Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer every year. If you are one of them, you may be considering taking vitamins and supplements with your cancer treatment, in order to strengthen your immunity. Supplements, herbs, and extracts are increasingly used as alternative treatments for cancer or as supplements alongside conventional treatment prescribed by doctors, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery or immunotherapy. Supplements and vitamins are taken to strengthen the immune system or to help ease side-effects of some of these treatments.
Ideally, adequate nutrition and a well-balanced diet in every phase of life are essential requirements for normal development and growth, health maintenance, and disease prevention, as well as for the recovery from illness or injury. This is particularly true for cancer sufferers. Cancer patients could consider taking vitamins and supplements to help boost their fight towards a good quality of life.
Vitamins neutralize free radicals and protect tissue integrity and function. They are also essential for a number of other cellular functions such as tissue renewal and healing, red blood cell production, body resistance to infections, brain and muscle activity, DNA replication during cell cycle, adequate regulation of several metabolic events, recovery from disease and prevention of chronic diseases.
Take note of the following when considering vitamins and supplements:-
1. Do not take any supplements and vitamins without first discussing it with your oncologist and nurses, as many interfere with cancer treatment. Discuss about your various cancer treatment tailored to your condition and diet which includes supplements that can help you to stay strong and cope with treatment side-effects.
2. Research and ask your oncologist and nurses about the best supplements for your condition because most supplements have not been studied extensively in large clinical trials. It is vital to choose wisely and be well-informed.
3. Obtain information about cancer prevention, treatment of cancer, cancer cure and alternative therapy like supplements from reliable sources. Beware of advertisements and unauthenticated information.
4. No matter how harmless you think a vitamin or supplement might be, check with your oncologist and nurses about the potential interactions with your cancer treatments. It is always better to be safe than sorry later.
5. Once approved by your oncologist, ensure the brand of supplements are analyzed by the FDA or other authentic regulatory agencies on the label indicating that the supplements have undergone quality control testing. Remember, never take drugs that are not approved.
Cathleen Sloan is a practising professional in the healthcare industry with more than ten years' experience. She is an active member of the cancer awareness community at http://www.cancercuresupplements.com/
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