Antioxidanten goed bij kankertherapieën.*

Alhoewel medici in het algemeen nogal sceptisch staan tegenover het gebruik van antioxidanten zoals bijv. vitamines, melatonine, groene thee extracten enz., bij kankertherapieën blijkt uit dit onderzoek dat bij prostaatkanker en bestraling het gebruik van antioxidanten geen invloed heeft op de toegepaste therapie. Trouwens meer dan 80% van de ondervraagde kankerpatiënten gebruikten meestal zonder dat aan hun arts te zeggen allerlei antioxidanten en andere middelen. Dit laatste klinkt begrijpelijk doch kan zonder goed advies over bepaalde stoffen, die de werking van medicijnen sterk kunnen beïnvloeden, niet verstandig zijn.

Research by Cancer Treatment Centers of America scientists have found that antioxidants provide nutritional benefits to cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment without interfering with the treatment itself.

The study, entitled "Effect of Concomitant Naturopathic Therapies on Clinical Tumor Response to External Beam Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer," was presented at the non-profit Society of Integrative Oncology's Third International Conference in Boston.

Most doctors feel that radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery are the best treatment options for cancer patients, but the side effects of the treatments can be physically and emotionally damaging. So, supporters of complementary and alternative therapies have sought to improve their patients' post-treatment quality of life through the use of antioxidants.

"In cancer treatment today, we have to look beyond the traditional focus of treating only the tumor," said Timothy Birdsall, ND, vice president of integrative medicine for Cancer Treatment Centers of America and lead author of the study.

However, doctors have long been concerned about antioxidant use with radiation treatment interfering with the cancer cell oxidation levels that assist chemotherapy and radiation in killing tumors. To address this, the Cancer Treatment Centers of America researchers analyzed the prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels of prostate cancer patients after radiation therapy, and found no difference between the control group and the group using antioxidants such as green tea extract, melatonin, high-potency multivitamins, vitamin C and vitamin E.

"This study provides evidence that antioxidants as a complementary therapy in cancer treatment do not interfere with external beam radiation therapy," Birdsall said. "Antioxidants are one of many complementary and alternative medicine therapies that are crucial in today's fight against cancer.

"Cancer patients will be the first to tell you (traditional treatments are) not enough," he said. "The integrated, whole person approach to cancer is highly valued, so much so that cancer patients and their caregivers are seeking out complementary or alternative therapies on their own."

More than 80 percent of the cancer patients interviewed for the report said they had used some sort of complementary and alternative medicine treatment, many without any sort of medical supervision. This presents a danger, the researchers said, as some may interfere with traditional treatments. St. John's wort, for example, is often taken for depression, but can reportedly reduce the effectiveness of some forms of chemotherapy. (Nov. 2006) (Opm. Bij persoonlijk advies kunt u altijd een op maat gesneden advies vragen.)

 

 

 

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