Enzyme Therapy As Used In Cancer Treatment
Cancer treatments are known for quite severe side effects on the patients. Known treatment like chemotherapy and radiation therapy not only kill the cancerous cells I the cancer patient but also kill the healthy cells. This will lead to the patient’s getting more deteriorated as time goes by and may eventually lead to loss of weight, skin becoming darker and even hair loss. Pain associated with these methods of treatments cannot be underestimated. Researchers and doctors have been involved in lots of research work in a bid to get the best cancer treatment that is devoid of the disadvantages the conventional cancer treatment methods are known for.
Today, there are various ways through which cancer patients can be treated but your doctor may be helpful in identifying the best treatment you can get depending on whether the cancer is prostate, breast, mouth or even lung cancer. The doctor may also monitor your reaction to a specific treatment and decide whether to continue with it or adopt a better treatment for the disease. These discoveries are a breakthrough not only to cancer doctors but also to cancer patients have been seeking alternative treatment to the disease and the enzymatic therapy is one of the alternatives that the patients are trying their hands on.
Enzyme therapy as an alternative cancer treatment involves the patient taking supplements of enzymes. Enzymes are natural proteins which are very important as they stimulate and accelerate most biological reactions in the body. Digestive enzymes, which are mostly produced by the pancreas help in digestion as they break down food and help with the absorption of nutrients into the blood. Metabolic enzymes build new cells and repair damaged ones in the blood, tissues, and organs. The metabolic enzymes so are important for optimum cellular functions.
The history behind the enzyme therapy
Enzyme therapy is synonymous to John Beard. John Beard, who was a Scottish scientist, was the first person to use the pancreatic enzymes in cancer treatment in 1902. After this discovery the enzyme therapy was used by doctors in treatment of other diseases. Doctors in Germany are said to have used the enzyme therapy in treatment of such diseases as multiple sclerosis, cancer, and viral infections. The use of enzyme therapy has not stopped as some enzyme mixtures are still being used in other European countries.
The enzyme therapy was introduced in the United States in the 1920s by Dr. Edward Howell. Dr. Howell opined that by eating raw meat, people created an enzyme surplus in the body, which resulted in better health and increased resistance to disease. The doctor reasoned that the more the enzymes a person has in his body the efficient the normal bodily functions as well as the stronger immunity. Since the enzyme therapy was introduced in the United States, very many doctors have advocated its use especially as a part of the broader metabolic therapy regimen. Today there is an enzyme preparation that is being studied in the United States for possibility of being used alongside chemotherapy drugs in treating cancer patients.
Despite the fact that the enzyme therapy is widely used in treatment of cancer and other diseases, any well-designed studies showing that enzyme supplements are effective in treating cancer is not yet available. The major question that everybody asks and has kept enzyme therapy as an alternative cancer treatment quite controversial is that; enzymes when taken by mouth are broken down to amino acids before they are absorbed into the bloodstream, so how do they reach the tumors when taken by mouth?
The studies that have been done to verify the effects of the enzyme therapy on the cancer patients have borne different results. A study that was done in India found that taking enzymes helped to mitigate the side effects of the radiation therapy. Researchers however argue that the patients were not blinded, they knew they were taking enzyme supplements and so the results could have been achieved as a result of the patients’ expectations. Another study was done in Germany, in this study the patients were blinded as they did not know that they were taking enzyme supplements. This study did not show any positive effect of the enzyme therapy on the cancer patients.
There are other researchers in Eastern Europe who have tried to find out if this therapy is effective in cancer treatment. The general finding of these research works have showed that enzyme supplements may improve the quality of life and may generally have other benefits. Most of these studies sought to find out if enzyme therapy could be used in mainstream cancer treatments. These findings however were disputed on the basis that the patients were not blinded.
Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez did another study that involved pancreatic cancer patients. The findings of this research were published in Nutrition and Cancer in 1999. The study found that patients who were treated with pancreatic enzymes survived longer than patients with pancreatic cancer who were not under enzyme therapy. However an expert oncologist recently disapproved of the findings.”The study was small and obviously prone to several biases. Not only is the comparison with national averages unadjusted for confounders, but the principal results are based on patient selection; twelve patients who did not comply with treatment were excluded from analysis.” The expert oncologist’s review stated.
Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an experienced integrative cancer doctor that has helped many cancer patients in their fight against the disease. She has worked hard not only in treating the disease but also in availing informational support to cancer patients at Awaremed which has become a place called home for many cancer patients. Call on her now and get help on cancer.
Enzyme Therapy As Used In Cancer Treatment
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