Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is one the most common forms of cancer;
every year it is diagnosed in approximately 100,000 men
and 50,000 women in the United States. The most
significant risk factor is smoking. Smoking two packs a day for
twenty years increases the risk for lung cancer between
sixty and seventy times. Passive exposure to secondhand
smoke increases one's risk approximately 50 percent.
Exposure to asbestos, pollution, or industrial metals also
increases the risk of developing this disease, as does a
history of marijuana use or
tuberculosis, or a deficiency of
vitamin A.
Symptoms of lung cancer include cough, bloody or
rusty sputum, hoarseness, and wheezing. There may be
chest pain that radiates from the shoulder to the arm, as
well as shortness of breath, loss of appetite,
fever, and/or
weight loss. The symptoms often appear late in the course
of the disease. Most lung cancers take one of several main
forms: adenocarcinoma, large cell, small cell (also called
oat cell), and squamous cell. In addition, cancers that
originate elsewhere in the body may spread to the lung.
Many lung cancers can be detected by chest x-ray. In
some cases, a CAT scan, which is more sensitive, is needed
to find small tumors. The diagnosis must then be
confirmed via a biopsy. At that point the cancer is classified
according to tumor size and how extensively it has spread.
Conventional treatment includes surgery for small,
localized tumors. However, since lung cancers usually
spread before they are detected, the main treatments are
chemotherapy, using a wide variety of medications, and
radiation therapy.
Supplements and herbs
- Aloe juice. Take 1/4 cup (60 ml) daily.
Stops processes that convert chemicals in tobacco smoke into carcinogens.
Do not take aloe vera juice internally if you have diarrhea.
- Astragalus capsules. Take 1,000 mg 3 times daily.
Stimulates T cells and Iymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells to attack lung cancer.
- Astragalus tincture. Take 1/2 tsp (2 ml) in 1/4 cup water 3 times daily.
Do not use astragalus if you have a fever or a skin infection.
Ginseng Panax tincture. Take 1/2 tsp (2 ml) in 1/4 cup water 3 times daily.
Stimulates the immune system. Can greatly increase longevity if
chemotherapy is given.
- Cat's claw tincture. Take the dose recommended on the label
in 1/2 cup water with 1 tsp lemon juice.
Immune stimulant. Reportedly has brought about some remissions from lung cancer.
Do not use cat's claw if you have to take insulin for diabetes. Do not use it
if you are
pregnant or nursing Do not give it to a child under 6.
- Cayenne powder. Use at least 1 tbsp in cooking daily.
Stops conversion of a chemical in tobacco smoke to its carcinogenic form.
- Espinheira santa tincture. Take as directed on the label.
Toxic to several kinds of lung-cancer cells.
- Lentinan intramuscular injection, given by health-care provider.
Increases survival time in secondary lung cancer.
- Polysaccharide kureha (PSK) Tablets. Take 6,000 mg daily.
Extends longevity if radiation therapy is given.
- Psoralea seed, scruffy pea, or bu gu zhi capsules.
Take 1,000 mg 3 times daily. Use under professional supervision.
Contains compounds that inhibit lung cancer.
Psoralea increases sensitivity to sunlight. Use sunscreen and avoid exposure to the sun
while using this herb.
- Scutellaria capsules. Take 1,000-2,000 mg 3 times daily.
Stops inflammatory processes. Relieves cough.
Do not use scutellaria ij you have diarrhea.
- Soy isoflavone concentrate tablets. Take 3,000 mg daily.
Induces death of lung cancer cells.
- Turmeric curcumin tablets. Take 250 mg 3 times daily.
Activates cancer-disabling gene p53 to fight small-cell lung cancer.
What else you can do
- The most obvious step is, if you smoke, stop, and avoid
all secondhand tobacco smoke. Continued exposure to
tobacco smoke makes it that much harder to overcome the
cancer, and may promote the development of other lung
disorders that can further reduce lung capacity.
- Eat parsley daily. It contains myristicin, which, in
preliminary tests, activates the detoxifying enzyme GST and
reduces the formation of lung tumors.
- Take the recommended daily dosage of any folic acid
supplement, unless you are receiving chemotherapy with MTA, UFT, tegafur, or fluorouracil (which act by depriving
cancer cells of folic acid). A study at the New England
Medical Center found that lung-cancer survivors who took
folic acid supplements had an average cancer-free period
of forty-one months, compared with eleven months for
those who did not. For additional benefits, also take 500
milligrams of vitamin B12 (cobalamin). These vitamins,
used together, help prevent lung damage in smokers.
- Take natural sources of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA),
such as borage seed oil or
evening primrose oil, except
during chemotherapy with cisplatin. GLA encourages the
growth of healthy cells and stops the growth of lung cancer
cells, but interferes with the ability of cisplatin to kill
cancer cells.
- Get fifteen to twenty minutes of exposure to morning
or evening sun on the hands and face daily. Ultraviolet
(UV) rays in sunlight help the skin manufacture vitamin
D,
which, if there is an adequate supply of the A vitamin
retinol, induces apoptosis, or "cellular suicide," of lung cancer cells. Do not wear sunscreen, since this blocks the
needed UV light.
- Avoid taking vitamin E during chemotherapy for
medication resistant cancer. Vitamin E protects cancer cells from agents
that make them more sensitive to doxorubicin
hydrochloride (Adriamycin) and vinblastine sulfate (Velban).
- A diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with a
reduced risk of lung cancer.
- To prevent lung cancer, include apples, black tea,
carrots, and
tomatoes in your diet. One Swedish study found
that eating carrots was the most important factor in
avoiding lung cancer among people who had never smoked.
Among women, consumption of lycopene, which is found
in tomatoes, is associated with lowered risk of lung cancer.
Drinking two or more cups of black tea daily reduces risk
of development of lung cancer, especially in light smokers,
and eating apples, in one study, reduced the risk of
developing lung cancer by over 50 percent.
- Women, in particular, should avoid eating well-done,
fried red meat. A study by the National Cancer Institute
found that every 1/3-ounce increase in average daily
consumption of well-done, fried red meat increased lifetime
risk of contracting lung cancer by 4 to 9 percent, with the
increase in risk becoming greater as more fried meat was consumed.
- Diet can not only reduce the risk of developing lung
cancer, but it can affect where the cancer develops in the
lungs-that is, in the lower lungs, where it is relatively
easier to treat, or in the upper lungs, where it is much more
difficult to treat. Eating at least five servings of yellow and
orange vegetables weekly reduces the likelihood of lung
cancer developing in the upper lungs.
- Take 150 micrograms of selenium daily, especially if you
smoke. Low selenium levels, especially in combination
with low vitamin E levels and heavy smoking, are strongly
associated with increased risk of lung cancer. But do not
take beta-carotene supplements if you smoke. Studies have
found that such supplements have no preventive value
against lung cancer and may even increase the risk of lung
cancer in men who smoke. That is because beta-carotene
converts some of the toxic chemicals found in tobacco
smoke into a carcinogenic form. This effect is likely only to
occur if consumption of beta-carotene is not balanced by
consumption of the other carotenes naturally occurring in
fruits and vegetables. Instead of taking supplements to get
your beta-carotene, eat more fruits and vegetables.
More useful herbs
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