Fasting to reduce chemo toxicity

[Guest guest]

Interesting . . .

 

[hsibaltimore.com]

 

....and another thing

 

Cancer patients may be able to reduce the toxic side effects of

chemotherapy without spending a penny on absurdly expensive drugs like

Procrit.

Researchers at the University of Southern California believe that a two

day fast before chemotherapy may set in motion a protective reaction in

healthy cells, guarding them from chemo side effects.

Valter D. Longo, a USC associate professor of biological sciences,

explained to HealthDay News that anti-aging research has revealed that

certain stressors activate a protective " shield mode " in healthy cells.

One of those stressors is starvation. Longo and his colleagues believe

that healthy cells may be protected when chemo is given while those

cells are in shield mode.

 

So far, the USC team has conducted three tiers of study: first on yeast,

then on human cells in a lab, and most recently on mice.

 

In the mouse study, animals were injected with brain cancer cells. Some

of the mice ate a normal diet, while others were given no food for 48

hours prior to receiving a high dose of the chemo drug etoposide. Within

10 days, all of the normal-diet mice displayed toxic side effects and

nearly half of them died. Only one of the mice in the 48-hour fasting

group died, and none of the mice in this group displayed toxic side

effects.

 

After treatment, normal-diet mice lost an average of 20 percent of their

body weight, while most of the mice in the 48-hour fasting group

regained their lost weight within four days.

 

Longo and his colleagues are now planning a human trial. I'll keep an

eye out for their further research and let you know as soon as it's

published.

 

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

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Source:

" Fasting Before Chemo Protects Healthy Cells " Alan Mozes, HealthDay,

4/2/08, healthcentral.com