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Supplements and chemotherapy
My partner has just been diagnosed with a small but malignant tumour. He will be having both chemo- and radiotherapy and wants to know what supplements could help? I have also read you can get blood tests to reveal underlying vitamin and mineral deficiencies? Where do we go to get these?
Schisandra is another of those adaptogenic herbs that I write about so frequently and which work in the body to improve resistance to disease and stress and increase energy levels.
What makes it the herb of choice for anyone undergoing conventional cancer treatments and looking for additional support among natural remedies is that it also works, specifically, to protect the liver; which, as you know, will have to process the by-products of those highly toxic treatments.
Schisandra is actually reported to better protect patients undergoing radiation, can help prevent infection as a result of lowered immunity and works to support the adrenal glands which themselves help the body cope with stressful demands placed on it.
The active part of the plant is the fruit, so make sure any supplement your partner uses is made from this and not the leaves or root.
The blood tests you are asking about can be made available by any qualified nutritionist. You can contact the following organisations (see below) for a local referral, but make sure your partner consults someone who has extensive experience of working with cancer patients and that he tells his doctors what advice he is being given on supporting nutritional and herbal remedies.
*Schisandra is available from Revital (0800 252875). Take 100mg, twice a day. Contact The British Association of Nutritional Therapists (0870 6061284) or the Institute of Optimum Nutrition (020 8877 9993) to find a practitioner who can organise and interpret blood tests.