Interesting concept

I see that this researcher has written a kind of op-ed on the subject (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29463451) but do not see a peer-reviewed publication yet.  It will be interesting to see.  Also note that the Telegraph article has at least one error (USC vs. U of California), so "grain of salt" for me.  Given the starvation that many of endure while undergoing chemo, I'm a mite skeptical, but will reserve judgement until they publish. Hope things are going well, Shady.

ShadyGuy said:

I Agree - vague but interesting

Definitely not a scientific article. I assumed “fast” to mean absence of all food but allowing water. However this article does not specify. I do think that the body has defense mechanisms for emergency situations. As always I am a skeptic but interested in what if anything comes of this. These groups live and die by grants. This may just be publicity to help get a grant.

I am doing pretty well so far. That awful head cold just won’t go away. Also having trouble sleeping more than 3-4 hours per night due to coughing and fluid draining from sinuses to my lungs. I found that sleeping face down with a small pillow under my chest keeps my head lower than my chest and stops most of the drainage. Downside is it comes out my nose instead. OTC drugs help but contribute to the sleeplessness. Blood work tomorrow and Dr will decide if I need medications, posdibly acyclovir or a similar antiviral. Second 4-day session on 17th.

Cheers all!

I have not read the article, and won't, given the stated thesis. But thank you for submitting.  These sorts of "Breakthrough Announcements" are very common at the Prostate Board, but for some reason less frequently seen here. The main eternal myth at Prostate is that Reefer will both cure and prevent prostate cancer, which every university study ever done 100% repudiates.  And there are many others.  Sorry to digress.

IF true regarding fasting, then every Catholic on earth (due to Lent), every Jew on earth (due to Passover), and every Muslim (due to the Holy Time of Ramadan) would be free of cancer.  My sister-in-laws have done magic "colon purges" over the years, to "gain vitality, health, and weight loss."  

In addition, MOST people on chemo go protracted periods without eating; we read that here daily...ergo, all cancer patients should have no cancer.

I know, I am oversimplifying a bit, but you get my point.

Generally, I believe all cancers to be unrelated to diet, and all cures of all cancers to be similiarly unrelated to diet. There are a few clear exceptions: Alcoholics and esophageal cancers; lifetime heavy smokers and lung cancer....

Bless your current salvage therapy and movement toward N.E.D.  I wish you well daily,

max

Shady, I think that it is quite possible that some of us will be candiates for this kind of therapy, or at least clinical trials, not too many years down the road.  I will probably "age out", but you might not.  Right now, I think the trials are limited to the under-21 yo set.  That seems to be normal: pediatric leukemias.

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 said:

Thanks

I have not read the article, and won't, given the stated thesis. But thank you for submitting.  These sorts of "Breakthrough Announcements" are very common at the Prostate Board, but for some reason less frequently seen here. The main eternal myth at Prostate is that Reefer will both cure and prevent prostate cancer, which every university study ever done 100% repudiates.  And there are many others.  Sorry to digress.

IF true regarding fasting, then every Catholic on earth (due to Lent), every Jew on earth (due to Passover), and every Muslim (due to the Holy Time of Ramadan) would be free of cancer.  My sister-in-laws have done magic "colon purges" over the years, to "gain vitality, health, and weight loss."  

In addition, MOST people on chemo go protracted periods without eating; we read that here daily...ergo, all cancer patients should have no cancer.

I know, I am oversimplifying a bit, but you get my point.

Generally, I believe all cancers to be unrelated to diet, and all cures of all cancers to be similiarly unrelated to diet. There are a few clear exceptions: Alcoholics and esophageal cancers; lifetime heavy smokers and lung cancer....

Bless your current salvage therapy and movement toward N.E.D.  I wish you well daily,

max

I've heard my share of people who say if you avoid "X" you won't get cancer or eat "XX' to help make the cancer go away. I agree with Max in that if it were true certain groups of people would never have cancer. As far as I know no such group has been found. 

