My husband is planning 33 days of radiation. He takes lots of supplements.
I know about controversy in taking supplements during radiation.
Which supplements are a NO GO and which could help and even enhance anti-cancer activity during radiation?
What about BIRM, MCP, curcumin, serrapeptase, nattokinase, CoQ10, D3, essiac tea, melatonin, cannabis among others?
I'd skip 'em all for a couple of months and concentrate on maximizing other aspects of the treatment, e.g meeting appointment times, chow, sleep, diversions, et c. You'll have your hands full.
There are two concerns.
1] Antioxidants. If taken at regular doses, antioxidants can act against the reactive oxidant species [ROS] caused by the treatment. If taken at doses high enough that the supplements become pro-oxidant, they might increase ROS. ROS is desirable in PCa treatments that increase it.
2] Radioresistance. PCa cells do not want to be killed. Radioresistance begins with the first treatment. Some supplements can inhibit the signaling pathways induced by PCa for survival. I have written about this several times, but cannot find the most recent. But see:
healthunlocked.com/advanced.... [2] [4a] [4b] [4c] [5a] [5b] [5c]
-Patrick
Avoid all supplements during radiotherapy as they may interfere with what the radiation is trying to achieve - especially those known to be antioxidants or free radical absorbers. Exercise heavily as this increases cellular oxygenation (the opposite of what most supplements do.) Statins, metformin and NSAIDs are OK.
Some supplements are thought to be radiosensitizers, but that has not been proven in clinical studies. And if they radiosensitize cancer cells, do they also radiosensitize healthy cells, thereby increasing toxicity? With standard doses of radiation, radiosensitization is unnecessary anyway.
What about taking magnesium 500 mg? I take that nightly?
I don't know of any interactions with magnesium. My friend swears by a magnesium cream for leg cramps. I assume you are not taking it for any reason related to prostate cancer.
When I did my IMRT treatments in the Spring of 2014, I dropped all supplements except the curcumin I was taking at the time for my CLL. I did my own research, and while I found several other supplements that might have been radiosensitizing to cancer and protective to normal cells, I was uncomfortable adding them. I also met with a nutritionist at my cancer center who seemed to know less than I did. We did agree that modifying my diet to reduce foods known to be heavy in antioxidants was a good idea. (Which I did.)
Here is a research paper on curcumin that reflects the information I found 5 years ago. Please note the following statements reproduced from the paper:
"The reader is first cautioned that nearly all evidence of radiosensitization comes from laboratory data, and clinically-apparent benefits of curcumin as a radiosensitizer are yet to be determined."
. . .
"The goal of this article, in turn, is to encourage clinicians to (1) commence clinical trials related to curcumin; and/or more importantly; (2) encourage their patients to routinely take curcumin for cancer therapy (despite a general dearth of solid data)."
Relationship and interactions of curcumin with radiation therapy
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Bottomline is that we all need to do our own research and come to our own decisions about the how and why of any treatments we agree to. Good Luck. Be Well - cujoe
I'm in the same boat, Lulu. (And I don't mind sharing the helm with a Voodoo Master, either.) As long as what I'm doing keeps working, I'm going to keep on doing it. Best of luck to you. Be Well - cujoe
Is have sent you a pm Lulu. X
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