Interesting news about fish oil supplements undermining chemo

CypressCynthia
CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
in Breast Cancer #1
May be old news for some? But it just popped up on my home page.

Fish Oil Supplements Can Undermine Chemotherapy Effectiveness


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/234263.php

Comments

  • Gabe N Abby Mom
    Gabe N Abby Mom Member Posts: 2,413
    #2
    It was news to me...thanks
    It was news to me...thanks for sharing.
  • laughs_a_lot
    laughs_a_lot Member Posts: 1,368 Member
    #3
    news to me too
    I also thought about the fact that I was supposed to be on a high protein diet. Being of lower socio-economic status that means more eggs added to the diet. I thought about the cholesterol. My second thought was this, Just let me get through cancer and I'll worry about the cholesterol later. I can say this as I have only had a few short stints with elevated cholesterol. I might be thinking differently if I had a steady problem with it.
  • MAJW
    MAJW Member Posts: 2,510 Member
    #4
    laughs_a_lot said:

    news to me too
    I also thought about the fact that I was supposed to be on a high protein diet. Being of lower socio-economic status that means more eggs added to the diet. I thought about the cholesterol. My second thought was this, Just let me get through cancer and I'll worry about the cholesterol later. I can say this as I have only had a few short stints with elevated cholesterol. I might be thinking differently if I had a steady problem with it.

    Thank You..
    For passing along this info...I do believe this is why my oncologist told me not to take ANY supplements while undergoing chemo...not even a multi vitamin.... reminded me again of this as I am on oral chemo now...and he told me to stay away from anything with green tea....they want nothing that would rev up the immune system that could lessen the effects of the chemo...

    Again, thanks for passing this along...
    Hugs, Nancy
  • skipper54
    skipper54 Member Posts: 936 Member
    #5
    MAJW said:

    Thank You..
    For passing along this info...I do believe this is why my oncologist told me not to take ANY supplements while undergoing chemo...not even a multi vitamin.... reminded me again of this as I am on oral chemo now...and he told me to stay away from anything with green tea....they want nothing that would rev up the immune system that could lessen the effects of the chemo...

    Again, thanks for passing this along...
    Hugs, Nancy

    Me too!
    Absolutely nothing during chemo or rads. Now it's a different story but they wanted cancer cells to be as vulnerable as possible, and as receptive.
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #6
    skipper54 said:

    Me too!
    Absolutely nothing during chemo or rads. Now it's a different story but they wanted cancer cells to be as vulnerable as possible, and as receptive.

    something I have always
    something I have always wondered about. What about the stray cancer cells that may be dormant in our bodies, are we feeding them now too???? sort of damned if you do damned if you dont. I was going to start taking krill (omegs) hoping it would help the joint pain.
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #7
    laughs_a_lot said:

    news to me too
    I also thought about the fact that I was supposed to be on a high protein diet. Being of lower socio-economic status that means more eggs added to the diet. I thought about the cholesterol. My second thought was this, Just let me get through cancer and I'll worry about the cholesterol later. I can say this as I have only had a few short stints with elevated cholesterol. I might be thinking differently if I had a steady problem with it.

    Thanks!

    Thanks!
  • mruczko
    mruczko Member Posts: 110
    #8
    Supplements
    Cytnhia:
    I had to give the Oncologist a list of all the supplements I took, he was ok with me taking multi-vitamin plus fish oil and CoQ-10. Later he added Vitamin B Complex plus 1000 mg Vit. B1 to try and help with neuropathy from Taxol. I made myself a smoothie every day with greek yoghur and a protein powder from the health food store, but was cautioned not to purchase one with a lot of anti-oxidants, that would reduce the effects of chemo.
    M.
  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159 Member
    #9
    Funny thing about the fish
    Funny thing about the fish oil~ the day you posted it, I was not able to sleep, ended up listening the the radio, and the guest on a talk radio station was going to talk about this very subject!! In less than 2 minutes I changed the station!!!!! Turned out this "expert" was on the (ugh) Coast To Coast syndicated show~ the one that talks about near-death experences, alien abductions, out of body experiences, ESP and the like. This man was not only talking about Fish Oil ,his main thrust is that NO ONE should be on chemo~ that 86% of the oncologists would never allow themselves or any of their family members take the poison being unwittingly pumped into the bodies of cancer victims. According to him,the doctors KNOW the chemo is only killing us, not killing the cancer.I don't know what else he hd to say, and I don't care~ he made me want to reach through the air-waves and throttle him!!!!!

    I know how hard chemo is on our bodies...bottom line for me is; I trust my oncologist literally with my life~ and I am not an uniformed gullible fool. I dare say the Kindreds here on the boards are not either. I know in my hearts of hearts that my oncologist is not going home at night knowing he is killing his patients and laughing all the way to the bank while HIS family member with cancer is having caffeine enemas administered by Tibetan orangutans who wear specially designed green tea leaf gloves ater bathing in fish oil or some other nonsense!
    There may be good reason to avoid some ( or all) supplements during chemo~ but this man was beyond infuritating that I couldn't listen to him one minute longer.