Once I knew the chemo I was going to get I looked up suplements food could conflict with them. My take was to avoid anything that could take away from what the chemo was trying to do. Example - I love herbal teas but some of the herbs used could affect how the chemo works. To be "safe" I did not drink any herbal teas until Chemo was officially done. That ended up being a little over a year. That limited me to black and green tea.

The whole idea of fasting I find interesting. I would say when I do fast it is usually semi-unintentional. Running late in the morning so I skip breakfast. Also forget to bring lunch to work and don't like the options at the cafeteria and then get home and really not hunger. 

When you get down to the reality, we do what we can to help us to survive. 

Shady Guy, During one of my hospitalizations, I had 9 different diagnoses, one of which was anorexia (but not nervosa). I couldn't eat. Every day a person from the dietary department came to my room to try to coax me and tempt me to order foods I wanted to eat. They said I could order anything I wanted. One morning the rep came in and had another person shadowing her. The next morning I ask if she was training a new person. She said no, that she was being evaluated. One suggestion she got was to wish everyone an excellent day as she left their room. She went on to say how hard that was on "this floor" (the oncology unit). She said that everyone was already on their last leg and wishing them an excellent day would be pointless.  

I quickly told her that even if that day was my last on the planet, I would still want it to be excellent!

For you, I wish you an excellent day everyday this week.

With Hugs,

Rocquie

ShadyGuy said:

Thank you Rocquie

I will be leaving for infusion center soon. Doctor will evaluate my cough before he ok’s the infusions this week. I had a chest xray and also a CT scan of my sinuses. Both were normal yet I am coughing so much my stomach muscles hurt. No fever. No known allergies. Not a normal lymphoma symptom. I guess next step, if it doesn’t stop, is a PET to see if there is some hidden lymphoma in my sinuses or lungs. I have never smoked a cigarette, dope or anything else in my entire life. I always lived a disgustingly clean healthy lifestyle. Didn’t help, obviously. Have a great day And thanks again For your kind words.

Shady I don't recall what drugs you are now taking for salvage therapy, but be aware that some chemo agents cause severe respriatory reactions.    I'm pretty sure you are not receiving Bleomycin, but it is among the worst, even causing fibrosis after severe lung toxicity.

Obviously something your oncologist should have already thought of.  But you may want to go through chemocare.com with every drug you are on, looking for possible causal agents (the common and uncommon side-effects for every FDA approved chemo drug are listed there).  It wouldn't take over around ten minutes, time well spent.

I coughed without stopping through chemo and for a few years thereafter.  I was nicknamed there and at work as "that coughing guy."  Mine was dry, hacking; what doctors call "non-productive."  There was never mucus or fluid.

Also know that stomach acids can cause precisely this as well.  Just tossing stuff out at random here, since I've been there/done that.

max

lindary said:

one cause - one cure

I've heard my share of people who say if you avoid "X" you won't get cancer or eat "XX' to help make the cancer go away. I agree with Max in that if it were true certain groups of people would never have cancer. As far as I know no such group has been found. 

Once I knew the chemo I was going to get I looked up suplements food could conflict with them. My take was to avoid anything that could take away from what the chemo was trying to do. Example - I love herbal teas but some of the herbs used could affect how the chemo works. To be "safe" I did not drink any herbal teas until Chemo was officially done. That ended up being a little over a year. That limited me to black and green tea.

The whole idea of fasting I find interesting. I would say when I do fast it is usually semi-unintentional. Running late in the morning so I skip breakfast. Also forget to bring lunch to work and don't like the options at the cafeteria and then get home and really not hunger. 

When you get down to the reality, we do what we can to help us to survive. 

Hello Linda,

Just a quick reply to your remark:

I believe one of Dr Longo's sources of inspiration is just one such group of people - those with Laron Syndrome, whom he has visited and studied (if I remember correctly) in Ecuador. This syndrome causes a form of dwarfism as these people do not produce or respond to growth hormone. It also seems to make them literally immune to cancer, despite unhealthy lifestyle choices.

Hence the link between IGF1 and cancer, and the notion that perhaps reducing the IGF level through some targeted form of fasting would - among other benefits - help fend off or contain the cancer.

PBL