This Could Improve Chemotheraphy

This year alone, it’s estimated that nearly 600,000 people will die from cancer[1]—to say that the disease is still a prevalent and persistent issue is an enormous understatement.

 Despite huge expenditures of time and money, our society and medical system still hasn’t quite figured out how to stand up to cancer. While a number of alternative therapies show great promise, they’re still crowded out and derided in favor of conventionally accepted treatment modalities.

 Chemotherapy is one of the most widely practiced oncological treatments, despite its numerous drawbacks. Research reveals that, for some cancers, chemotherapy’s contribution to overall survival and recovery rates is shockingly small,[2] especially given the horrendous side effects that it can cause. These success rates, even in the case of cancers against which chemotherapy is more effective, barely outweigh its risks, according to some experts.

 All that being said, however, it’s still an option chosen by many people battling cancer. While it’s becoming increasingly clear that there are much better and safer ways to treat cancer, the draw of mainstream medicine is strong.

 Many patients are ostracized by their family and friends for seeking alternative treatments, and conventional oncologists can be notoriously skeptical and unsupportive of trying any protocols not “sanctioned” by the cancer industry. In some states, it’s even illegal for doctors to give (or even talk about) alternative cancer treatments.[3]

 If you or a loved one has already made the decision to undergo chemotherapy, though, the best thing you can do is to optimally support the process. Stay positive, and offer emotional support for whatever decision has been made. Most importantly, take measures that can minimize the risks of chemotherapy while maximixing its efficacy.

 A wealth of studies demonstrates that turmeric is a safe and effective natural remedy for accomplishing this task. Let’s take a look at some research-backed reasons why it’s wise for everyone undergoing chemotherapy to integrate turmeric into their treatment protocol.

 Turmeric makes chemo safer and more effective

 Patients obviously only willfully undergo the hardships of chemotherapy because they want it to get rid of their cancer—there’s nothing worse than having to endure the exorbitant cost and frightening side effects of chemo, all for a less than inspiring chance at full recovery.

 Chemotherapy already doesn’t have an overly impressive success rate, and it’s made even worse by multidrug impediment, wherein cancer cells become resistant to one or more of the drugs comprising a patient’s chemotherapy cocktail.

 To minimize this issue, which researchers have called “a major impediment to effective chemotherapy,” the medical community has begun the search for chemosensitizers—that is, low-impact therapeutic adjuncts that make patients’ bodies more sensitive to chemotherapy drugs (and thus allow the treatment to be more effective).[4]

 A landmark study published in the journal Anticancer Research demonstrated that curcumin (one of the beneficial compounds in turmeric) effectively sensitizes drug-resistant cancer cells to chemotherapy drugs.[5] Other studies confirmed that this mechanism works against a variety of cancer cells, including breast cancer,[6] esophageal cancer,[7] colon cancer,[8] stomach cancer,[9] and pancreatic cancer.[10]

 It carries out this feat by altering the genetic coding of proteins that control resistance in cancer cells, by damaging the DNA of cancer cells (while leaving healthy cells untouched), and by disrupting the signaling pathways necessary for cancer cell maintenance and proliferation.

 And that’s just the beginning—turmeric uses plenty of other tricks that directly combat cancer, with the end result that the chemotherapy patient has a better chance of recovery. Curcumin helps the body’s own defenses fight the spread of the disease,[11] induces apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells,[12] and can even slow or halt the regeneration of cancer stem cells (the drug-resistant “mother cells” that control that growth of tumors).[13]

 Endless benefits (if you take the right form of turmeric)

 It’s because of these incredible healing mechanisms that turmeric could redefine the way we treat cancer. While chemotherapy and other risky treatment methods remain standard, though, turmeric can at least help can the protocol as safe and effective as possible.

 But here’s the catch: as we’ve discussed in our other articles, it’s very difficult for the body to absorb curcumin and the other beneficial alkaloids in turmeric. Even a 95% standardized extract of curcumin will only be 1% bioavailable—so obviously, raw turmeric root or powder is negligibly beneficial when used therapeutically for cancer or other severe illness.

 Researchers testing the anti-cancer properties of turmeric always use a formulation method that increases the bioavailability of curcumin (usually some kind of nano-encapsulation method that binds turmeric alkaloids to lipids, thus allowing the compounds to pass directly through cell walls).

 Liposomal turmeric is one of the leading types of formulations—curcumin is a lipophilic (fat-loving) molecule, so it lends itself perfectly to this delivery method.

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