3 ms·

This research is getting misused badly and is a very lucrative business selling to cancer patients in the „alternative medicine“ sector. I lost my uncle last y

This research is getting misused badly and is a very lucrative business selling to cancer patients in the „alternative medicine“ sector. I lost my uncle last year to small-cell lung cancer (age 40). Doctors gave him 12 months after the diagnosis, turns out he barely had 3 months (mostly due to a very bad response to chemotherapy). In his last months he turned to one of these alternative medicine gurus who told him that the tumor (quote) „would eat itself“ if he stops eating sugars.

echelon 9y ago
Was your uncle a smoker or otherwise at risk? Is this something anyone can get? It sounds terrifying to realize you have that little time left at such a young age. Sorry if this is too personal of a question.
- philfrasty 9y ago
  Yes. What (might have) increased the likelihood: - him being a heavy smoker (SCLC almost exclusively in smokers) - running a car repair shop and inhaling fine dust frequently Despite these factors he was very unlucky developing cancer at such an early age. Survival rates for SCLC: http://www.cancercenter.com/lung-cancer/statistics/tab/lung-cancer-SCLC-survival-statistics/~/media/D6C6E8458B6F40569347972C7DEF9410.ashx http://www.cancercenter.com/lung-cancer/statistics/tab/lung-...
- fpoling 9y ago
  Unfortunately anyone can get cancer at any age. Body gets thousands of cancerous cells daily. Typically it is not a problem as those cells are get killed by the immune system. The problem starts when those cells stuck and starts to multiply. But even then it may takes many years before the growth can be detected and starts to affect health. A person can get a cancer from single exposure to a highly carcinogenic factor and get cancer as sickness 20 years later. The best one can do is try to minimize risk factors to either avoid cancerous growth or at least to slow it down to the extent that it does not affect life expectancy.
DiThi 9y ago
As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, chemo may work due to a forced state of ketosis. The "would eat itself" hypothesis, although it sounds cheesy has a bit of truth grounded in many recent studies. But stopping eating sugars is not enough, at all. He would have had stopped eating any carbs (<5% of calories from carbs) and not too much protein (<10-15% of calories in protein), because both are converted to sugar quite easily. That means eating more fat instead so the body uses ketones instead of sugar. And much more salt, sodium and magnesium to avoid the infamous "keto flu".

echelon 9y ago

Was your uncle a smoker or otherwise at risk? Is this something anyone can get? It sounds terrifying to realize you have that little time left at such a young age. Sorry if this is too personal of a question.

philfrasty 9y ago
Yes. What (might have) increased the likelihood: - him being a heavy smoker (SCLC almost exclusively in smokers) - running a car repair shop and inhaling fine dust frequently Despite these factors he was very unlucky developing cancer at such an early age. Survival rates for SCLC: http://www.cancercenter.com/lung-cancer/statistics/tab/lung-cancer-SCLC-survival-statistics/~/media/D6C6E8458B6F40569347972C7DEF9410.ashx http://www.cancercenter.com/lung-cancer/statistics/tab/lung-...
fpoling 9y ago
Unfortunately anyone can get cancer at any age. Body gets thousands of cancerous cells daily. Typically it is not a problem as those cells are get killed by the immune system. The problem starts when those cells stuck and starts to multiply. But even then it may takes many years before the growth can be detected and starts to affect health. A person can get a cancer from single exposure to a highly carcinogenic factor and get cancer as sickness 20 years later. The best one can do is try to minimize risk factors to either avoid cancerous growth or at least to slow it down to the extent that it does not affect life expectancy.

DiThi 9y ago

As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, chemo may work due to a forced state of ketosis. The "would eat itself" hypothesis, although it sounds cheesy has a bit of truth grounded in many recent studies. But stopping eating sugars is not enough, at all. He would have had stopped eating any carbs (<5% of calories from carbs) and not too much protein (<10-15% of calories in protein), because both are converted to sugar quite easily. That means eating more fat instead so the body uses ketones instead of sugar. And much more salt, sodium and magnesium to avoid the infamous "keto flu".