Giving And Taking Care
When you kill flies with a bazooka, you might get rid of the flies, but then you may have a problem with broken furniture and large holes in the wall.
The same is true of treating cancer with radiation; by any measure a harsh therapy that sometimes solves problems while creating others. I was reminded of this when I received an e-mail from an HSI member named Mary whose father is getting radiation treatment for lung cancer. Mary is also giving him an herbal therapy called N-TENSE, which contains the botanical graviola; a proven cancer-fighter.
By and large, Mary’s father is coming along well. But he’s developed a new problem that Mary needs a little help with.
No time to lose
In her e-mail, Mary writes: “The doctor says the radiation treatments are working great. My Dad also had a tumor in his throat and near his bladder. They are gone. I believe the N-TENSE
took care of those already. He has been taking the N-TENSE for as long as he’s been taking the radiation to his lungs, for about three weeks now.
“The problem is that he has lost all of his appetite, and is getting weaker and weaker each day. Everything smells bad and tastes bad to him. His Doctor gave him an appetite enhancer, but it caused severe loose bowels and dehydration. They had to take him off of it. What can I do to improve his appetite and increase his strength?”
One of the well-known side effects of radiation therapy is appetite loss. But I wondered if N-TENSE might play a role here as well. I called on HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., for his thoughts, and he began by saying that graviola – an “excellent herb for trying a non-toxic approach against cancer” – probably has nothing to do with the loss of appetite.
As for a plan of action for Mary and her father, Dr. Spreen offered these suggestions:
“The key thing right now is to make certain that ALL calories ingested are highly nutrient dense, especially since there isn’t much appetite. Also, digestion will be adversely affected, so the foods eaten should be as easily digested as possible. The solution to both is the use of any of the ‘green foods,’ such as chlorella (inexpensive and excellent), spirulina, barley green, or mixtures of them. There are several brands out there, and they can be mixed with most anything. The foods are almost pre-digested and highly nutrient dense.
“I’d also throw some L. acidophilus culture in there, in powder form, maybe 1/4-1/2 tsp before eating, to make certain that the low appetite is not due to highly altered gut flora (it can do that
sometimes, and radiation will kill those ‘good guy’ bacteria also).
“There are also several herbs that can be tried as appetite stimulants, but they tend (in my limited experience) to be less effective for radiation-induced anorexia than in other situations.
Nettle, chamomile, Gotu kola are three, but there are many others that can be tried.”
And one other tip for Mary: Rather than coaxing her father into eating three full meals each day, she’ll probably have better luck in getting him to eat small amounts several times each day, especially if he’s having problems with nausea as well.
Tropic of cancer
The appetite issue aside, Mary is obviously enthusiastic about what she feels are the positive effects of N-TENSE in her father’s progress. But because her father is also getting radiation, we’ll never know which treatment is doing more to fight his cancer: the radiation or the N-TENSE. What we do know is that research has revealed that graviola – the primary active ingredient of N-TENSE – is a powerful anti-cancer agent.
In the e-Alert “Drug Company and Cancer Institute Hid Possible Cure for 25 Years” (1/31/01), I first told you about graviola, the small evergreen tree that grows in the tropical areas of North and
South America.
More than 25 years ago, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) included graviola in a plant-screening program that showed extracts of the leaves and stems of the plant to be effective in attacking and destroying malignant cells. But the results were part of an internal report and were never released to the public.
Years later, a major pharmaceutical company began extensive graviola research. They learned that certain extracts of the tree actually seek out, attack, and destroy cancer cells, without harming healthy cells, inducing nausea, or causing hair loss. But the natural extracts of graviola (or any other plant) cannot be patented, and the company struggled unsuccessfully to create a synthetic copy that could be as effective as the cancer-fighting components of graviola.
Since then, in vitro research has produced very promising results, with indications that graviola may effectively fight solid breast cancer tumors, as well as prostate, lymphoma, pancreatic, liver and colon cancer.
Graviola is one of the most popular topics on the HSI Forum, and in tomorrow’s e-Alert I’ll feature a few of the many comments from HSI members regarding their experiences using this remarkable botanical.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
Sources:
“N-TENSE Better than Graviola Alone!” Raintree Nutritionals,
rain-tree.com
