Message for emcee46

Hi there.

I have just been re-reading your previous posts and am particularly interested in the Omega 3 posting. I haven't seen any recent postings from you, so do hope that all is going well for your partner.

Just wondered if you could advise if the consultant recommended using Omega 3 during chemo, or did they raise objections? Do you think it's had any benefit? I really would appreciate any info you may have on this subject, please.

My husband has been told his cancer is terminal now, after a whipple op nearly a year ago and 6 months of chemo on 5FU. He is due to start on Gemcetibine next week and although the research was done with cisplatin + omega 3, I was going to ask our specialist if he knew anything about it and whether he thought it would help. At this stage, I am looking for ANYTHING which may give my husband a better chance.

Best wishes

Ellie

Hi Ellie, Have you heard of the gerson diet. I recently heard of it when my granddaughter was very ill and what I read and the difference it made to her I found quite astounding. I have taken the liberty of posting the addy. Kind wishes for you and your partner

Robyn http://chipsa.com/gerson_protocol.html

Hi Ellie

I was interested by your question to Mark and I've been doing a bit of research. As ever, there are doubters but I've come across a couple of scientifical research papers which support the Omega 3 supposition. The first from the "Annals of Surgical Oncology" states that Omega 3 Treatment "is specifically associated with inhibition of proliferation" in certain pancreatic cancers (see website 1 below).

The other, published by researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, states that there is evidence that curcumin (a component of tumeric) combined with omega-3 fatty acids has pancreatic tumor inhibitory properties (website 2 below).

If you'd like a semi-scientific write-up but don't want to go into the detail of the scientific trials, you might like to read the article in "Medical News Today" (website 3 below). For a simplified article, go to website 4.

Website 1: http://www.annalssurgicaloncology.org/cgi/content/abstract/14/12/3620

Website 2: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/nc/2008/00000060/a00101s1/art00011#aff_1

Website 3: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/144793.php

Website 4: http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20051010003544data_trunc_sys.shtml

I've also looked into Gerson Therapy, which I hadn't heard of before so thanks Robyn for mentioning it. The Chipsa hospital which publishes the website Robyn mentioned is in Mexico and seems to specialise in this therapy. Looking closer to home, Cancerbackup say that no research has been published which supports the claims made for the therapy (Website 5) and Cancer Research UK state that the diet can have significant side-effects and is potentially harmful (Website 6). Knowing that sometimes treatments are pioneered in the US, I checked the American Cancer Society website too, which also doesn't recommend Gerson, saying "Serious illness and death have occurred from some of the components of the treatment," (website 7).

Website 5: http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Complementarytherapies/Typesoftherapies/Diet

Website 6: www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=21853

Website 7: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3X_Gerson_Therapy.asp?sitearea=ETO

Kind regards

Nicki

Thanks for all the info, Nicki. Good of you to put all the links in to get straight to the relevant web site & pages.

Thanks again

Ellie

Hi Ellie ...

I'm so sorry that I hadn't seen this until now but, as you are obviously aware yourself, there's just so much to do in order to help someone you love just keep going with this rotten disease.

Like most others on this site, I've gone through so much research that I can't honestly remember the specifics about new treatments. However, I do seem to remember that this Omega 3 thing came from research done at the University of Cairo (?) and proved quite conclusively in their eyes that the addition of Omega 3 to the day by day treatment of PC sufferers demonstrably increased survival rates.

Since that time (some four months now), I have given my partner a 1000mg Omega 3 fish oil capsule each day along with a Vitamin D3 (mooted to put the brakes on hair loss) to complement her normal treatment. Her specialists at The xx had no problems with these particular complementary 'medicines'.

It's pretty obvious that the only way we'll find out whether this works or not is if it does! However, at the end of her two sessions of Gemcitabine /Cisplatin (total 18 treatments), where she's at at the moment is that her particular tumour has decreased in size by almost 50% and her tumour markers have gone down by 90%.

So now it's into radiotherapy for a spell and her doctors say they're 'mightily encouraged' by her progress so far.

Overall, Ellie, I'm sure you'll realise that this is still a pretty horrible disease. Nevertheless, although all you hear from people when they come across the disease is: "Well, they've made great strides in cancers now", I genuinely think that these ARE on the horizon for PC sufferers now.

The way I've looked at it is that I'm going to do my damndest, as we all would, to make sure that my partner is going to benefit from everything I have proved to myself is going to keep her going until these treatments are available - and that includes Omega 3.

For reference, I have joined her in cutting down on red meats, dairy produce and, specifically, 'simple' sugars' (I give her Manukka Honey as a sweetener in everything calling for sugar) and, thus-far, we're chugging along together. I have to say that (again, from my own reasearch) I disagree strongly with the theory that seems dominant here that you should just 'hoover' anything you want when you have cancer. I am quite convinced that the intake of too much of the above is detrimental to the work of trying to kill these growths off.

I totally understand that some 40% of cancer deaths come from malnutrition and it would, therefore, be seen as of paramount importance that you should do almost anything to avoid this. However, if, in that headlong rush, you are negating the effect of 'good' things in your diet with 'bad' things, what's the point? For the record, my partner is now within three kilos of her original weight - 52 kilos, as opposed to the 42 kilos she was at the time of diagnosis.

Sorry if this seems like a protracted 'ramble', but there's so much to get your head around in such a short time, isn't there?

Hi emcee

Thanks for your message and no problem about not replying sooner. As you say, we all have our own agendas and I didn't see your original posting until a long time afterwards.

That's great news that your partner is doing so well! Very encouraging comments from the hospital, too. I hope good progress continues to be made - please keep posting to let us know how you are getting on.

You mentioned feeling that a breakthrough in treatment may be on the horizon. I've just posted something on the Carers section, under the Chris Rea story, about more positive news on possible new treatments. It is encouraging to read but as I said, I just wish it was ready here and now to try out for my husband, and everyone on here who is on this awful rollercoaster of dealing with PC.

It is certainly good news that chemo IS helping to shrink tumours and extend life right now, though. Some people haven't been that lucky to get this far.

Keep up the good work with your partner! Keep positive & hopeful.

Best wishes

Ellie

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