Daily Healthy Blog

When diagnosed with breast cancer, many people feel helpless and out of control. Suddenly inundated with doctors and treatment decisions that are difficult to understand, it’s easy to feel that you no longer control your own health or destiny. More and more, however, breast cancer patients are turning to alternative therapies as an adjunct to traditional treatments.

These are decisions and treatments that the patient can control and even administer themselves, giving back some control over their health.

Few patients opt for alternative therapies alone. The vast majority still undergo chemotherapy or radiation and sometimes a lumpectomy or mastectomy. But, studies have shown that there are several alternative therapies that can be effective. In particular, these alternative therapies often have the ability to make the traditional treatments more effective.

If you’re a breast cancer patient, you may want to consider adding alternative therapies to your current medical regimen. Following are some of the most effective therapies to consider:

Green Tea

Tea leaves contain catechins, part of the flavan-3-ol class of flavonoids, which are anti-oxidants. EGCG is one of the catechins contained in tea, and is a potent anti-oxidant. Anti-oxidants have been shown to slow down the aging process, and prevent diseases, including cancer. However, more recent studies have shown that the EGCG and polyphenols in green tea may make traditional breast cancer treatments more effective.

There have been several studies that have shown that chemotherapy drugs commonly used to treat breast cancer appear in higher concentration in cancerous cells when green tea is administered along with the drugs. The green tea makes the cancer cells less resistant to the drug, so that it can be more effective.

Green tea is also helpful for treating cancer because it seems to slow down the progression of the disease. Cancer cells appear to stop growing and replicating when green tea is part of the treatment regimen. It is believed that green tea may be effective in preventing metastasis of cancer.

Diet

Watching your diet carefully while you’re undergoing cancer treatment can also be an effective way to treat your disease naturally. First of all, you should ensure that your diet is rich in anti-oxidants. This includes eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, and including “power” foods like blueberries, pomegranates, and tomatoes.

In addition, as mentioned above, green tea is also a good way to improve the number of anti-oxidants in your diet. It is also important to increase the fiber in your diet. This will happen automatically if you increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. However, eliminating white flour and replacing it with whole grains will improve your fiber intake as well.

Herbs and Vitamins

Of course, herbs and vitamins have been used for centuries to promote healing. After all, herbs were the very first medicines. There are several herbs and vitamins that can either soothe side effects of cancer treatment or improve the effectiveness of the treatments. Some of the most important are:

Ginger Root – While ginger root doesn’t appear to affect cancer cells one way or another, it is a powerful tool for reducing the nausea that often accompanies chemotherapy.

Calcium D-Glucarate – This vitamin and mineral supplement has been shown to reduce mammary cancer in animals. There are no side effects, so adding this to your diet seems a safe alternative therapy.

Melatonin – This is a pineal hormone. It is often used as a natural sleep aid. However, it is also a potent anti-oxidant that has been shown to inhibit estrogen responsive breast cancer cells. It also increases the effectiveness of tamoxifen, a commonly prescribed cancer drug.

St. John’s Wort – This herb has been relied upon for centuries to reduce anxiety, relieve stress and promote a regular sleep cycle. It has also been used to treat depression. Because of its possible interaction with your cancer drugs, it is not recommended that you use St. John’s Wort while you’re going through chemotherapy. However, it may be an effective treatment before and after your chemotherapy treatment.

Mind, Body and Soul Treatments

Participating in activities that help you relax and that relieve pain and other physical symptoms can also be very effective at helping your body respond to your medicine. When undergoing chemotherapy, it’s not unusual to feel tired and nauseous. Any treatments you can find to help relieve these symptoms can help you get better over the long haul by keeping your body strong. Some of the most popular treatments are:

Acupuncture- This ancient healing practice is known to be very effective at relieving chemotherapy induced nausea and it is also effective at reducing pain.

Yoga, Meditation and Hypnosis – All three of these techniques are associated with reducing stress. A reduction in stress may alleviate side effects that occur from cancer treatment and contribute to an overall sense of well being. Keeping our stress in check is helpful in healing our bodies from any ailment.

It’s important to evaluate all your options when you’re battling cancer. It’s critical to keep your doctor informed of any alternative treatments you’d like to include in your therapy. However, if your doctor is aware, you should feel free to explore the many alternative therapies that can be used to enhance your cancer treatments or relieve your side effects.

Chemo brain has a variety of symptoms. The intensity varies as well. With some sufferers, symptoms may last a few weeks. For others it may take years to get over. With that in mind, are there standard chemo brain treatments? What can be done to speed up recovery? What is the best solution to get your life back on track?

The symptoms are temporary. With that in mind, treatment focuses on coping with symptoms. Coping until they go away sooner or later. According to the Mayo Clinic, there are no standard chemo brain treatments.

Symptoms differ from person to person. How severe and how long also differs. With this in mind, chemo brain treatments are different for every person.

