3 ms·
Does anyone know why fasting seems to make chemotherapy apparently less harmful to your immune system? "Multiple cycles of fasting abated the immunosuppression
by andy_ppp 10y ago
Does anyone know why fasting seems to make chemotherapy apparently less harmful to your immune system?
"Multiple cycles of fasting abated the immunosuppression and mortality caused by chemotherapy and reversed age-dependent myeloid-bias in mice, in agreement with preliminary data on the protection of lymphocytes from chemotoxicity in fasting patients."
My theory would be that when in a fasting state the body is less likely to utilise the chemotherapeutic compounds in fasting tissues while the cancer instead steadily grows and consumes these drugs? I'm entirely guessing of course; maybe this could be triggered without fasting somehow.
- riledhel 10y agoI once read that fasting promotes something like "cell reuse" and the body starts breaking down old/damaged cells faster. I'll try to find the source (and this is not my field by any means)
- adventured 10y agoI think you're referring to the process of cell autophagy and the activation of it by fasting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autophagy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autophagy