Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Stress and Anxiety Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Before we move on to a different topic I felt it was important to talk about our mental health. Being diagnosed with cancer or any other chronic illness is much more than just the physical aspects of …
Hair Enhance Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND I wanted to talk about a product that may be new to you, Hair Enhance! This is an excellent formula for helping with hair growth. It can help enhance hair strength as well. However some of the nutrients …
Hair and Skin Changes Due to Cancer Treatments
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Cancer treatments can have different side effects when it comes to our hair and skin. Let’s start with our skin, shall we? Certain cancer therapies can cause skin to become dry. They can also cause a skin rash and spots that look like acne. You may notice that your skin is more sensitive. It may even feel itchy. Certain types of cancer treatment can make your skin very sensitive to sunlight. Other types of cancer treatments can change the skin of your hands and feet so they appear red and feel sore. Due to skin changes you may find that your veins become more visible. Additionally they may start to look broke. (1)
In addition to being dry your skin may become rough and flaky. This dry skin may be itchy which can cause you to feel anxious and even restless. As you scratch the skin it can become damaged leading to sores and even an increased risk of infection. In addition to making your skin red other color changes that can occur include yellow (due to changes in your liver), blue (due to breathing troubles), and bruised (due to blood disorders). Depending on the treatment you are receiving you may be bed bound or even bound to a wheelchair. This can increase the risk of bed sores. (2) Certain types of cancer can directly affect your skin. For example breast cancer can change the skin on the surface of the breast so that it starts to looks swollen and red/purple. The skin changes can also make the skin of the affected breast look similar to an orange peel. (3)
In addition to affecting to your skin cancer treatments can affect your nails. Cancer treatments can cause your nails to become loose or even fall out. There may be ridges or white/dark lines on the nails. These changes can occur on both the fingers and toes. (1)
Hair loss is a well-known side effect to different cancer treatments. This hair loss includes not just the hair on your head but also the hair on your body. Approximately 2-6 months after treatment is finished you will notice your hair begin to grow back. As the hair grows back you may notice it is slightly different. For example it may become more straight or curly. It may even be a different color. Depending on the type of treatment you may notice that the hair that grows back is thinner than before. In some cases hair on the body that received direct intense treatment may not grow back. (4)
What can you do if you experience these changes?
During treatment:
After treatment:
Our product highlight will be our Hair Enhance formula!
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Green Tea, our most common questions!!! Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Green Tea is probably one supplement that everyone has heard of! It’s probably been written about by almost everyone, including me! So why write about it again you ask? Well it’s recently come to …
Neuropathy Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Neuropathy is usually something that most people associate with diabetes. This is an accurate connection because one of the most common causes of neuropathy is diabetes. But did you know that neuropathy can also occur after cancer treatments? To …
Cerebral Care
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
I wanted to take the time to talk about one of my favorite formulas for our memory and brain health. This formula is called Cerebral Care. But what is it about this formula that I like so much? Well to start with it’s a powder so it’s easy to use. It’s also made up of some amazing nutrients that help our brain and memory. Let’s review a few of these nutrients, shall we?
Let’s start with the first item, inositol. What the heck is inositol? Inositol has been called vitamin B8 but that is not exactly accurate. It’s a type of sugar produced by the body that is important for the functioning and development of our cells. Now I know what you’re thinking, but Dr. Claire I have diabetes! Inositol is perfectly safe for you to use and may even help you to better process insulin! Inositol has quite a few health benefits. According to the Cleveland Clinic inositol may be helpful for metabolic syndrome, PCOS, as well as both Gestational diabetes and even preterm birth. (1) But what does inositol do for our brain? Studies have found that using inositol lead to improved outcomes in depression, anxiety, panic disorders and OCD. (2) Studies have found that inositol can help with aspects of brain health such as brain development, memory and even improve our ability to learn. (3)
The next nutrient that is in Cerebral Care is Acetyl- L Carnitine (Alcar). Alcar is also a nutrient in our Purples Hx. For information on how L Carnitine can benefit the heart please check out my blog on Purples Hx! Studies have found that using Alcar after a brain injury leads to better outcomes, especially in terms of memory. (4) A study in the International Journal of Neurology and Neurotherapy found Alcar can help improve memory. (5) In another study it was found that Alcar can enhance cognitive function and even decrease the rate of cognitive decline in those with certain disorders. (6) Studies have also found that Alcar can help with symptoms of chemo brain including learning or memory acquisition, spatial memory and even short term memory. It was also found that Alcar can reduce cognitive impairment in those with chemo brain. As a side note I’d like to point out that Alcar was found to help protect the liver and kidney in those who are experiencing chemo brain. (7)
The next nutrient that is in the Cerebral Care is choline. Well one thing I’d like to point out is that choline is an essential nutrient. This means your body needs it to work properly but is unable to make it. This means it must come from your diet or supplement regime. (8) Studies have found a correlation between a higher choline intake and better cognitive performance. (9) Studies have found that choline can help improve our verbal memory. (10)
The next item is phosphatidylserine or PS as I like to call it. Studies have found that PS can help with verbal recall as well as improve our memory. (11) As more studies are done on PS the results are finding that supplementation with PS can improve cognitive impairment by improving the brain’s storage ability, our learning ability and even memory. (12)
The last nutrient in Cerebral Care is Astaxanthin. To start with what the heck is astaxanthin? Basically it’s a red pigment that is a very strong antioxidant. (13) Studies have found that it can help to improve our cognitive function. (14)
As you can see Cerebral Care is an overall amazing formula for our brain and memory! Our next topic will be neuropathy.
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