5 ms·
My mother had lung cancer which spread to other parts of her body. Throughout her sickness, she ate very little, then almost nothing as the disease progressed.
by jan_g 10y ago
My mother had lung cancer which spread to other parts of her body. Throughout her sickness, she ate very little, then almost nothing as the disease progressed. By the time of her death, she was practically just skin and bones. "Starving the cancer" didn't seem to work in her case. Then again, chemo also seemed to have zero effect. Cancer just spread, more and more, with each passing month.
- tptacek 10y agoThat sucks, and I'm sorry. But: chiming in to clarify: it's not "stop eating to starve cancer"; its, "change diet to route energy through metabolic pathways that cancer is disadvantaged for".
- bandushrew 10y agoThe parents point is valid though. If not eating sugar could slow (all) cancers, then not eating at all would clearly cover that case, and should have slowed the lung cancer. At the very least, his anecdote is convincing to me that it "starving the cancer" doesn't work with lung cancer. In the more general sense though my first impression of the phrase "route energy through metabolic pathways that cancer is disadvantaged for" is that it sounds like random word salad.
- aangjie 10y ago> If not eating sugar could slow (all) cancers, then not eating at all would clearly cover that case, and should have slowed the lung cancer. Umm.. This sounds to me to be very simplistic thinking. What about the effects of complete starving on the immune system for example?. Or for that matter, the proposed no sugar diet triggers some mechanisms from here. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_immunology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_immunology) I do agree, it's not yet accepted through experiments via the scientific method though.
- swyman 10y ago> In the more general sense though my first impression of the phrase "route energy through metabolic pathways that cancer is disadvantaged for" is that it sounds like random word salad. "Eat food that cancer/tumors don't like as much as sugar."
- crikli 10y agoIt sure as hell doesn't work with lung cancer. My dad had been sugar free for almost a decade prior to his diagnosis of small cell adenocarcinoma. He lasted almost a year.
- leonroy 10y agoSorry for your loss. Can you elaborate on whether his diet excluded rice, refined grains and any other sort of simple carbs? I was rather shocked to see in the documentary 'Fed Up' that all these carb rich foods get broken down to simple sugar molecules pretty darn quick and as far as the body is concerned are identical to sugar.
- joeyspn 10y agoSimple carbs are known to cause big spikes in insulin levels. So it's not a sugar-free diet alone, but also one has to contemplate glycemic index and glycemic load of apparently non-sugary foods.... http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycem... As reflected in the article, the key is keeping the insulin levels at bay.
- copperx 10y agoMetformin helps too.
- crikli 10y agoDad had adopted a (basically) ketogenic diet. He wasn't obsessively strict about it, he'd cheat, but he did a pretty good job of avoiding cheap complex carbs like bread/pasta. In all honesty, I'm pretty touchy about alternative cancer treatments. Probably too touchy. :) I watched Dad choke down blended flaxseed and cottage cheese. I had to talk him out of handing over what little money he and Mom had to some charlatan who claimed to be able to cure cancer with sound waves. And he was also pitched this "cancer lives on sugar, starve the cancer" horsecrap. It was all complete bullshit and he fucking died right when the doctor told me he would after Dad was diagnosed. There are vampires and leaches out there selling fraudulent hope to the desperate. It's amazing to watch them crawl out of the woodwork.
- agumonkey 10y agoAll in all we're all saying what researcher are saying more and more since a few years. Cancer is 'multi-variate' and no silver bullet, no one cure will work blind.
- marincounty 10y agoMy father died the same way. He was too late for chemo. He just got skinner. He died a horrid painful death. I do know he wasen't given enough pain/anxiety medication in the end. If I had a do over, I would buy illegial drugs for my father. It would be a first because I don't even know where to buy drugs, except the bad parts of certain cities. Me and my father disagreed on life. I loved the man though. I think about the pain he went through daily. He died a little over 11 years ago. I can honestly say, I died with him that day. I know it sounds dramatic, but I really did. My outlook on life changed. I haven't been the same person. It wasn't just losing him to cancer, it was the pain, and misery he went through. I can't add anything, but my father probally had a liver tumor for years. The doctor blamed scar tissue from a previous survey for an umbilical hernia, but family members knew something was wrong, but we didn't say much. We did try to get him to cut back on drinking, but that was a big No. I hope they make some bigger discoveries in cancer research--soon.