Cachexia

[Josephaloysius]

Anyone besides me pickup a mCRPC hitchhiker called CACHEXIA?

[rogerwegner]

what symptoms are you facing with the cachexia ?

[Josephaloysius in reply to rogerwegner]

Weight loss of 63 lbs, no taste, absolutely no appetite, extremely out of breath after taking seven or eight shuffling steps, extreme fatigue, need sleep, skin just hanging off arms and legs, no energy, no strength, can’t drive car... very short life span. Called the Wasting Disease, unknown origin, no known cure.

[rogerwegner in reply to Josephaloysius]

Wow that is very severe. Best of luck with the hand that you have been dealt

[Josephaloysius in reply to rogerwegner]

Yes, look it up. I’ve been having light, then moderate symptoms for many months but neither my pcp or ono Dana Farber picked up on it. It is a rotten disease but think I’ll pass soon. Joseph, Newport ri

[NPfisherman]

Hi Joseph,

I am familiar with cachexia--there are a number of avenues for your loss of appetite....I believe from your post you could be depressed as well....It is one of the most underdiagnosed diseases with older individuals....If indeed, you feel depressed, I would suggest mirtazapine 15 mg, also known as Remeron-- taken at night--an antidepressant that has the added benefits of helping patients to sleep and creating appetite. Another thought for weight loss is marinol----marijuana---will help your appetite, and maybe your mood. Lastly, there is megesterol acetate suspension--800 mg daily to help you get eating....

As for the lack of taste and eating:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Try eating foods that are salty, sweet or sour--whatever appeals to you and make sure they have a good amount of nutrients--nutrient dense---Drink whatever flavored boost high protein drink appeals to you...chocolate, vanilla, strawberry when you eat.

Best of luck....

Don Pescado

[j-o-h-n in reply to NPfisherman]

Angel 1 of 2.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 07/25/2019 8:45 PM DST

[pjoshea13]

Hi Joseph,

I'm sorry to read of your ordeal.

Cachexia is a highly inflammatory state, & I would ask your doctors to address that.

You might want to look at the rationale for switching to a ketogenic diet [1].

Best, -Patrick

[1] ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl... [Full Text]

J Cancer Prev. 2017 Sep; 22(3): 127–134.

Published online 2017 Sep 30. doi: 10.15430/JCP.2017.22.3.127

PMCID: PMC5624453

PMID: 29018777

Rationale, Feasibility and Acceptability of Ketogenic Diet for Cancer Treatment

Hae-Yun Chung1 and Yoo Kyoung Park2

Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer

This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Abstract

Ketogenic diet has been used for more than 80 years as a successful dietary regimen for epilepsy. Recently, dietary modulation by carbohydrate depletion via ketogenic diet has been suggested as an important therapeutic strategy to selectively kill cancer cells and as adjuvant therapy for cancer treatment. However, some researchers insist ketogenic diet to be highly undesirable as ketogenic diet may trigger and/or exacerbate cachexia development and usually result in significant weight loss. This review revisits the meaning of physiological ketosis in the light of this evidence and considers possibility of the use of ketogenic diet for oncology patients. Article search was performed from 1985 through 2017 and finally 10 articles were analyzed. The review focused on the results of human trials for cancer patients and checked the feasibility of using ketogenic diet for cancer patients as adjuvant therapy. The main outcomes showed improvement of body weight changes, anthropometric changes, serum blood profiles, and reduction in novel marker for tumor progression, TKTL1, and increase of ketone body. Lactate concentration was reduced, and no significant changes were reported in the measurements of quality of life. Ketogenic diet may be efficacious in certain cancer subtypes whose outcomes appear to correlate with metabolic status, but the results are not yet supportive and inconsistent. Therefore, it warrants further studies.