Other issues may cause symptoms as well. These issues may also result from cancer treatment. Controlling these other factors may also help. These issues may include:

- Depression
- Anemia
- Sleeping problems
- Early menopause

No drug is approved for chemo brain treatments. That is also according to the Mayo Clinic. But chemo brain treatments can include drugs to treat the symptoms. Drugs used for the following may be helpful:

- Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Sleep disorders
- Alzheimer’s disease

The cognitive problems can be very scary. You feel like you are losing your mind. Losing your mind is losing your personality and self. It is one of the hardest things to deal with.

Some ways to help cope with memory issues are:

- Tracking memory problems. You may find patterns that can help you schedule your day so you can perform better.
- Learning coping strategies. Like taking notes when you read something. Get a personal digital assistant to help track appointments is another example. Be strict about putting things like keys in a certain place.
- Stress relief. Stress can cause memory problems. Having memory problems can cause stress. Break this cycle by learning how to relax.

It is only recently that the condition is recognized as real. As more studies are done, there will be more studies on chemo brain treatments.

The symptoms are close to dementia. Age related dementia takes decades to appear. You take on coping strategies slowly, over time. You don’t even notice it happening.

With chemo brain, you have just survived cancer. That is a life changing experience. The symptoms come on all at once. You are mentally and physically defeated. That’s why it is so much harder to deal with.

I’ve done a lot of research on this topic. The best solution I’ve come across is brain training. It is one of the best treatments because it’s usually fast acting. Many improve in a few weeks.

I encourage you to look into memory and thinking exercises. Ones that can help your brain repair broken circuits. The best are those that others have used in their own chemo brain treatments. Where they can provide tried and true results.

Losing weight and keeping trim continues to puzzle many. One of the reasons for this is because it never comes easy unlike what some ‘weight loss plans’ promise. It is vital to therefore look at the facts and hopefully know where common myths are. This will allow informed weight loss strategies for those who go the direction.

• The first fact is that fad diets will not deliver in most cases; at least not for the long term. Fad diets will include excluding some foods in diet and therefore depriving the body of vital nutrients. Top side effects of the diets can be fatal including general weakness, heart rhythm abnormalities, and gallbladder problems. If people get less than 800 calories per day as with these diets, the result will be compromised health.

• The second fact to speak about is that moderate portions and physical activity will be the sustainable way to loose weight. Variety of foods will only provide a wide range of nutritional benefit needed in the body. In this regard, there are several benefits to be derived from this. People will reduce their chances of suffering heart disease, type 2 diabetes and even high blood pressure.

• It is a fact that eating a high protein/low carb diet might not be the solution to weight loss. This is because eating proteins in bulk in relation to other foods will lead to high fat and cholesterol level in the body. This diet will also leave people nauseous, weak and even tired. Carbohydrates are vital sources of energy in the body. Ketone stones have also been reported as a result of a high protein/low carb diet.

• Many times, starches will be avoided in the view that they fatten and make people fat. In essence, starches such as bread, pasta, cereal, beans, yam, and potatoes will not have high fat and calories content. However, they may fatten when taken in large portions or in excess. Therefore, striking a balance will do forweight loss.

• It is a fact that natural weight loss products or remedies may not be totally safe for consumption. In this light depending on them for weight loss might not yield. Many of the herbal products will be harmful and the best thing is to consult a health care provider before using such products forweight loss.

Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines are often used for self-medications. These medicines do not require prescriptions given by the doctors. These days, there are different types of OTC medicines, like medicines for cough and colds as well as those that are intended for losing weight. But is there really such a thing as the best diet pill over the counter?

Diet pills are oral medicines that help an individual to lose weight. These medicines suppress one’s appetite or hasten metabolic processes in the body. They are now available in the market for anyone who wants to take a try at losing excess fats in their body. Diet pills are for people who want to lose weight but do not have the time to exercise or to those who can not prepare a program for themselves.

There are now different types of diet pills brought to the market by different drug companies. Here are some of the diet pills that you can choose from. These diet pills should be taken according to the instructions. Do not overdose yourself because overdosing will not let you lose more pounds; but instead, it may cost your health and possibly your life. Be extra cautious when consuming over the counter diet pills.

Green Tea Diet Pills

Green tea diet pill is one of the best diet pills over the counter. This type of diet pill works by increasing calorie and fat metabolism and at the same time suppresses the appetite. This is good if you take this as you work out. Green tea diet pill is usually taken as a capsule rather than as an actual tea drink.

When you consume more than the required dosage, you can experience insomnia, irritability and heart palpitations. These side effects will make you feel more restless and tired. Other side effects that you might experience are constipation or diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. You may also feel bloated if you take more green tea diet pill than is required.

Green tea diet pill is not allowed for people with weak hearts, kidney illnesses, stomach problems and over active thyroids. It is likewise not recommended for pregnant women or people who are already taking painkillers or antacids.

