Vitamin C And Chemotherapy
2 October 2006 – 8:00 am
What is chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy is a therapy which uses ”anticancer” drugs to destroy cancer cells within your body. Chemotherapy slows down and stops the cancer cells from growing and multiplying. It also reduces the symptoms associated with cancer. Chemotherapy can cause side effects because it also harms healthy cells, the good news is, that the healthy cells will repair themselves once the chemotherapy stops.
What are the most common side effects associated with chemotherapy?
- Anaemia
- Blood clotting problems
- Confusion
- Constipation
- Depression
- Diarrhoea
- Fatigue
- Fluid retention
- Flu-like symptoms
- Hair loss
- Kidney and bladder problems
- More prone to infections
- Mouth, gum, and throat problems
- Nausea and vomiting
- Nerve and muscle problems
- Pain
- Poor skin and nail condition
- Radiation recall
- Tiredness
What can you do to reduce the symptoms of chemotherapy?
As you can see, chemotherapy can cause many unpleasant side effects. To help combat these side effects your body must get proper nutrients via your diet plus through supplementation. It may be wise to consult a nutritional therapist or dietitian during and after your chemotherapy.
To help with the symptoms of chemotherapy, supplement your diet with antioxidants such as:
- Milk thistle
- Siberian ginseng
- Co-enzyme Q10
Do not take vitamin C during chemotherapy
Vitamin C is well known for its antioxidant properties and you may well be thinking that it would be good to supplement your diet with vitamin C during your chemotherapy. It is true that people who consume a lot of vitamin C within their diet are least likely to develop certain cancers.
So, why should you not supplement your diet with vitamin C during chemotherapy? This question has had a lot of discussion amongst cancer doctors and some prominent cancer doctors believe that vitamin C actually protects the cancer cells from the anticancer drugs during chemotherapy.
There are still many doctors who believe that supplementing your diet with vitamin C during chemotherapy can be beneficial. Before you begin your course of chemotherapy treatment, it would be wise to discuss with your doctor the pros and cons of taking vitamin C during chemotherapy. I recommend, if you have any doubts about vitamin C, it probably would be best to refrain from taking it during chemotherapy.
