The Road Less Traveled

[Guest guest]

" HSI - Jenny Thompson " <hsiresearch

HSI e-Alert - The Road Less Traveled

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 07:10:00 -0500

 

 

 

HSI e-Alert - The Road Less Traveled

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

****************************************************

December 21, 2005

 

 

 

Dear Reader,

 

At first it looked promising; a combination of good news and good

logic concerning breast cancer treatment. But as they say: The large

print giveth and the small print taketh away.

 

We'll start with the logic, because that's the part that turns out to

be genuinely good.

 

-----------

Similar, but not the same

-----------

 

Last week I came across an Associated Press item with this intriguing

title: " Breast Cancer Patients to Get Less Chemo. "

 

The fact that chemotherapy side effects can be devastating is well

known. What's less well known is the fact that this exceedingly harsh

therapy has little or no effect at all on a certain type of breast

cancer. But that hasn't stopped many oncologists from using the

therapy anyway. That's the nature of the medical mainstream beast.

 

In the past, the chemo question for breast cancer was not " if, " but

" how much. " And it was all about size. Generally speaking, smaller

tumors received a less aggressive chemo protocol than did larger

tumors. Within that mindset, little regard was given to the type of

tumor. And that's where we're seeing much-needed changes.

 

In recent years, doctors have begun to recognize that hormone status

should be the factor that determines treatment. About 75 percent of

breast cancer tumors in postmenopausal women are driven by estrogen.

For these women, treatment with tamoxifen (a synthetic hormone-like

drug) that prevents estrogen from binding to breast cancer cells has

been shown to be more effective than chemo, even if the cancer has

spread to lymph nodes.

 

In women who have not yet reached menopause, gene damage is usually

the cause of breast cancer. Hormonal treatments won't help in these cases.

 

A test called Oncotype DX has been developed to reveal which patients

will most likely respond to chemo or tamoxifen. And although the test

is expensive (more than $3,000), insurance companies may choose to

offer coverage on the chance of deferring costly chemo treatments.

 

-----------

Now...here's the catch

-----------

 

While it's good to see doctors becoming better attuned to the

different types of treatment that different cancers require, there's

still a strong disposition among conventional MDs to stick with

pharmaceutical solutions.

 

Take, for instance, tamoxifen. The most common side effects are not

life threatening, but according to breastcancer.org " they may still

decrease your quality of life, sometimes to a considerable degree. "

That's because tamoxifen can prompt hot flashes, nausea, vomiting,

weight gain, mood swings, depression and a loss of energy. And those

are only the annoying side effects. The dangerous side effects include

an increased risk of developing blood clots as well as uterine and

liver cancers.

 

So at best, tamoxifen looks like the lesser of two evils, rather than

a welcome refuge from chemo. Some doctors will prescribe aromatase

inhibitors in place of tamoxifen, but this relatively new class of

drugs may increase the risk of osteoporosis. Other side effects

include hot flashes, joint pain and muscle aches.

 

-----------

Alternative in a cream

-----------

 

In a widely distributed online magazine article about tamoxifen,

health researcher and psychotherapist Sherrill Sellman notes that

convincing evidence shows how natural progesterone may play a key role

in breast cancer treatment and prevention. Ms. Sullivan cites a 1995

trial in which women who used a topical progesterone cream

significantly reduced breast cell multiplication rates compared to

women who received estrogen or a placebo.

 

Other benefits many women enjoy from natural progesterone cream include:

 

* Bone support

* Depression relief

* Improved blood sugar management

* Increased libido

 

Talk to your healthcare professional about using progesterone. And by

all means, if you've been diagnosed with breast cancer, ask your

doctor if your condition is estrogen driven before you discuss your

treatment options.

 

****************************************************

 

 

....and another thing

 

As a follow up to yesterdays e-Alert ( " Apples & Oranges " 12/20/05), I

have one more important note about pneumonia: You may be putting

yourself at greater risk of developing this debilitating condition if

you take antacid drugs to relieve heartburn.

 

In a 2004 study that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical

association, Dutch researchers evaluated data collected from the

medical records of more than 360,000 patients enrolled in a primary

care database. Each subject had been enrolled for a minimum of one

year. The researchers concluded that the use of drugs to suppress

gastric acid quadrupled the risk of pneumonia compared to patients who

didn't use the drugs.

 

The drugs analyzed in this study were from two different classes:

proton pump inhibitors (for acid reflux) and H2 receptor antagonists

(for heartburn). Here are the familiar brand names in these two classes:

 

* Proton pump inhibitors: Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix,

Aciphex

* H2 receptor antagonists: Pepcid, Zantac, Tagamet, Rotane, Axid

 

The justification for using these drugs is based on the completely

wrongheaded belief that stomach acid is bad. Which overlooks the

obvious: Stomach acid is there for a reason. You can't digest food

without it!

 

In the e-Alert " Fire Down Below " (12/23/02), HSI Panelist Allan

Spreen, M.D., explained how gastroesophageal problems can be safely

and inexpensively treated in most cases by using acidophilus and

digestive enzymes. You can find that e-Alert on our web site at

hsibaltimore.com.

 

To Your Good Health,

 

Jenny Thompson

 

 

 

 

Sources:

 

" Breast Cancer Patients to Get Less Chemo " Associated Press, 12/10/05

" Beware of the Dark Side of Tamoxifen (Nolvadex) " Sherrill Sellman,

InnerSelf, innerself.com