CLA Diet Pills

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) diet pill is an over the counter pill that helps in decreasing body fats. It basically burns these fats and turns them into energy. It is said that once the body fats are reduced, the appetite is also controlled and thereby bringing the development of lean and firm body muscles.

CLA diet pill is made up of CLA, an Omega 6 component present in dairy products, found in meat like beef and poultry and in oils like sunflower, corn oil and safflower.

The side effects of the CLA are mostly gastro related like diarrhea and indigestion. It is also known that while the body fats decrease and muscle development increases, the total weight of the body does not change.

Zantrex Diet Pills

Zantrex Diet Pill is a caffeine-based over-the-counter pill. It helps in accelerating the energy of the body. It is also through caffeine that one loses weight. Aside from caffeine, Zantrex also contains Yerba mate, guarana, damiana, green tea, teibetan, ginseng, cocoa nut and kola nut and rice flour.

There are several side effects for the Zantrex Diet pills. When you take it, you may experience one of the following: restlessness, irritability, insomnia and diarrhea. You may also experience nausea, trembling hands and lightheadedness due to the caffeine content of the pill. The worse side effects that one may experience are stomach ulcers and muscle twitch.

As a precaution, you should avoid food and drinks that contain caffeine when taking Zantrex diet pill. However, for people who can’t live without caffeine in their body, they should take a lower dose or ask for another type of diet pill.

If you are looking for the best diet pills over the counter, you can start by including these 3 in your list of possibilities. There are good diet pills that work for certain individuals while there are some which do not have the same result. If you are planning to take over-the-counter medicines, check for the possible advantages and disadvantages. At the same time, check also on the precautions because it will further help you with your decisions.

The nutritional needs of women and men are different. It is important that each knows what type of food is better for her or his body.

For women, linseed is a good “weapon” against breast cancer because of its large amounts of lignans, chemical compounds similar to estrogen, that also act as antioxidants. Women who have suffered from breast cancer and added linseed to their diet have slowed the cancer spreading process, according to recent U.S. studies.

Soy is also more efficient for women because it lowers the level of cholesterol, and maintains bone health, according to a study of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and the Department of Kinesiology of the University of Illinois. Women have a higher risk to suffer from anemia than men because of the menstruation. A low level of iron in the blood may lead to severe forms of fatigue. Lean beef is useful in these cases because it has considerable amounts of iron and gives a lot of energy.

Cabbage may have a benefic effect on women because it maintains bone health. This way, cabbage protects the body from developing osteoporosis. Beside calcium and vitamin C, cabbage also contains large amounts of vitamin K. Women can decrease by thirty percent the risk of suffering a hip fracture if they eat at least 109 micrograms of vitamin K per day, researchers found. For instance, half a cup of cabbage contains 375 micrograms of vitamin K.

Papaya is a tropical fruit that contains twice as much vitamin C than an orange and protects from vesicle diseases. Women with a lower lever of vitamin C present a higher risk to suffer from vesicle diseases, according to researchers.

(c) Project Weight Loss 2007. All rights reserved.

It is thought that many in the medical and pharmaceutical are covering up the fact that natural treatments are actually safer for the patient than the conventional therapies that are used in the medical profession. These natural treatments do not have nearly the hazardous side effects that treatments like radiation and chemotherapy have.

Taking a vitamin or adding an herb to you diet seems much more cost effective and possible safer compared to the expensive man-made chemical equivalents. One possible reason for the cover-up is that the medical/pharmaceutical industries can’t make as large of a profit if they didn’t push their own inventions. There could be very little income potential in producing nature made derivatives. In addition, a number of medical schools are financially supported by pharmaceutical corporations with vested interest in conventional treatments. The primary mission of all publicly traded companies (including pharmaceutical companies) is increasing stockholders income stream. These could be reason why medical professionals seem to immediately jump to radiation and chemotherapy when a patient comes in with cancer.

Hazardous Effects of Radiation

Radiation has many different and adverse effects on a patient. These effects can vary but many of them can even be life threatening. One of the negative effects of radiation is that through many studies it has actually been shown that radiation may spread cancer. Radiation can also cause you to lose your body’s resistance to many other diseases. Heart failure has even been noted as a side effect of radiation therapy. There are many other serious effects that radiation seems the have on the body as well. It should also be known that there is no rate of higher survival than those who were not treated with radiation at all. It is in fact true that the long term survival rate of those treated with radiation is somewhere close to zero. This is something that should be considered when thinking of taking a radiation treatment.

Toxic Effects of Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is another form of medical treatment that has adverse effects on the patient. Chemotherapy is also known to spread cancer as it weakens the immune system. It is also known to be toxic to patients that are being treated with it. With chemotherapy weakening the immune system it leaves the patient open to other diseases that often times could result in the death of the patient as a result. The rate of long term survival after this treatment is close to zero just like the treatment of radiation.