One of the problems that cancer patients, who undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy, facing is low immune system response capacity. Many laboratory tests show that Astragalus can be used not only as an immune system booster in healthy users, but also help cancer patients fight their disease as alternative therapy in combination with conventional cancer treatment.

Astragalus has been around in Chinese medicine for two thousand years. It is taken from the root of a perennial plant (Astragalus Membranaceous) and it took four to seven years to mature before the root is harvested in early spring. It is believed to completely restore the functioning of the damaged immune system cells, enhance the formation of its new cells, and consequently activate the immune system for the fight with cancer.

Astragalus contains numerous components, including flavonoids, polysaccharides, triterpene glycosides (e.g. astragalosides I­VII), amino acids, and trace minerals. Research conducted by the M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas, confirms this herb’s immune-potentiating actions. Astragalus appears to restore T-cell (a specific type of white blood cell that is part of the lymphocyte family) counts to relatively normal ranges in some cancer patients.

Trials which conducted in China, report about the significant reduction of a number of deaths, increase in survival and disease-free state in cancer patients given the preparation of Astragalus. The report also indicates that a lifespan of patients is prolonged due to the combination of chemotherapy and Astragalus and Ligustrum use.

There are several US studies concluded that Astragalus seems to help the immune system differentiate between healthy cells and rogue cells, thereby boosting the body’s total ‘cancer fighting system’. One effect of this is the added benefit of improving the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatments and radiotherapy as it help cancer patients recover from the negative effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

To sum it up, Astragalus play an important role in alternative therapy for cancer cure. Astragalus increases the production and activity of white blood cells specifically involved in fighting disease. Astragalus does not attack cancer cells directly. It, however, strengthens the body’s own immune defenses against the development of cancer.

Chemotherapy, radiation oncology and surgery are just some of the popular treatment for cancer. These treatments have things to consider. Expense and effectiveness are the common things to think about when getting a cancer treatment.

In terms of expense, there is definitely a large amount of money involved with medical treatment. The hospital fees, the professional fees and the medicine costs will definitely be worth a serious amount of money. At the same time, the effectiveness of these treatments is uncertain. Only 4% of patients who undergo medical treatments survive cancer-free. The rest are unfortunate enough to die of the complications that come once the treatments are administrated.

Luckily, there are other options aside from the expensive and not-so effective medical treatments. There are alternative cancer treatments that are used from different parts of the world. Here are some of these treatments:

An anti-Cancer Drink from China

China is the home for many alternative medicines. Through the use of herbs and roots that possess medicinal properties, the Chinese were able to formulate a drink that can effectively control cancer. This works by finding the right herbs and substances that effectively prevent the occurrence of the enzymes that are responsible for cancer. These enzymes are called protease.

A European Chemotherapy Alternative

Europe also has its own share of alternative cancer treatment. This treatment hails from Allopathic Medicine. It has the same strength and effect as that of the substances used in chemotherapy. The difference is that this alternative is non-toxic. The effectiveness of this alternative was proven after a careful study in 46 universities. Also, there are 150 scientists from 16 countries who have proven that the treatment actually works.

An Anti-Cancer Diet Plan also from Europe

Also coming from Europe is the Anti-Cancer diet plan. A European chemist came up with the idea of creating this anti-cancer diet plan. The plan is formulated based on the foods needed to be consumed to sustain the body’s needs. These type of foods will help fight occurrence of cancer cells. It’s all natural and all simple. Once the diet is implemented, the patient can expect changes such as an improved immune system, a better metabolism and lower cholesterol count.

Japan’s Immune System Builder

Another alternative cancer treatment is from Japan. For the past 20 years, the Japanese people were able to successfully treat cancer patients using this method. They use an agent that will improve the condition of the immune system and will later on protect the patient against the possible complications and infections after other treatments.

An Herbal Preparation from South America

South America also has contributed in alternative treatment for cancer. Making good use of their resources, South Americans were able to create an herbal preparation made up of the plants native to their deserts and rain forests. It can increase the levels of immunity as well as the tolerance from other treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The selection of plants and roots were indeed effective in increasing natural killer cells, the body’s natural cancer fighters found in the immune system.

These are just few of the alternative cancer treatments that can be tried by patients anywhere. Without the costs and the risks, one can be cancer free easily.

Author’s Box:Do you want to know more about these alternative treatments for cancer? Find out more treatments for cancer at http://www.ultimate-cancer-breakthroughs.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Giordano_Ardenovich
Technorati Tag: Cancer Treatment, Chemotherapy

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The role of cancer treatment includes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy as primary causes of pain. Painful conditions are more likely to occur in patients whose immune system has been suppressed as a result of these therapies.

For instance, if chemotherapy drugs cause nerve damage, a cancer patient may experience burning, numbness, tingling, or shooting pain most often in the fingers or toes. Mouth sores, headaches, muscle pains, and stomach pains can also result from some chemotherapy drugs.

Pain is a frequent source of patient anxiety due to improper management during cancer treatment. Most patients said the main reason they did not take pain medication was because their doctor did not recommend it. This reason was followed by a fear of addiction or dependence and the inability to pay. Some patients resist those pain medications as they worry will be addicted to the medication, or there will be the side effects.

There are three most common types of cancer pain during cancer treatment:

• Acute pain. Pain from a recent surgery, injury or medical illness is called acute pain. In many cases, this pain can be managed immediately and will usually get better in just a short time.
• Chronic pain. It is defined as pain that persists longer than the normal course of time associated with a particular type of injury. Chronic pain is essentially caused by the bombardment of the central nervous system with nociceptive impulses, which causes changes in the neural response.
• Breakthrough pain. This defined as pain that occurs in patients with chronic pain that is controlled by medications.

