Dr Damien Downing writes;
Nobody at New Medicine Group is a cancer specialist, nor can we replace your oncologist and/or surgeon. We always seek to work with your NHS or equivalent oncology team as far as possible. What we can offer is adjunctive (“bolt-on” if you like) nutritional and unorthodox therapies to complement what your oncologist does. We believe that the treatment of cancer should always be integrative, combining the best possible orthodox, nutritional and complementary therapies. I am a founder-member of the British Society for Integrative Oncology, which was voted into being at a meeting in June 2012 (website going live any day now).
People often come to see me having heard only about IV vitamin C; we do give this treatment where appropriate, but there are other things that are important for everybody living with cancer, and other options that may be better for you to use, as well as or instead of IV C.
What I can offer you is best described as advanced nutritional support. That may include specific nutrients at high doses, including;
- vitamin C intravenously
- vitamin C orally (see the work of Hickey and Roberts on this, which builds on the work of Linus Pauling)
- lipid therapy orally and intravenously (see elsewhere on this site)
- vitamin D (read what the Vitamin D Council has to say about it)
- coenzyme Q10 (very interesting reports from high doses)
- zinc and minerals (care needed to avoid risk of adverse effects)
- B vitamins (some care needed here too, particularly with regard to folic acid)
- antioxidant therapy (see below)
Antioxidants
Several researchers have suggested that antioxidant therapy may reduce the anti-cancer effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy; this has generally been well-reported in the media, much more so than studies showing the opposite. Also, many of the well-reported studies have been laboratory studies, not clinical research on real people. The chemistry of this question is complex, but the bottom line, I believe, is provided by two review papers in 2007 & 2008 (here on efficacy and here on toxicity) which considered all the available controlled clinical trials and concluded;
None of the trials reported evidence of significant decreases in efficacy from anti-oxidant supplementation during chemotherapy. Many of the studies indicated that anti-oxidant supplementation resulted in either increased survival times, increased tumor responses, or both.
and;
The majority (24) of the 33 studies included reported evidence of decreased toxicities from the concurrent use of antioxidants with chemotherapy.
The authors did warn that “lack of adequate statistical power was a consistent limitation”, but nonetheless, these are strong findings.
Diet
Diet is crucial in treating cancer, and the results can be surprising. We advise that, unless there is a really good reason why not, you should start immediately on diagnosis on a diet that is:
- Ultra-low in sugar and refined carbohydrates. This is not only important in the context of Candida or yeast infections; there are many reasons why too much sugar (which is not very much) is bad for you. But the most important reason is that tumours in general need sugar much more than you do.
- Ultra-low in chemicals, pesticides etc – in other words organic (as far as is practicable for you).
- Free from processed foods. To avoid the trans fats and other damaged molecules.
- Rich in all nutrients. Vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, fibre; most of us don’t do a very good job on this.
What next?
You will need a consultation first, at which we will find out about your individual history. You will also need some blood tests. Based on all this, plus your needs and intentions, we will work with you to draw up a treatment plan.