INTRODUCTION

Diet and exercise interventions in cancer patients may be of benefit for ameliorating adverse events during cancer treatment and may increase overall survival.1–3 Metabolic processes in cancer are complex and highly regulated, and there is increasing evidence that dietary modulation can be efficacious in managing cancer, i.e., diet rich in fat and protein4 or calorie restriction.5,6 Calorie restriction has been shown to reduce the pro-growth signaling, partially achieved by temporarily reducing glucose and circulating insulin-like growth factor 1, which is highly associated with aging and cancer.7 Also, manipulation of the molecular pathways using calorie restriction has been shown to render cancer cells susceptible to standard cytotoxic treatment with radiation and chemotherapy especially strong for breast cancer. However, considering the high drop-out rate (25%), this indicates that adherence to this low-calorie diet requires high commitment to the study participants.

Ketogenic diet is designed specifically to result in ketosis and is emerging as a metabolic therapy for treating cancer. The mechanism can be explained by inducing shortage of glucose and/or lactate for tumor cells to survive. Vander Heiden et al.8 observed that tumors take up enormous amounts of glucose compared to the surrounding tissue and eventually produces lactate through aerobic glycolytic pathway. Therefore, limitation of glucose availability in cancer cell may reduce energy production of cancer cells, and thereby decreasing tumor proliferation.9

The aim of this review is to assess the clinical evidence of ketogenic diet intervention in cancer patients by analyzing human trials.

....................

CONCLUSION

Our main aim in this review was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of ketogenic diet and to assess the changes of outcome variables, such as body composition, biochemical blood profiles, and QOL. From this review, we found further evidence that ketogenic diet in cancer patients is safe and feasible as an adjuvant therapy. As described above, we could conclude that in order to see any significant progression or improvement by ketogenic diet, at least 3 to 4 weeks of ketogenic diet is required. Additionally, we suggest that not only body composition but also biomarker or measures for tumor size or tumor metabolism assessment is essential. We also conclude that the acceptability for ketone diet may be better in some cancer type (better in glioblastoma than gastric cancer).

In conclusion, ketogenic diet can be safely used to cancer patients if carefully monitored. Most importantly, we have to establish standardized treatment protocol which include the length and regimen for ketogenic diet.

[j-o-h-n in reply to pjoshea13]

Angel 2 of 2.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 07/25/2019 8:45 PM DST

[j-o-h-n]

Hello Joseph.. Try Malted milk and milk shakes... Hang in there brother...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 07/25/2019 8:31 PM DST

[Josephaloysius in reply to j-o-h-n]

Sounds delicious. Joe, Newport RI. 83yo. Nam Vet, USN Carrier pilot

[Grumpyswife]

When my husband was losing so much weight I became familiar with Cachexia. His problem ended up being his thyroid and he was diagnosed with Graves’ disease. He is on meds and gained back 14 lbs so make sure your thyroid good.

He is still drinking Ensure, etc.

[Kevinski65 in reply to Grumpyswife]

Yeah , I was diagnosed with multi nodual hyperthyroidism. It manifests itself as panic attacks, agoraphobia and nervousness. Psychiatrists throw patients on Xanax without realizing the withdrawals. They don’t bother to run tests and miss a lot. Now I take tapazole for that . I’m too old to have my thyroid removed.

[j-o-h-n]

Well I must salute an officer...I was a lowly spec/4 grunt...... You certainly do not look 82 years old.... must have been all that good Navy chow. You are lucky to live in a beautiful city/state. Are you being treated at the V.A.? I was not kidding when I said Malted Milks and Ice Cream Shakes. I just look at them and automatically put on weight.

youtube.com/watch?v=T-3ws7b...(Not working as expected?)

I wish you -

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 07/25/2019 9:01 PM DST

[Hidden]

Any chance you could acquire some cannabis? Edibles probably best. I am lucky to live in a medical marijuana state. Pot is a known appetite stimulus. Are you a resident of Rhode Island? Below is a list of qualifying conditions. Go get that medical marijuana card and see if this helps.

29. rhode island

Cancer

Glaucoma

HIV/AIDS

Hepatitis C

A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:

Cachexia or wasting syndrome

Severe, debilitating, chronic pain

Severe nausea

Seizures, including but not limited to those characteristic of epilepsy

Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn’s disease

Agitation related to Alzheimer’s Disease

[Josephaloysius in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. All ready using it. Free registration for chemo and hospice in ri