It is advisable for a cancer patient who is undergoing cancer treatment describe his pain to his family members. This will help when the cancer patient is too tired or suffering cancer pain, his family members able to communicate with his doctor to look for treatments can be used to relieve painful conditions.

Below are some questions that the family members should ask to have better understanding of pain that the patient facing:

• Which part of body feeling the greatest pain?
• How long does the pain last?
• Is pain sharp or dull, throbbing or steady? Having intensity description of the pain by using a numerical scale, with 0 being no pain and 10 being the greatest pain.
• What types of activities or positions make the pain better or worse?

Due to rapid advances in medicine, there are many pain medications are available for cancer pain. Patients often will be prescribed medications before receiving other forms of therapy. However, patient attitudes about pain and its treatment can inhibit adequate pain management during cancer treatment.

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Chemotherapy involves the use of chemical agents to kill any suspected cancer cells in the body. Cancer cells grow faster than normal body cells, which is one way the agent is able to identify cancer formations. Unfortunately, chemotherapy effects can mistake normal cells as cancerous.

Chemotherapy would be lower the number of white blood cells because it destroys any cells in the body that grow quickly. These include cancer cells, but also the rapidly growing healthy cells where blood cells are produced in cancer patient’s hair, digestive system, and bone marrow. When this happens, chemotherapy side effects may occur.

A patient who receives chemotherapy as one form of cancer treatment may face a high risk for developing infections, and the patient’s body may lack of energy to fight infections once they develop. This is because chemotherapy hurts the patient’s immune system by lowering the number of white blood cells produced in body.

White blood cells are important in preventing and fighting infections. There are different types of chemotherapy affect the immune system differently and that individual responses to treatment can vary widely. Some cancer patients experienced short term of chemotherapy side effects. Once the body replaces the healthy cells that were lost, symptoms like nausea, vomiting, fatigue and hair loss subside.

However, long-term chemotherapy side effects may occur if chemotherapy damages patient’s major organ like the reproductive organs, heart and lungs. When this happens, the cancer patient may suffer from months to years before side effects stop. The patient’s overall health prior to receiving treatment may determine how quickly he recovers from chemotherapy side effects.

There is nothing a cancer patient can do to prevent his white blood cell count from dropping as a result of chemotherapy. Hence, it’s extremely beneficial for the patient to have a healthy immune system before begin the chemotherapy treatment. This will help the patient to fight off any infection he may facing as well as combat the disease itself.

There are few ways for a cancer patient to develop a health immune system. Firstly, consult doctor as the doctor will have immunotherapy drugs for cancer patient. The purpose of taking immunotherapy drugs is to boost patient’s immune system prior to the procedure.

Another easy and effective method is taking a multivitamin which is specifically formulated for the immune system. Omega-3 fatty-acid is recommended to add into a patient’s diet. It can be taken as a dietary supplement everyday, much like a multivitamin.

According to research, having moderate exercise is help to boost a patient’s immune system and consequently reduce the side effects of cancer treatment. Some moderate exercise like yoga also aid in reducing a patient’s stress.

Most of methods a patient can employ to develop a healthy immune system like increase the nutritional value into diet and add immune-system-boosting foods are fairly easy to implement into day-to-day life.

Technorati Tag: Cancer Treatment, Chemotherapy

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A portable, computerized pump small enough to fit in a fanny pack is changing the way cancer patients receive their chemotherapy. This technology allows cancer patients to receive their chemotherapy at a time when it will be most effective and least toxic.

According to pioneering chronobiologist Dr. William Hrushesky, a senior clinical investigator at the Dorn VA Medical Center in South Carolina, “this technology allows for larger doses to be delivered more frequently, with higher efficacy and lower toxicity. It’s kinder, gentler and at the same time, more aggressive and effective.”

With this pump, the timing of the infusion is administered based on several factors, including the biological uniqueness of the particular drug being given and the time when the specific type of cancer cells divide.

“This creates a better kill rate for the cancer and less toxicity to the healthy cells, because the healthy cells of the patient are generally at rest when the cancer cells are most active, or dividing,” explained Keith Block, MD, of the Block Center for Integrated Cancer Care. “The infusion of the chemotherapy drug using this pump starts slowly and ratchets up, hour by hour. It slowly increases to the middle point of the cycle, peaks, infuses most of the drug and then slowly ratchets back down, to no drug, where the cycle is completed. We have often found that patients receiving their chemotherapy this way reduce what would have been recurring side effects of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue.”

Studies published in medical journals, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet Oncology, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and Chronobiology International, demonstrate that this ground-breaking technology decreases toxicity and improves survival. This is important because the debilitation caused by chemo can cause patients to reduce or even stop treatments that could otherwise help them win their battle with cancer. Current research shows that up to one third of chemotherapy patients abandon treatments prematurely due to the side effects.

Because this pump is portable, cancer patients no longer have to go to chemo wards and instead participate in normal daily activities such as walking, jogging, cooking, sleeping and even playing with their children, while their treatments are administered.

Betty Hoeffner has been writing articles for various media outlets for the past 30 years. She is executive producer of the patient safety film, “Things You Should Know Before Entering the Hospital” and president of Hey U.G.L.Y., Inc. NFP, a 501 (C) 3 nonprofit organization that empowers teens with self-esteem building tools, to help them counter challenges such as eating disorders, bullying, violence, substance abuse and suicide. U.G.L.Y. is an acronym meaning Unique Gifted Lovable You.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Betty_Hoeffner
Technorati Tag: Chemotherapy

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