are receiving Methotrexate you have to avoid folic acid. There are other well known drug/vitamin/herbal interactions.
www.cancerbackup.org.uk has pages on individual chemo products and warnings about interactions. But it’s worth asking your oncology dept. exactly what you’ll be receiving and what to avoid.
Do you yet know what chemo agent you’ll be taking? There are many different agents and combinations.Tell us so others who have taken it can contribute their wisdom and knowledge.
Wishing you well, Carol as you prepare for this new treatment.
On B17, there’s a lot said against it but there is now some high level research going on how to deliver cyanide precursors to cancer cells and Imperial College London has already published some early stage research on this. No doubt when the pharmaceutical companies can make megabucks out of some nano-particle delivery system it will be big business. I don’t accept it is a vitamin - a vitamin is a nutrient which is essential to life. As it is not made in the body or present in food except apple and apricot and peach pips, I cannot believe that humankind would have come so far without it if it were essential to life. I think it is another potent toxin which would kill tumour cells if it ever reached them.
If you are interested, contact the Mexican clinic and ask them for their success stories. There are books written about the subject which suggest it only works for people whose bodies have not been treated with chemo or radiotherapy, discouraging conventional treatment. No one treatment has been shown to work for everyone, B17 included. I wouldn’t rubbish it but until there’s some more independent published evidence but wouldn’t recommend it either for the reasons above.
The essential ingredients in green tea can also kill tumour cells but it’s getting enough of them into the tumour cells in our bodies which is the challenge. I do however drink green tea and as a tea drinker have come to enjoy it. It does me no harm and doesn’t cost a fortune and maybe does me a lot of good too, combined with verything else i do.
Since July 2006 when the first signs of a recurrence appeared, I’m following the advice of the growing number of researchers in the USA who advocate a low-fat vegan diet which is totally nourishing without nourishing or promoting or initiating new tumours. Low-fat BTW doesn’t mean low-fat products, it means less than 10% of your calories in the form of fats or oils. (Read “The China Study”, 2006, by Prof. T. Colin Campbell and visit www.thecancerproject.org and www.pcrm.org) and fatfreevegan.com. This is largely the basis of Prof. Jane Plant’s book, “Your Life in Your Hands” (- latest updated edition August 2007) which contains a lot of detailed information. I’ve also had radiotherapy this year for secondaries in my bones and also take Femara hormonal treatment though my last biospy 4 years ago was only weakly PR + and was considered ER -.
I’m keeping a watchful eye on the Laetrile B17 story. It may be one day recommended in combination with chemo which is designed to promote cancer cell suicide (apoptosis) to amplify this effect if a good delivery mechanism can be made. But as not all tumours occur when own own biological pathways can deliver anti-cancer agents, I doubt it would work in all cases. As I’m not using choosing to use it myself, you’l appreciate I feel sceptical at the moment that even intravenously it could get to where its needed.
I know this is off topic, but you may not have explored meditation. There’s a very simple method, known as mindfulness meditation. There is a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programme offered at a growing number of hospitals and clinics around the world. The programme was devised by a guy called Jon Kabat Zinn who wrote a great (but large) book called Full Catastrophe Living (you can get it from Amazon but have to order the CD’s of the meditations and yoga separately) He also produces a CD called Mindfulness for Beginners which includes 5 guided meditations. This is an excellent starting point. I spent years unsuccessfully starting and stopping meditation. Nothing worked. This mindfulness method is simple and works.
Sending you peace and calm and wishing you a great weekend,
Jenny
