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Old 03-02-2013, 08:26 PM   #4
gdpawel
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Pennsylvania
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Re: Ketogenic Diets for Cancer

I understand the contradiction. Like I stated, the hardest of all diet intervention studies have to be dietary intervention studies to reduce cancer. Dr. Klement said be it through physical exercise, ketogenic diets, fasting, or calorie restriction, the time is definitely ripe to test the various ways of altering cancer patients' metabolism.

A drug that originally was used to treat breast cancer has been helping combat the severe weight loss that can plague patients undergoing cancer treatment. The drug reduces weight loss and can improve the quality of life in patients. Megace (megestrol acetate) was found to induce weight gain.

The drug's effectiveness was as an appetite stimulant for patients with HIV, chronic diseases and cancer cachexia, a "wasting syndrome" in which fat and muscle are lost because of the presence of a cancerous tumor.

According to Dr. Michael Farmer, one of the researchers studying Megace, it is critical to maintain adequate food intake and hydration, yet one of the most frequent complaints from patients during therapy is a decreased appetite.

Weight loss is correlated with decreased overall survival, decreased quality of life and decreased response to treatment. In addition, if the weight loss is severe enough, it can lead to breaks in treatment that may decrease the effectiveness of therapy. This was predominately with lung and head and neck cancer.

My wife was given Megace to help increase her appetite. Our pharmacist told us it had about a 50/50 chance of working. We took the chance, and it worked, over time. Within about three months, she gain back about 2/3rds of all the weight she lost.
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