    GRRRRRR! lol
    Chen♥
  • CypressCynthia
    CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
    #10
    chenheart said:

    Funny thing about the fish
    Funny thing about the fish oil~ the day you posted it, I was not able to sleep, ended up listening the the radio, and the guest on a talk radio station was going to talk about this very subject!! In less than 2 minutes I changed the station!!!!! Turned out this "expert" was on the (ugh) Coast To Coast syndicated show~ the one that talks about near-death experences, alien abductions, out of body experiences, ESP and the like. This man was not only talking about Fish Oil ,his main thrust is that NO ONE should be on chemo~ that 86% of the oncologists would never allow themselves or any of their family members take the poison being unwittingly pumped into the bodies of cancer victims. According to him,the doctors KNOW the chemo is only killing us, not killing the cancer.I don't know what else he hd to say, and I don't care~ he made me want to reach through the air-waves and throttle him!!!!!

    I know how hard chemo is on our bodies...bottom line for me is; I trust my oncologist literally with my life~ and I am not an uniformed gullible fool. I dare say the Kindreds here on the boards are not either. I know in my hearts of hearts that my oncologist is not going home at night knowing he is killing his patients and laughing all the way to the bank while HIS family member with cancer is having caffeine enemas administered by Tibetan orangutans who wear specially designed green tea leaf gloves ater bathing in fish oil or some other nonsense!
    There may be good reason to avoid some ( or all) supplements during chemo~ but this man was beyond infuritating that I couldn't listen to him one minute longer.

    GRRRRRR! lol
    Chen♥

    I don't think that wacko was
    I don't think that wacko was the author of the study about fish oil being contraindicated with chemo? The authors were from the University Medical Centre Utrecht of the Netherlands.

    How dare the idiot you heard say something like that! Granted chemo is no walk in the park, but it has kept many, many of us alive.

    I will say that I didn't get much info with the link I posted, but I thought I would share it so everyone would just doublecheck all of their supplements with their oncologists.

    LOL, I have so many meds after my MI, that I keep my list on my computer, keep a printed copy in my purse, and always give an updated copy to my docs. I always include all of my supplements--just in case. My oncologist has never said anything about fish oil, but I quit taking it after I read that, just in case, until I see him again on October 2. I don't think skipping fish oil for a couple of weeks is going to hurt me.
  • CypressCynthia
    CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
    #11
    CypressCynthia said:

    I don't think that wacko was
    I don't think that wacko was the author of the study about fish oil being contraindicated with chemo? The authors were from the University Medical Centre Utrecht of the Netherlands.

    How dare the idiot you heard say something like that! Granted chemo is no walk in the park, but it has kept many, many of us alive.

    I will say that I didn't get much info with the link I posted, but I thought I would share it so everyone would just doublecheck all of their supplements with their oncologists.

    LOL, I have so many meds after my MI, that I keep my list on my computer, keep a printed copy in my purse, and always give an updated copy to my docs. I always include all of my supplements--just in case. My oncologist has never said anything about fish oil, but I quit taking it after I read that, just in case, until I see him again on October 2. I don't think skipping fish oil for a couple of weeks is going to hurt me.

    If you couldn't get the
    If you couldn't get the link, here is part of it:

    "The Dutch researchers had been investigating how solid cancers (tumors) become resistant to treatments. In animal experiments, they found that the stem cells in the blood of mice responded to cisplatin, a commonly used cancer medication, by producing, two fatty acids.

    The scientists referred to the fatty acids as PIFAs (platinum-induced fatty acids) - and identified them as 12-oxo-5,8,10-heptadecatrienoic acid (KHT) and hexadeca-4,7,10,13-tetraenoic acid (16:4(n-3)).

    The two PIFAs trigger a series of chemical reactions which make cancerous cells resistant to a broad spectrum of chemotherapies.

    They found that fish oil supplements as well as some algae extracts containing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that are commonly bought off the shelf in supermarkets and health shops, would stop chemotherapy's effects on some tumors in mice."

    http://www.cancernewstoday.com/1/fish-oil-supplements-can-undermine-chemotherapy-effectiveness/
  • cahjah75
    cahjah75 Member Posts: 2,631
    #12
    CC
    One of the very first meds my onc told me to stop was Fish Oil. He said they didn't know enough about how it might affect us. After finishing rads I went back on it. See onc today.
    Char
  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159 Member
    #13
    CypressCynthia said:

    I don't think that wacko was
    I don't think that wacko was the author of the study about fish oil being contraindicated with chemo? The authors were from the University Medical Centre Utrecht of the Netherlands.

    How dare the idiot you heard say something like that! Granted chemo is no walk in the park, but it has kept many, many of us alive.

    I will say that I didn't get much info with the link I posted, but I thought I would share it so everyone would just doublecheck all of their supplements with their oncologists.

    LOL, I have so many meds after my MI, that I keep my list on my computer, keep a printed copy in my purse, and always give an updated copy to my docs. I always include all of my supplements--just in case. My oncologist has never said anything about fish oil, but I quit taking it after I read that, just in case, until I see him again on October 2. I don't think skipping fish oil for a couple of weeks is going to hurt me.

    No, I don't believe he was
    No, I don't believe he was the author of the study either~ and the study may well be 100% true! I just didn't like the fear-mongering and especially the complete slam of what has been saving our lives. So it just wasn't the right venue for me~

    Hugs,
    Chen
  • CypressCynthia
    CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
    #14
    chenheart said:

    No, I don't believe he was
    No, I don't believe he was the author of the study either~ and the study may well be 100% true! I just didn't like the fear-mongering and especially the complete slam of what has been saving our lives. So it just wasn't the right venue for me~

    Hugs,
    Chen

    There are so many (I don't
    There are so many (I don't like to mention names) that make my blood boil! I especially hate the ones who, exactly as you describe, scare us to death.

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