Chemotherapy - No Problem

Saturday, August 25, 2012 | Unknown at 8:55 AM |

Is It Possible?

A diagnosis of cancer is undoubtedly one of the worst things a person can hear. Numb with shock and fear, they hang on the doctor's every word as he or she explains their treatment options. While these options depend on the type and stage of the malignancy, most people will at some point have to consider chemotherapy. In fact, at least 50% of people with cancer will receive chemo at some point in their treatment, either alone or in conjunction with surgery or radiation.

The goal of chemo to hunt down and kill any malignant cells left behind; unfortunately, the horror of the treatment often rivals that of the cancer itself. Chemotherapy is administered intravenously or orally; the drugs travel through the bloodstream to kill fast-growing cancer cells and, hopefully, keep the disease from spreading. The problem is that it also kills healthy fast-growing cells; in fact, it can be so harmful to the system that some patients need a peripheral blood stem cell transplant to replace those damaged by the chemotherapy.

Most people are aware of the most common side effects of chemo: nausea and vomiting. But there are many others, including anemia, changes in appetite, bleeding, constipation, diarrhea, fatigue, hair loss, infection, mouth sores, pain, sexual and fertility changes, changes to the skin and nails, swelling, changes in urination, and others.

In addition to the seemingly endless list of physical affects, chemotherapy drugs can also wreck havoc with brain function. So much havoc, in fact, that the symptoms are collectively called "chemo brain". According to the Cleveland Clinic, up to 61% of cancer patients lose cognitive function-including short-term memory, concentration and the ability to multitask-during chemotherapy. To make matters worse, the mental fog and memory loss don't necessarily disappear once treatment has ended. A new study featured in the February 2012 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows that chemo brain can continue for decades after cancer treatment.

The study focused on 196 breast cancer patients between the ages of 50 and 80; each had previously been given one of three chemotherapy drugs--cyclophosphamide, methotrexate or fluorouracil-for six cycles, more than 20 years ago. The researchers compared their cognitive performance to that of 1,509 women never diagnosed with cancer.

Both groups were given seven different tests that evaluated processing speed, verbal learning, memory, word fluency, and other factors associated with brain function. All participants were also given a brain MRI. After controlling for age, education and depressive symptoms, the researchers concluded, "Compared with women from the general population without cancer, survivors of breast cancer who were exposed to chemotherapy performed worse on cognitive tests covering the domains of learning, immediate and delayed verbal memory, information processing speed, inhibition, and psychomotor speed." To date, this is the only study that has addressed the effects of chemotherapy that linger long after the treatment is done.

Despite these disturbing facts, however, it is possible to minimize the side effects of chemo. Chemo Corrective Therapy is a method that detects and corrects energy blockages through a natural "resetting" of the body. In this 20-minute treatment, a sample of the chemotherapy agent is placed into the patient's hand, then the practitioner determines where in the body the energy blockage. Finally, he or she performs a specific, gentle "tapping" along the patient's spine and meridians. This releases the body's reaction to specific medication.

The idea is to "reprogram" how the brain computes the message with regard to energy. In essence, the brain's original memory concerning chemotherapy or medication metabolism is changed. The patient is asked to hold the chemicals for a short period of time, after which the practitioner rechecks the body's reaction. Once the treatment has been successfully received, it takes the body's nervous system just twenty-four hours to process the new information.

There may be other good news on the horizon as well. According to a recent article in Nature Medicine, scientists found that chemotherapy caused DNA damage in healthy cells. This was not surprising; however, what researchers found upon further study was - The damaged cells had secreted a greater than normal amount of WNT16B, a protein that actually helps cancer cells grow and resist therapy. Researchers are now optimistic that if they can develop an antibody to WNT16B, it can be administered with chemo to make treatment more effective. For now, doctors might consider giving their patients smaller doses of chemo, but this, of course, will be determined on a case by case basis.

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