Herceptin and Detox (Far Infrared Sauna)

[conomyself]

Hmmm, there are probably no studies on this!

I don't know the answer, but I have an infrared sauna in the basement and I used it from time to time during the winter and the cancer still improved. I never even thought of it affecting my treatment...it just helped me feel better because I was always so cold.

Love,

Rachael

[ScotGirl]

Thanks Rachel, I think you're right it will just be anecdotal evidence . Appreciate you replying , hope you continue to do well.

ps tried to end with a Smiley but it didn't work!

[Jackie07]

Found this abstract of an 2009 study that mentioned a patient using herbal sauna as CAM... Be sure to get an approval from your doctor. (There are quite a few reports on the benefit to the cardiovascular function ...)

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2009;10(5):779-82.
Proportion of gynecologic cancer patients using complementary and alternative medicine.
Supoken A, Chaisrisawatsuk T, Chumworathayi B.
Source
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for treatment of cancer and for supportive care of cancer patients must be clearly separated. There is encouraging evidence for CAM in the latter area, such as acupuncture and progressive muscle relaxation for chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting, and aromatherapy for decreasing anxiety and increasing quality of life. However, there are limited data about CAM used by gynecologic cancer patients, especially in Thai women. Therefore, the authors aimed to investigate the proportion and types of CAM using in our gynecologic cancer patients.
METHODS:
This cross-sectional survey was conducted between October to December, 2008. Totals of 50 admitted and 50 walk-in gynecologic cancer patients 1 month after diagnosis, aged more than 20 years and able to give informed consent, were selected for one-by-one interview by random walking survey.
RESULTS:
Among the 100 interviewed patients, aged 21-69 (mean=50.12), there were 46 cases of cervical cancers, 35 of ovarian cancers, 18 of endometrial cancers (two of these also had ovarian cancers), 2 of malignant gestational trophoblastic diseases, 1 of vulvar cancer, and 1 liver cancer (in a patient with ovarian cancer). Some 67% (95% CI, 57.8-76.2%) of them used CAM. As diet modifications, 11 used Chinese vegetarian, 8 common vegetarian, 5 Cheewajit, and 1 macrobiotics. Five of them used dietary supplements while colonic detoxification was emplyed in three. As herbal medicines, 27 used Thai herbs, 4 Chinese herbs, and 1 a herbal sauna. Twelve were receiving Thai massage. As exercises, 23 used aerobics and 5 stretching. Interestingly, 62 of them used Buddhist praying while only 3 employed native magic.
CONCLUSIONS:
The three most common forms of CAM used by our gynecologic cancer patients were Buddhist praying (62/67, 92.5%), followed by herbal medicines (27/67, 40.3%) and exercises (25/67, 37.3%).

[ScotGirl]

Thanks Jacqui. I Googled the report and had a look at a few others . The overall message seems to be that oncologists need to become more aware of and start to research the benefits of alternative remedies in supporting the usual drug-based treatments . I couldn't agree more. Thanks again